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The Cycling Thread

What car? #BusWanker
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Thought I'd pop this in here :)

I'm taking part in the London to Brighton off road bike ride again in a couple of weeks in aid of The British Heart Foundation.
74miles (119km) off road, through fields, woods, sand pits, old railways and more.

If anyone would like to sponsor me for it, I would be extremely grateful :)

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/richard-lewin3

(Short notice...I thought I'd set the fundraising up months ago and just check and hadn't finalised it!)
 
The Canyon Ultimate is now dropped off at a local cycle mechanic to finish off the build like front and rear mech indexing and a complete check over to make sure whatever I've done is actually ok! I've spent too many hrs trawling Youtube and GCN putting it together and just want it done so I'll leave it to a 'professional' 😁 parting words with him were "you'll enjoy riding this weekend" so I know the end is in sight whereas with me still faffing it'll go into weeks of frustration.

Which has meant I've been distracted for the last 4 weeks and not been out riding. One ride I've wanted to do again was the Dunwich Dynamo but in daylight, with a twist... Riding from home in Southend to the start venue in Hackney then heading up to Dunwich after.

Perfect weather conditions, mild at 15 degrees with a start time of 2am. Arrived in Hackney for 5am and headed north east out of London. Puncture at half 6 with the consolation of it happening at a Costa stop in a Shell petrol station, not running tubeless so the tube was patched and away we go.

Solo and self supported, arriving at Dunwich Beach just after 4pm.

Ride routeScreenshot_20210913-164730~2.webp

Finchingfield
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Needham Market lakeDSC_2653~2-01.webp

First sign for Dunwich
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Dunwich Beach
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Then, on the Sunday morning I had an organised ride booked from a few weeks ago to do. So a ride there, number pinned to the shirt and away we go.

So the ride is on a place called Foulness Island, normally it's an official no go zone for the public as it's actually owned by the Ministry Of Defence. A lot of top secret work goes on there so when this annual charity event came up I really wanted to have a go just to see what it's like. The company I did my apprenticeship with some 30 years ago was the last time I worked on the island, the company had a contract on there to maintain and build.


Click the link for some info on it, it's quite interesting.

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Putting some miles on the Ultimate (40 today) will be out again tomorrow on a 50 with a couple of people that will push the average so I'm keen to see how it fairs.

Sidenote, been buying a few pairs of cycling socks from Pongo over the last few months. Really comfy, great colours.
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I do love my bike and riding it, but I absolutely cannot get on board with the riding gear thing. Lycra et al, **shudder** no thanks.
 
First Century on the Ultimate, absolutely love this bike! Strong side winds at nearly 20mph but on the whole it handled it all really well. The 11-30 cassette makes such a difference on the inclines compared to the old school 12-25, I don't feel like I'm having to grind it out or drop to the small ring.

Temps for the day started at 11 and overcast to a high of 16 degrees and sun but wore arm warmers and gloves, any colder and the leggings would have gone on. Starting to look at Autumn-Winter clothing and accessories like windproof overshoes and base layers.
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New Altura windproof and waterproof gloves.
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