Sunday, April 30, 2006

Super Commuter


Well, I’ve had the bike for over a month now and I’m loving it. I was tempted to go more simple with a single speed or fixed wheel but I think this bike makes more sense for the length of my commute.
Throughout the winter you don’t get many other cyclists on my route but as spring arrives a few of them start to appear. Sometimes when a fully kitted out racing cyclist overtakes you its fun to try and keep up with them. And last week I had the satisfaction of catching and overtaking one as we arrived in Belfast. He’d overtaken me about 2 miles in to the commute so I thought lets see if I can keep up. I stayed about 20 ft behind him – it was hard going at first but after about a mile I got used to the pace and kept my distance for 7 miles then coming up to the last mile I made my move. He never caught me again – I’m sure its quite humiliating being overtaken by someone in their work clothes, especially when you are fully kitted out in Lycra.
Childish I know, but sometimes you need a bit of a challenge on your commute.

It was my sons 6th birthday last week and guess what he got – a new bike! His first proper one with gears. Its actually heavier than mine and he still hasn’t learnt to ride properly yet so I might teach him on his sisters old bike first – she’s going to need a new one by the summer as well! Hopefully, he will learn soon as the trailer bike we were using doesn’t fit on my new bike because of the suspension seat post, but walking to school has been fun as well.
I've also had my camera nicked this week while I was doing a show so no pictures for a while:(

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Dave,
I read your blog with great interest.

You wrote
"I’m sure its quite humiliating being overtaken by someone in their work clothes, especially when you are fully kitted out in Lycra.
Childish I know, but sometimes you need a bit of a challenge on your commute."

I think it is more complicated than you think. I go round a circuit, the Cap d'Antibes, and there's one guy who overtakes me and it looks like he's on his way to a tennis tournament. I watch and learn.

On the same circuit I overtook a tandem recently towing a speed skater. A bit later they overtook me. As I said, I watch and learn.

... and yes, I'm fully kitted out in lyra. Keep the postings coming.