Wednesday, January 28, 2009

An Officer if not a Gentleman


A few weeks ago an A4 letter popped through the door and I was delighted to find on opening it that I had received a promotion...to Officer in the OCD.

The OCD is not Obsessive Compulsive Disorder but is close: The Ordre de Cols Durs: a dedicated band of cyclists who aim to take on hills and climb them.

Of all the things I've done in cycling I think this remains my favourite. I'm just in the process of putting together my claim for 2008 which will add another few thousand metres, that may even be enough to bump me up into the next rank....happy climbing:

Monday, January 26, 2009

Hillingdon race 4: Snowballed...


Hillingdon race 4 turned out to be a bit of a washout. Day before I woke up feeling fine and headed off to work.

There we had a bit of fun, celebrating Burns Night (a couple of days in advance).. Whisky wasn't an option and haggis wasn't expected to be very popular..

So the social committee laid on plentiful supplies of IrnBru and Tunnock's sweets..

http://www.tunnock.co.uk/index1.htm

These were a real blast from the past. As a child their caramel biscuits and marshmallow snowballs were a regular Sunday afternoon tea-time treat. I never knew they were part of the Scottish gastronomic heritage and can't remember having any for ages.

Unfortunately I am afraid I rather took advantage of the plentiful freebies and got through several caramel bars and even more snowballs, all washed down by lots of IrnBru.

I felt OK during the day but as evening drew on my tummy went into rebellion and I passed a very uncomfortable/queasy night. I woke up feeling pants and not in best form at all.

At Hillingdon I chatted to a few others about getting into a break and they seemed keen. But once race started plans went awry. I dawdled along at the back of the group for half the ride, then tried stirring myself into action.

But combination of feeling flat and big field meant gettting to front was tricky and by the time I got there all I managed to do was, ironically, pull back a break that was already in progress. Didnt have the energy to go for it myself so just held back and tried for a decent finish.


This worked pretty well, though I was in slightly too high a gear. But still managed a 7th place which gets me half way towards points target.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

December Training Review

Bit late but quick review of December. It was a very good month and saw me feeling great. As above pies show, again spent much more time in tempo/sweetspot compared to last year.

I relaxed a bit over Xmas and lost a bit of form and gained a bit of weight. Back training again now, will be interesting to see what remainder of January brings....

Snow Trouble

Last weeks road race was held in slightly inclement conditions.....here are some pictures

(sadly picture above taken on second to last lap, didnt make it to the end....)

and...excitement... a video

Strong and Smooth: First Road Race Points

Strong and smooth??? /\


First goal of this season is to get 10 points and make it up the road race ranks from lowly 4th cat to not quite so lowly 3rd.


This quest has taken me to Hillingdon for the last 3 Saturdays to take part in the Imperial Winter Series. After a couple of "essai"s getting to know the course and other riders I took the last race a bit more seriously.


I went hard on the first lap and broke to do the first half of the race solo. The conditions didnt offer a realistic chance of staying away but this let me get to know the fastest route through the various corners and get a feel for what I could do solo.


After halfway I was caught at which time I applied a lesson learned from previous rides and stayed at the head of the group. There were various badly organised attempts at breakaways before the sprint on the final lap. Another lesson was applied and I stayed in correct part of the course, though I stared my windup a bit late. Some fun and games on the final straight as someones foot came loose and caused some riders to go cross country. I managed to avoid trouble and came in 8th. Not great but first 2 points....


My solo attempt got a mention in the race report:



4th cats
Surprisingly a smaller field today lined up for the start than for the freezing artic conditions of last weeks race. Although a strong southerly wind provided a different challenge down the back straight, although helping the riders up the drag to the finish.

The wind was not a deterrent to Martin Sigrist (Newbury RC) who attacked from the gun and quickly gained a gap that at one point was in excess of 30 seconds, and he continued to look smooth and strong as he led for over half the distance. Eventually the bunch woke up, however, and within a few laps his lead was reduced to a few seconds and he was swept up by the bunch half a lap later.

Several more abortive individual attacks were launched from the bunch, but without the safety of numbers they were soon brought back as they entered the headwind into the back straight.
A bunch sprint saw Antony Leeson (Addiscombe CC) take the honours on the line from Charlie Pearch (London Dynamo/Cyclefit)




Replacing Batteries In Ergomo Head Unit

My original Ergomo head unit died a few months ago due to its batteries becoming knackered.

I got a replacement but decided to have a go at replacing the batteries in the original.

It proved quite easy to do:

Required:
Replacement batteries: HR-4U needed, 1000ma with solder tab. I got them from here
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=SY153T-ND (Very helpful service with ability to chat with technical support before buying). I bought 10 batteries, total cost was $50 of which $30 was shipping to UK. Arrived promptly 5 days after ordering.

Torque Screwdriver 6 : Luckily I already had one of these.

Mediumstandard flat blade screwdriver: (around 1/4 inch tip)

Soldering iron: with smallish tip

Procedure:
  • Unscrew the black handlebar mount on the back of the unit.
  • Unscrew the 5 torque screws on the back of the unit. (I had to enlarge a couple of the deeper holes so as to be able to get to the screw, just used a penknife for this)
  • Open unit and unscrew 3 torque screws that hold pcb/display to case. 1 screw is smaller than others.
  • You will see the batteries, AAA size.
  • Unsolder connecting wire (opposite end from main wiring)
  • Tricky bit: Hardest part of the operation is getting the old batteries out, since they are firmly glued in place. After bit of trial and effort on first one here is procedure that worked for me:
  • Score down the length of the green plastic battery casing (I used my soldering iron to do this but guess should really use a knife...)
  • Put tip of flat blade screwdriver between end (the one unsoldered) and case, then use a bit of carefully applied brute force to lever out the battery, which should pop clear of the sleeve.
  • Now the battery is out its quite easy to unsolder the other end connection (before doing so make a note of terminal polarity.
  • Before doing anthing else I would now suggest checking that the batteries are the problem. Just use some standard batteries, link to unsoldered ends and check that the display comes on.
  • Assuming it does, clear out as much as possible of the green sleeves from the battery case.
  • Solder up the new batteries in the correct polarity.
  • Put the batteries back into position (I didnt bother with any glue, the fitting is very snug and I didn't want to cause problems when I need to replace again).
  • Reassemble. When screwing back first 3 screws check the pcb fits comfortably over the batteries. If it doesnt then may need to remove some more of the green sleeving.
  • Charge up and hopefully continue.
  • I found all settings had been retained so no need to re-enter, apart from date/time.

PS: If you're reading this far probably got an Ergomo. In this case worth knowing that there is a google group http://groups.google.com/group/ergomo-users?hl=en for Ergomo users

PPS One enterprising lady has put a Youtube movie up of how to do the procedure...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4IQOjaSbY4