Casual Cycle

So I'm planning to go on the Friday. Calvin will probably be inundated this year after his retirement announcement, but I'm hoping I'll get to chat with him a bit.

Are there any questions anyone would like me to ask? Or would you like a video message or anything? I can get autographs but you'll have to make do with a scan, I'm not posting anything. He's really chill, so if I get a chance to speak to him, I'll try to get in any requests from you guys. If it's allowed, I'll try to film some of his presentation and interview.

(Why, yes, I am a massive Calvin fangirl, how did you guess?)

The legend is retiring. He's making his (probably) final visit to Icebike in February.

What I love about bicycles is you could give a Victorian a modern day fixie, and they'd know what it was.

Guess I should say hello and post a couple of pics.

Bought my first e-bike a few years ago after struggling to ride a normal lightweight hybrid mountain/city bike. Old football and work injuries mean that as I head into middle age... my knee & ankle (on opposite legs) are becoming an issue, as is a spinal compression issue.

So I bought a cheapish halfrauds ebike, that I had to return as it failed after 250 miles, the replacement failed after 261 miles... So it was returned for a refund... that halfrauds fought all the way and tried every dirty, underhand trick they could... the outright lied to my credit card company... who thankfully saw through their bullshit and refunded me.

So I bought a Haibike trekking with the Bosch mid drive system, a 75nm motor and 500wh battery. It's good for 70 miles in eco mode and occasional battery off mode, but in reality because of hills and open countryside with strong headwinds... 50 miles is my avg as I need level 2 assist into strong headwinds some days, but the return journy can often be done on eco or battery off mode for a good section.

I guess I average somewhere in the 1.5 to 2.2% battery for each mile ridden.

Today, I used 22% battery for a 10.5 mile ride due to extra strong winds when I reach the countryside.

I avg about 10-12 miles per ride, the longest ride I've ever done was 27 miles... which was due to me leaving my phone behind on a bench and on realising when I stopped to take a pic of some nesting swans about 6 miles closer to home. 🤦‍♂️

I've done a few changes to the bike, riser on the handlebars to give me a more upright riding position to help my back stay straighter. Pannier bags, and a more comfortable seat and sprung seat stem.

I don't get out as often as I like, I prefer dry riding and around where I live there's not a great deal of acceptable cycling routes, unless you want very narrow, twisty and hilly back roads that can be quite unsafe for bikes. There's only two real routes I can take, one gives me a loop of about 9 miles around a reservoir and back through some woodland, the other a nice 9 mile ride out to an estuary and a large forest, where a further 2 miles down some gravel fire roads through it, brings you out at the beaches near a light house. Going that far is a 22 mile round trip, so I can't do it often and I need some better tires on this bike before I attempt it again as mine are road tires at the moment.

I do about 30-40 miles a week on it, less in the winter as both routes can be susceptible to flooding.

I can't fit a bike rack to my current car, I'd need to fit a towbar and hang one on that, and the bikes are far too heavy to put on a roof rack (about 30kg). So I can't take advantage of other routes in the area... But when I replace my old car next year, I'm looking for something I can use to transport my bike to a more suitable starting position.

Guess I should say hello and post a couple of pics.

Bought my first e-bike a few years ago after struggling to ride a normal lightweight hybrid mountain/city bike. Old football and work injuries mean that as I head into middle age... my knee & ankle (on opposite legs) are becoming an issue, as is a spinal compression issue.

So I bought a cheapish halfrauds ebike, that I had to return as it failed after 250 miles, the replacement failed after 261 miles... So it was returned for a refund... that halfrauds fought all the way and tried every dirty, underhand trick they could... the outright lied to my credit card company... who thankfully saw through their bullshit and refunded me.

So I bought a Haibike trekking with the Bosch mid drive system, a 75nm motor and 500wh battery. It's good for 70 miles in eco mode and occasional battery off mode, but in reality because of hills and open countryside with strong headwinds... 50 miles is my avg as I need level 2 assist into strong headwinds some days, but the return journy can often be done on eco or battery off mode for a good section.

I guess I average somewhere in the 1.5 to 2.2% battery for each mile ridden.

Today, I used 22% battery for a 10.5 mile ride due to extra strong winds when I reach the countryside.

I avg about 10-12 miles per ride, the longest ride I've ever done was 27 miles... which was due to me leaving my phone behind on a bench and on realising when I stopped to take a pic of some nesting swans about 6 miles closer to home. 🤦‍♂️

I've done a few changes to the bike, riser on the handlebars to give me a more upright riding position to help my back stay straighter. Pannier bags, and a more comfortable seat and sprung seat stem.

I don't get out as often as I like, I prefer dry riding and around where I live there's not a great deal of acceptable cycling routes, unless you want very narrow, twisty and hilly back roads that can be quite unsafe for bikes. There's only two real routes I can take, one gives me a loop of about 9 miles around a reservoir and back through some woodland, the other a nice 9 mile ride out to an estuary and a large forest, where a further 2 miles down some gravel fire roads through it, brings you out at the beaches near a light house. Going that far is a 22 mile round trip, so I can't do it often and I need some better tires on this bike before I attempt it again as mine are road tires at the moment.

I do about 30-40 miles a week on it, less in the winter as both routes can be susceptible to flooding.

I can't fit a bike rack to my current car, I'd need to fit a towbar and hang one on that, and the bikes are far too heavy to put on a roof rack (about 30kg). So I can't take advantage of other routes in the area... But when I replace my old car next year, I'm looking for something I can use to transport my bike to a more suitable starting position.

Happened mid-commute, so a nice 6-mile walk home and a holiday day spent. All four went at the same time on my Shimano deore crank. It was a second hand part and looking at that photo there're looking pretty thin in the parts that didn't go. To be doubly annoying, my phone died as soon as I got it out to let work know I'd be late.

I only just found out.

A bike-friendly city is a people-friendly city.

Happy cycling!

As seen by my recent posts, my drivetrain has taken a battering this winter. Whether you're getting the nice bike out of storage or desludgifying your trooper, I thought some of you might appreciate this video as much as I did. Best tip by far is the chain lift, I'm constantly whipping quick links into the either! It is a bit just use GT85.

He is such a chill dude! Can you believe HE wanted MY autograph? I wish I could have thought of more things to ask him about. I'm still a noob at bike mechanics, and a slow learner, but he was so encouraging and kind, and a lot of fun!

He really is a mechanical hero!

My rear derailleur hanger went yesterday on the commute home. Luckily it was as I started off again after a turn. Still managed to take out 2 spokes itself and possibly the derailleur itself. Luckily, I had spares back to my knackered old Shimano for now.

Weather app fail this morning, dressed for the -1 not so much for the torrent of rain that accompanied it mid-ride. Trousers soaked but lucky I had my merino wool base layers on held up enough on the water but more importantly the temperature. All hail, premium sheep hair!

!

Any recommendations? I don't know if I want to splash out on something expensive. I was thinking of getting some cheap tat to act more as a deterrent, but then I thought, what if I actually need the footage? My commute is pretty short, but the amount of drivers who are happy to risk my life to shave 5 seconds off their journey is a problem.

Would any £5 cheapo camera make drivers think twice before trying to run me into the kerb or am I better off getting a decent quality camera? I'm cool with refurb/second hand.

This randomly popped into my head this morning

My friend had one, It was peak cool for a 6-year-old. Mine had red wheels though it was called hot wheels it didn't have sound effects

What was your first bike and first coveted bike? Did you get your dream bike off the bat?