To SPD or Not To SPD... That is the Question

There is a bit of a debate I have had with various people over the years about the use of SPDs (or Shimano Pedalling Dynamics to give them their full name).

What are they? Well, SPDs are a means of attaching your shoes to your pedals. There is a cleat which you attach to the sole of your shoe which then clips into a special pedal. This essentially makes you one with your bike... so to speak.

Why use them? Well the theory is like this. When you use normal pedals the only time you exert a force on your pedals is on the down stroke. This, obviously, is transmitted through your gears to your back wheel causing your bike to move. Not exactly rocket science. Anyway, the problem with this is that you are only providing power for around half the time the crank rotates. The idea behind SPDs and other like systems is that by connecting yourself to your pedals you can also pedal on the upstroke as well thus increasing the efficiency. In essence, when you pedal using normal pedals only one leg is providing power. Using SPDs then both legs can provide power; the leading leg on the down stroke and the lagging leg on the upstroke. This is very handy when you have to tackle a lot of hills.

So why doesn't everyone use them? Well, I guess most people are comfortable using normal pedals. I must admit that it took me some time to get used to SPDs and not just because of the change in pedalling technique. The main thing I had to get used to was how to disconnect yourself from your pedals in an emergency. As you can well imagine, being attached to your bike... where you go, your bike will follow. There have been a couple of occasions when I have been cycling off road and gone over the handle bars. Of course, my bike followed me and flipped and hit me on the back of my head. Luckily I was wearing a helmet both times which saved me from injury. Okay, perhaps I'm not exactly endearing them to you because of that fact but once you learn to twist your legs if anything happens then you can disengage quickly.

On the road SPDs are excellent and well worth checking out. They do take some time getting used to but on long journeys they can help a lot. Hey, Tour de France participants use them and they should know what's best right? Off road, I do use them but then you have the problem of trying to clip and unclip yourself quickly when coming up to tight corners or whatever. In the end it's all to do with what you find comfortable and easiest to use.

Aches and Pains... Go Away!!!

Asides from the age old problem of an aching backside, cycling for any period of time can play havoc on other parts of your body too. Some of the more common areas affected are the knees, shoulders and wrists. Most of this is down to the posture you assume on your bike which in turn is mainly determined by the geometry of your bike and its components.

For instance, you see a lot of people riding with their saddles way down low, particularly kids. Even when the pedal is at the bottom of the stroke you can see that their legs are still very bent. By doing that then not only are you not pedalling the most efficient way but you are putting a bit of strain on the knee joint causing it to get sore after a while. There are probably many trains of thought when setting your saddle height but the one I know is to set the pedal at it's lowest point and then put your heel on it. Adjust your saddle so that your leg is straight and then tighten the bolt. When you put the ball of your foot on the pedal your leg should now be slightly bent.

Because of the geometry of my bike I have a bit of an issue with my shoulders, elbows and wrists. The design of my bike is such that the chain stays are slightly shorter but the frame itself is slightly longer. This is meant to mean that you get more weight over the back wheel when climbing and so you get better traction. Anyway, as a consequence of this I find that I am leaning over a little more than is comfortable for me and this is causing pain. A few years back I bought a set of downhill bars which are slightly more upright than the X-country bars I got with my bike. This helped a lot when I was cycling off-road but on the road, because you are in the same position for a lot more of the time, it is causing me some discomfort.

So, what am I going to do about it... Well, I was out for a cheeky vimto with my mate Graham last night and he showed me a couple of changes that he made to his bike that looked as though they might help. For starters he bought a pair of Specialized Body Geometry grips. These have the effect of increasing the surface area that your hands come into contact with when resting on the bars and so are more comfortable. Secondly, he bought some Cane Creek Ergo Grip bar ends which mean are shaped in such a way that they are more comfortable to use. This means that you have more than one place to place your hands on your bars when cycling which can help alleviate pain. Finally, he bought a shorter stem for the handle bars which instead of being at right angles to the steerer tube actually rose at an angle meaning that the height of the bar was raised slightly.

Now, all this may seem like a costly exercise for a little bit of comfort. However, when you are cycling 70 miles a day for a few days like we are going to be doing in Sweden every little thing counts and is most welcome.

Stop that heavy breathing...

When I was a child I, like many kids, had bouts wheeziness after exercise. It became difficult to catch my breathe but I just grinned and bared it. I didn't get it all the time, it just appeared and disappeared. To be honest, I never really thought about what was causing it. Until a few months ago it hadn't been an issue for years but during the last winter it surfaced again when playing football. I got wheezy during the game and breathing became very difficult.

I guess I always knew what it was but never really gave it that much thought until recently. I went to see the doctor and he confirmed what I suspected, that I had Asthma. But what exactly is Asthma?

According to the Asthma UK website, "When a person with asthma comes into contact with something that irritates their airways (an asthma trigger), the muscles around the walls of the airways tighten so that the airways become narrower and the lining of the airways becomes inflamed and starts to swell." This means that it is difficult to breath and consequently you feel like you can't take it enough air... almost like feeling as though your lungs have shrunk.

Although there isn't a cure there are a number of medicines that can alleviate the symptoms including different types of inhalers and tablets. I was prescribed an inhaler and what a difference it has made. Any time I feel my chest getting tight a couple of puffs from the inhaler and the symptoms disappear. Obviously, if your body can't get enough oxygen circulating around it when exercising then your performance can suffer. Playing football is so much easier now as is cycling.

There's still life in the old dog yet...

Oh look... another hill

Yesterday we had our first real test in terms of endurance. We did part of National Cycle Route 7 which took us from Balloch, at the bottom of Loch Lomond to Aberfoyle and back. A distance of around 43/44 miles. Now, that may not seem too bad in terms of distance but when you add in hill climbs that seem to go on forever it kind of makes it a different proposition.

I met the Mauro, Tom & John, at Central Station around 10am and we got a low level train out to Balloch. The weather was ideal for cycling. Not too warm and with an underlying chill in the air when you were travelling. We stocked up on provisions and then headed off to find the start of the cycle route.

The first part of the trip was pretty easy, there were some hills but nothing compared to what was to follow once we hit Drymen. After that it all changed. On leaving Drymen there is a climb that seems to go forever. In reality it was probably only a couple of miles but when you're not used to it it feels like forever. Anyway, the one good thing about hill climbs is that once you reach the top you get to go back down the other side. We flew down the hills and at one point I nearly hit 45mph (see bottom-right hand part of image). Anyway, the hills kept coming as did the descents but we managed to get past them all.

We reached Aberfoyle around a couple of hours later. We sat out in the sun in the beer garden of some pub on the main street. Sitting on something a lot wider than a saddle felt sooo good. Before long though we had to start making our way back along the same road again. This time though we at least knew what lay ahead which in some ways made it easier... at least mentally. Mind you, when faced with a long climb it is still daunting.

Hill climbs in some weird way are good friends to have. Each time you do them you have to put in a lot of effort and in the end any effort you put in you usually get back in the form of better endurance, more strength in your legs or whatever. They are also a good gauge of how your training is going. The first time you attempt a long hill climb you may be struggling. If after a few more training sessions you try again you will probably find that they become a lot easier. Anyway, back to the run...

The journey back to Balloch didn't seem to take as long as before. We did get held up by some cows going in to get milked but we got back to Balloch around 5:30pm where we promptly celebrated in our usual fashion with a bottle of cider in Tullies.

By the time I got back home my mileage had increased to just over 51 miles which is my best yet. Still, got to reach the 70 mile mark before we go to Sweden.

This one goes out to the ones I ... hate!!!

I have to get this off my chest today. Last night, my wife and I were out cycling and experienced a couple of the downsides to cycling. During the course of our cycle I got spat at by some retard passing by in their mate's car (Awww, you missed!!!). Secondly, my wife and I had stones thrown at us by some teenage kids.

Let me deal with the relationship between cyclists and motorists. Now, I am a car driver and I am, obviously, also a cyclist. When I am driving my car I respect cyclists and give them enough room when overtaking them. When I am a cyclist I always respect cars and try to avoid them. Inevitably though, you can come in to contact with some idiots who think that you shouldn't be there. Either that or you get neds who think that it is funny to try and spit on you or worse. Why is that? I could speculate that it's because they aren't intelligent enough to find something more interesting to do but that would be cruel.

One thing that I am sure annoys most drivers and me, if I am honest, are cyclists who forget that the highway code applies to them also. So often do I see them going through red lights and it hacks me off. All that does is give drivers fuel for the fire and make them hate cyclists even more.

Secondly, you hear about motorists complaining about cyclists not paying road tax even though they use the roads too. Well, my answer to that is that I do pay road tax being a car driver and besides how many bikes pollute the air we breathe or cause roads to need repairing. If more people stared using bikes to commute then not only would there be less traffic on the road but also the air would be cleaner. So, far from being an enemy you should really be thanking us.

As for those people who think it's fun cutting up cyclists let me put this thought in your head. Imagine that you are out cycling or, even better still, imagine your son or daughter is riding their bike. Imagine that some idiot in a car cuts them up and then they fall and, Heaven forbid, hurt themselves, perhaps badly. Still think it's a good idea? Thought not.

The road is big enough for both of us but we need to have mutual respect for each other. Too many cyclists are killed on the roads. Don't let yourself be responsible for adding another one.

As for teenage neds who think it is fun to throw stones at cyclists. Grow up and get a life.

Getting off my soap box now. :-)

Disaster...

Any cyclist will tell you the benefits of having decent clothing to wear when you are out. I mean there is nothing worse than sitting in the saddle for an hour or so and your back side is killing you or getting soaked to the skin when you encounter rain. A few years back I bought a Gore-tex cycling jacket. It could pack away into its own pocket and was very comfortable to wear as it was mesh lined. I used to wear it when I played football as well as it kept me dry but didn't allow me to overheat. Anyway, a few weeks back disaster struck. I was taking it out of a drawer when one of the sleeves caught on something. I gave it a pull and thought I heard the velcro being pulled apart. Sadly no, the sound was the sleeve being ripped in two. Aaarrrggghhh!!!

I was absolutely gutted. Asides from the cost of replacing it it was like losing an old friend. After looking around some sites looking at new jackets (which just weren't the same) I went to the Gore web site (the inventors of Gore-tex). I found that not only do they have a base in Scotland but they also have a list of companies who can do repairs. Anyway, I duly sent an email off to a company called Scottish Mountain Gear describing what the problem was and asked if they could fix it. I had to send off some pics of the tear but they came back and told me that they could fix it.

Anyway, am going to send my jacket off to them next week and hopefully should come back as good as new. Phew!!!

The bike is ready... now my turn

Following on from what I said last time about bike maintenance my bike went in to Alpine Bikes on Thursday to have some work done. The headset in my bike had been wobbling slightly for a time and so I thought it would be best to get it checked out or even replaced. Anyway, got the headset replaced, the rear wheel trued and the gears set up properly. Last Sunday I replaced all the gear and brake cables. I made the mistake of removing the front deraillieur unit to clean it. Trying to set it up again was such a nightmare. Trying to judge the right height on the seat tube and then how to line it up so that the shifting mechanism doesn't rub on the chain or anything else. Anyway, they are all working again so I think we are good to go.

The next thing to do is get me ready. We cycled from Glasgow to Balloch last Saturday. Okay, we took the train back but I ended up doing just over 29 miles... not a bad start. Next weekend I think we are going to Aberfoyle and then at some point we are going to be cycling through to Edinburgh. What this is all leading up to is that we want to have done at least one 70 mile trip before we go. The longest journey by bike I have done before was around 40 miles on Skye (lots of hills on Skye) so this will be quite a task. Yeah I know that Lance Armstrong, etc, regularly do twice that but then again he's not 16 stone and as unfit as I am, ha!!! Mind you, I was playing football on Thursday night, in the middle of a thunderstorm, and I felt great. I wasn't huffing and puffing and even had energy left at the end of the game which is good. We all know that as you get older it becomes more and more difficult to keep fit. You either don't have the time or you feel tired, which is kind of ironic as the more exercise you get the more energy you seem to have. Having Sweden sitting there like a carrot being dangled in front of me is a good impetus to go and get fitter. It's good to have goals. Not having a goal is like being on a journey with no destination. Our destination is Gothenburg but there is still a long way to go before then.

The importance of bike maintenance

When I was over on Mull during my tour of the west coast of Scotland my mate Gordon and I were heading out for a trip somewhere on the island. As you cycle out of Tobermory there is a somewhat steep hill leading out of the town. As we were climbing the hill my gears started to slip and I eventually had to stop. I discovered that one of the little bolts that holds all the chain rings together had somehow disappeared and now my large chainring was beginning to fold over. Not a good thing to happen. Fortunately, Tobermory has a bike shop. Unfortunately, the repair man had left for a holiday in Greece the day before. Bummer...!!!

So, what do you do when you are on a island with no means of getting your bike repaired? Good question. Well what I did was to dismantle my bike, stick it in the back of my car and then take a small ferry back across on to the main land. I then had to drive around 50/60 miles along a lot of single track roads to Fort William where I knew they had a bike shop. I probably spent the sum total of half an hour there before I started to head back to get the ferry to Mull. I did make a slight detour though up to the Nevis Range ski slopes where they were holding the first World Mountain Bike Downhill championships there. Even then, I got there, saw how much traffic there was and then just headed back from whence I came.

So... the moral of this tale? Well, the one thing that it taught me is that if you are going to undertake any sort of long distance or off-road biking you have to ensure your bike is in a fit state to do it. The fact that we are going to Sweden and Norway makes this doubly important since we are going to be in a strange country, possibly miles from a bike shop. Luckily we should have a support van carrying spares and tools should things go wrong but this still doesn't alter the fact that preventative maintenance is perhaps your best chance of having an incident free journey.

Here we go again...

About 6 years ago a friend and I decided to do a cycle tour of the west coast of Scotland. By way of a training run we decided to cycle round the island of Arran, which is a distance of around 55/56 miles. We completed the trip in two days, stopping overnight in a place called Catacol Bay. We then set out on our trip up the west coast, mounting the bikes on the back of my car and heading off up to Newton on the shores of Loch Fine. After that we went to Oban, then Mull, Skye and finally Glencoe.

Okay, where is all this leading to? It was 6 years ago after all. Well... a few weeks ago I was chatting to one of my colleagues at work, Mauro, and he told me that he was doing a charity bike trip from Gothenburg in Sweden to Oslo in Norway. My first reaction was, "I wish I could do that..". Firstly, I love Scandanavia having been to Sweden a couple of times and also Denmark once. Secondly, it just sounded like an amazing thing to do. Anyway, he said to me some time later that one of the team had to pull out of the trip and would I like to take his place? Ohhh yesss!!! Of course, I had to run it past "she who must be obeyed" but I managed to bring her round. The preparation begins again. On Saturday Mauro, Tom (another one of the team) and I cycled from the SECC to Balloch, a distance of around 20 miles. Not exactly a marathon but not a bad start considering the distances we will be travelling over in Sweden and Norway. So, here we are again...