I’ve been thinking about whether this would pop up again this year and also my thoughts on the event. Today I got an email from Strava noting the arrival of the 2014 Rapha Festive 500.
Give your legs the greatest gift this holiday by riding 500 kilometers with Rapha and Strava.
Once again, Rapha and Strava are challenging riders around the world to clock 500 kilometers between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
I really like the idea of it and it seems like a fun challenge to get involved in, especially when the weather is a bit crap and everyone is filling their faces. But then I’ve been riding a lot this year and getting into doing lots of challenges on Strava and for the last few months I’ve aimed to do a Fondo and try and hit 1250k each month. I’ve been riding lots during the week which means an evening or two not at home as well as Sunday riding. The Sunday rides usually end up far longer than planned and result in me coming back in a complete mess and unable to do anything else apart from eat and have a bath.
Which is why I won’t be doing the Festive 500.
Having had so much understanding and encouragement all year round from Emma and other family members it would seem pretty rude not to give my full attention to her, and them, over Christmas. But in some ways I want to say thanks for all that understanding and “sure go riding I don’t mind..” when I ask if it would be ok to be out all day on Sunday.
I’ve got a decent stretch off this year, from the 18th Dec to the 5th Jan so I’m sure I’ll do a few rides in there. I just don’t think I’ll be slogging it out trying to hit that target. It’s not that I don’t think it’s a good idea or poo pooing anyone doing it, it’s just that I’ll be watching Die Hard with a nice ale in my hand eating sausage rolls.
And if you are doing it go and read all about Richard Seipp and his wonderful Son who have completed it two years in a row. His son was 7 when they first did it! What a legend.
A month or so ago I joined Brixton Cycles Club after doing a fair amount of research, which mainly involved talking to a bunch of different people about what makes a good cycle club as well as knowing a few people there already. That and the fact that they clearly have the best kit in London persuaded me to join.
I went along for a first session and enjoyed it. It was a warm sunny day and it was pretty busy. A lot of the clubs have been swelling in numbers recently and Brixton is no exception. So that ride ended up with around 30-40 people in my rough estimation and although it was a large group it was well run and well disciplined. It was a nice day out, we had a good stop and chat, eat some cake, drank some coffee and then came back. I rode a few lanes I hadn’t done before and met and chatted to a few people I knew as well as a few other newbies like myself. After getting back I paid my fees and promptly went down to the shop the following day to get my jersey which I’ve worn with pride since. However I’d also then had a number of other rides planned for Sundays which meant I couldn’t go back until today.
So even though there was a forecast of constant rain for the whole day I turned up this morning at cafe St Germain at Crystal Palace expecting a far smaller group. I wasn’t crazy about going out but wasn’t going to do anything else really. Predictably there was hardly anyone there, only six of us including myself. But this didn’t matter and it made the group more intimate and enjoyable in many ways. The rain and the cold was less so.
I’d prepared properly and dressed up in as much winter clothing as I owned as well doing the cling film under the overshoes trick Leo had recommended a while back. The previous was quite mild and warm but today was freezing with the added benefit of pouring rain. I route was briefly discussed along with agreeing to not stop and get cold at a cafe. And off we went into the rain. It wasn’t that bad at first really and once we got going seemed to be ok. I wished I had worn a winter hat though to protect my ears.
We still managed a chat whilst riding and the occasional stop to regroup and roll our eyes the weather. We started looking for decent hills to warm us up and get the blood pumping again. That was fine until you started pointing the bike up hill and felt the rear wheel slipping as well as struggling with cold knees, even in winter tights. Large sections of the route were flooded with puddles over the entire road. I was thankful for mudguards and discs although the rear brake didn’t seem to be doing much by the end – I think this is down to cable stretch though.
It did all seem a bit silly at times but I strangely enjoyed it all, especially meeting a few more people to chat with and share a few kms rather than slogging it out on my own. After we got back to Crystal Palace I convinced Will, Richard and Celia to come for a coffee at Daily Goods to warm up. The coffee at St Germain is terrible but it’s a ritual I guess so can’t be too harsh on the place. Daily Goods allowed us to stand in the front bit and drip everywhere whilst we ordered and consumed multiples coffees as well as some food. Whilst we were standing there a young woman came over to Celia, seeing that she was cold, and offered her a shawl which was pretty sweet.
Overall a pretty decent day out on the bike and hopefully makes amends for not showing up at the recent club runs. I’ll be back again next Sunday but hopefully slightly less damp.
This has been re-tweeted into my Twitter timeline constantly for the last 24 hours. Cities should be designed around people not cars in my opinion. That huge void where you’re not allowed to be as it’s reserved for vehicles really shouldn’t exist.
I love riding round London at night. For various reasons it’s great to be out and experience the city late in the evening when things are quiet. There’s more space, less people and most importantly a sense of quiet. That feeling is pretty eloquently described in a Road.cc blog post I found today.
When the night falls, parts of our capital city become a cyclist’s dream. Cars vanish. So do cyclists, and the few who are left at this time of night tend to be better behaved. The city’s irksome distractions and sources of rage have been put to bed. There’s just you and the rubber-black road.
Previously this would only happen after a late night at work. Usually I would decline the offer of a taxi and jump on my bike home at 3am in the morning. The highlight for me would always be Waterloo Bridge. It’s pretty special most evenings but late at night / early in the morning with no one around it’s even better.
More recently I’ve been heading out to Richmond Park in the evening which in the last month or so has been in complete darkness. Again this is even more incredible due to the fact that the gates are shut to cars from dusk. The silence of the park along with it being completely pitch black really adds to the sense of isolation and solitude. That sense of isolation is occasionally interrupted as your light picks out a deer, or group of, hanging around at the side of the road or often wandering over the road. It feels completely different than riding round during the daylight hours. Whilst that might be an obvious statement it surprises me how different it is and how you don’t relate to your position in the park as much. It’s hard to work out how far you are around. And then you escape through the gate and back onto the road with the street lights and back towards the bright lights London.
The idea that we’re currently creating archaeology for future generations is a pretty fascinating one, for me at least. Whilst our digital history might not be so permanent the idea that someone might uncover evidence of our existence in the future is pretty interesting.
Which is why I love this piece by artist Matthew Sawyer entitled FUCK YOU to the future (without me), 2014.
I took a turn into the park last night with the idea of doing a few laps to add a bit extra to the journey home. Nothing too fast, just a bit of a breather at around 30 km/h to warm up and clear the head. It was beautifully dark, a chill in the air and incredibly peaceful. At last it seemed perfect for a winter jersey although the damp shoes from the morning were less successful at keeping me warm.
After a while I found someone sat on my wheel which is often the case. No big deal but I always do them the courtesy of a few hand signals for holes in the road etc. Some people use you for a bit of a lift up the hill then pass you on the flat or turn off on their way home. It does bother me when people sit there for a whole lap though and don’t do any work.
After half a lap the first person peeled off and then I found myself doing a similar speed to a guy on a fixed out for a few on his way home. Without speaking he tucked in and then after a quarter of a lap he took a turn which I then reciprocated. This carried on for another lap until we got stopped by a red light. At that point I said hello and asked if he fancied doing a few more. There’s something so nice about moving efficiently as a pair at a similar speed and then doing your turn. It’s even nicer when you’ve gone out solo and then silently started sharing the work with a complete stranger. It’s so much quicker and the peaceful sound of tyres on tarmac always makes me smile. It’s kind of reassures you in human kind, or the cyclist variant of.
Updated:
I should say that this did eventually arrive on the 10th Nov (ordered 1st Sept) and it’s really quite an incredible bike. Worth waiting until you see the “In Stock” bit over the bike you’re looking to buy though but can’t fault the quality of the bike.
On September 1st I ordered a winter bike from Canyon. On paper it’s a hell of a bargain. Full 11psd Shimano 105, decent frame, carbon fork, disc brakes and even decent Conti tyres in a nice 28mm variety.
I did the usual kind of due diligence of searching out the “Canyon problems” “Canyon delivery issues” type Google searches but this only seemed to turn up old blog posts from 2012 / 2013. Nothing was recent, and all other posts were singing their praises, so I went ahead and filled out the payment details and then waited for the delivery estimate. I was a little surprised to see it was going to take four weeks to deliver but it wasn’t really a big deal as the weather was still good and winter was a little way off.
And then week 40 came and went and no word from Canyon, no dispatch note etc, so I emailed their support and got a fairly abrupt email noting it was going to be to weeks later. Ok, not great and no apology or explanation, but hey ho, it can wait. Then week 42 came and went and I gave them a call. The guy in the UK office was really nice and apologetic but noted it was going to be week 44 now, so slipping another two weeks and four weeks further than the original estimate. He offered to refund the bike guard and postage which was a nice gesture and would save £35. The reason it was going to be late was that they are simply struggling to fulfil the order / victim of their own success etc.
The one thing that’s odd about the order process is that there is no mechanism to log in and see the progress of your order and also no mechanism to let you know that your order is delayed. You always have to make the effort to call or email which is pretty poor to be honest (insert obvious dig about Germans and efficiency etc).
Rather cheekily I responded to their promotional Tweet talking about the new model and when it would ship. So whilst being slightly unfair to the person running the Twitter account it was a little alarming to hear some kind of suggestion that the frames might not even be in Germany yet. The 8.0 is in stock but the others aren’t there yet! What the fuck?
Later I got a confirmation that it was definitely shipping this week after a slight back tracking from them. I’m not confident though due to the previous missed deadlines and it does feel like there is an alarming lack of honesty or openness here. From the start of the process through to issues with actually fulfilling orders, to notifying customers of delay it all seems to be a bit of a hope for the best type of arrangement. For instance if they didn’t have the actual frames there when I placed the order they simply should not have been accepting orders for that model, the purchase button should be faded out until they have stock to fulfil orders.
It’s just so frustrating to do all your research on a new bike, compare loads of models, look around, talk to people in the know and then press the order button and then nothing. Or rather wait 8 weeks for nothing.
So now my mind is wandering around looking at other bikes and the one which is readily available, although heavier, is the Whyte Suffolk. It’s similar in many ways but a cheaper chainset and tyres, but importantly it’s in stock in London at a number of places. I just don’t feel as attached to it as the Canyon, maybe it’s the graphics or something but if the delivery slips another two weeks I’m just going to sack the whole thing off with Canyon, presuming they let me cancel the order, get one of these instead and put the whole thing down to experience.
I had a look at the Whyte this morning and it’s lighter than I expected. I’m still not a fan of the graphics but hey it’s going to be covered in mud right? The other option is to order the Canyon Inflite 8.0 which appears to be in stock, buy the mudguards and road tyres myself and assemble. Also it’d be in the colour I want which looks far more purposeful.
A few weeks ago the meter ticked over the magic 8000km ridden this year on Strava. Why magic? Well I set myself a resolution target at the beginning of the year to “Cycle more (aim of riding 8000k in total)“. I’ve got a load of words drafted out for a bigger post about falling in love with road riding this year but now’s not the time.
At the beginning of the year that target seemed almost impossible. It also included 1200km of Lands End to John O’Groats riding, which I didn’t do, so I’m thrilled to have actually achieved it and also a few months early. As of writing I’ve ridden 8,324.1 km, spent 355h 43m sat on a saddle (ouch) and ridden 56,770 m of vertical ascent. Whilst that’s not much compared to some on Strava it’s a big deal for me. And yes I do love a good bit of data logging.
Hopefully this doesn’t appear as boasting, it’s more a sense of personal achievement which I think is worth celebrating. For so many years I’ve set myself those targets and got nowhere near of achieving them. Most of all I’ve had an amazing time doing it, had some incredible adventures on two wheels, lost over 2st in weight off my middle and also met lots of new and interesting people. Here’s to another few thousand km before the end of the year.
