Bags for Jogling

After 4 days off the bike I had planned to do a 60 miler today as my last biggish ride before the off. However, due to important procrastination, I was only left with a couple of hours, so I decided to load up the bike as it will be on the JOGLE and make sure I could manage the hills with my current gearing.


I managed to get an excellent deal on an Ortlieb waterproof bar bag to supplement my rack pack. It is a bit larger than I need but it is light and was going for a song. I run with auxiliary brake levers which give more options in riding position, many bar bags would foul the levers but the Ortlieb with an extention piece gives loads of room.

I loaded the bags up with heavier gear than I will be carrying and head off to find some hills. The bike is quite clumsy with all the bags on but that is to be expected. It was still a fun ride once adapted to but I will probably be a bit more cautious on the descents.

The route I took is here . I was delighted with how it went. Maybe it is because I was all rested up after 4 days off the bike but the hills seemed almost easy, no problems at all with the gearing. Infact some roady guy caught my wheel riding up the long climb out of Nailsworth (see top pic). I expected him to come by with a cheery wave but instead I heard his breathing get fainter and fainter as he dropped off my wheel. Nice. He probably only had one leg but I don't care it boosted my ego!

Another couple of easier rides and that will be it. Time to JOGLE!

Jogle Kit Test

On my commute to work tonight I decided to try out my JOGLE panniers setup. I usually wear a Camelbak Ventoux for commuting. This has enough room for 3 litres of water and all my work kit. This is fine for the 2 hours riding into work but on longer 6 to 10 hour days during the JOGLE will, I felt become literally a pain in the neck.

My choice of bike for the ride however has no eyelets to attach a rack for panniers and only one set of water bottle bosses. All of a sudden it was not looking such a wise choice. Initially we had looked at a trailer, this made sense when we were going to camp but since we are now using youth hostels we will not need to lug a tent around with us and so small panniers will suffice. But how to attach them? After a bit of research I stumbled upon Roger's Jogle Blog . Roger had used a very neat looking solution by Topeak. The Topeak beam Rack MTX - A rack that clamps onto the seatpost and requires no attachment to the frame at all. So that is what I, Dave and Steve have all decided upon. (Copycats)

The racks have panniers of varying sizes that have fold down side panniers like spaniels ears to give plenty of storage. I have gone for the Topeak RX Trunk Bag Ex. It justs click into place on the rack. Lovely.

Next I had to work out a way to attach a further water bottle to the frame. After rummaging around in my box of bike bits and bobs I found a rather nifty clamp that allows another bottle to be fitted. Rather pleased with my self it was now time to try the setup out.

The ride to work was in pouring rain and strong head winds so it was a good test of the panniers weather proofness. They seem to be mostly water proof from road spray but when raining hard the zip lets in enough water to be a problem. Luckily I had put my work clothes in recycled shopping bags. It is good to work these things out now.

When at first setting off with the panniers in place the higher center of gravity was quite noticeable, especially when out of the saddle. Happily this was soon forgotten as I got used to the different handling. My only niggle was that on each pedal stroke my thigh just touches the clamp on the seat post when on the down stroke. Again this was quickly forgotten which is just as well because I am not sure how this could be over come. Perhaps thinner thighs are the solution.

All in all it was a quite successful test. Hopefully I am pretty much set now, 2 x 1 litre water bottles should be enough. The only extra I may add is a small bar bag. Finances are stretched at the moment but it may be the final purchase needed. Better ask Alison nicely.

Joglers are like Buses

Practically all my training has been done solo, all on my lonesome, then this past week I have been out cycling with 2 Joglers on separate occasions. Just like buses as I said.

Last Friday (the 11th) Dr Stephen was down visiting from Scotland so we arranged to meet up for a quick tour of the local Cotswold Hills. We had a fine little ride of 32 miles, based on a route in a recent cycling plus. Our route is here if you care to look. Stephen was, as usual, quicker than me up the hills, weighing about 3 stone as he does, even at his 6ft4ish height. Even so I didn't get tearful and just pretended I was taking it easy before the HONC. I think Steve knew better but is too much of a gent to say so.

Due to the actual riding of the JOGLE starting a day later Dr Stephen is now able to join us for an extra day so we should have more bodies to cut through those Scottish winds.

On Sunday it was HONC or Hell Of The North Cotswolds day. Dave came up for the ride with his rather lovely Specialized Hardtail. He also came bearing gifts courtesy of Pete at Iron Bridge Runner in Exeter who had given Dave a load of Science in Sport goodies at very low prices to help the JOGLERS. (Pete is a top bloke who has also offered to supply goodies for the actual event and drive us to John O'Groats from Inverness Airport. Cheers Pete.)

We started off right near the back of the 1000 strong pack since we were out for a days riding rather than setting any records. This can be mildly frustrating as the sheer volume of riders cause bottlenecks at the narrower points and we came to a complete standstill on several occasions. This was not really a problem though as the atmosphere and organisation were as usual great. Everyone happy to chat and throw about cheesy one liners about men in shorts etc. All good fun. The ride itself was great for the most part and gave my Focus Cross Disc a chance to show its true colours. I can truly say that it excelled. I was really chuffed with it's performance. There was a lot of gloopy mud and many mountain bikers were having to stop to clear the mud from their frame but my skinny little steed kept on riding. There was not really any point during the ride were I felt at a disadvantage to the Mountain Bikers and I was finally glad to have taken the disc option on the bike.

With about 20 miles to go Dave's saddle started to slip slide all over the place in his seat post to the point that it became unridable (as detailed below by Dave). So after 10 miles of struggling we decided to abort. This did not feel like a let down to me though as we had covered 50 miles of pretty tough on/off road terrain and had a really good work out. Even better I felt pretty fresh which bodes well for the JOGLE. Here is our shortened route. Pics to follow when these guys upload them.

Focus Cross Disc Review

This is the bike I am going to JOGLE on. I have had it about 6 weeks now and thought it was time for a mini review. I cannot compare it to other cross bikes as I have never ridden any others. This is just my impressions of the bike in comparison to the rest of my stable.

The Jogle was a good excuse to get a new bike as my Pinarello has a good frame but the kit on it is mostly about 11 years old and a reliable shift is something of a rarity. As I had fancied getting a cyclo cross bike after seeing the Kona Jake The Snake at the HONC a few years ago I thought this might be just the right excuse to get one. Cyclo Cross Bikes are not too dissimilar in geometry to tourers so it did make some kind of sense. I narrowed my search down to Focus bikes as I own and love a Focus Raven MTB and had seen stellar reviews of their cross bikes. It also helps that they are amazing value. In the end I went for the cross disc despite its hefty weight of 23.6lbs because of the disc brakes. I fancied disc brakes in the hope that my rims might last a bit longer than I am used too. Usually I get though a set each winter due to the brakes wearing through. Obviously this is not an issue with the discs.

My first impression of the bike was that it felt very stiff after being used to a whippy steel road bike, this did not make for an uncomfortable ride at all though, just awesome acceleration! The bike gives a really "direct" feel in a way I can only compare to my rigid single speed MTB. It just goes, no flex or fuss. On the road it handles fine although requires a bit more confidence on the fast descents, not quite tucking in like my Pinarello Sestriere. This may feel different with road tyres on though. At the moment all my riding on and off road has been with the Racing Ralph Cross tyres. Off road I was surprised by the bikes ability, the narrow tyres provide an amazing amount of traction, far more than I anticipated, time and again on a steep climb or a muddy trail I would expect the back to slip or step out but it remained true. Very impressive. The bike cannot get near to a mountain bike off road but still it copes far better than I had imagined. The one area there is a clear deficit to the the mountain bike is on fast, steep, loose descents. The bike just does not have the stability to handle these (at least with me riding) at any great speed. There is also a fear of pinch punctures with the relatively narrow tyres.

The finishing kit is all good stuff for the price although I have changed the saddle for a Charge Spoon, upgraded the chain (which was one of those bottom of the line sucktastic shimano jobbies) to a decent KMC one and fitted my MTB's USE SUMO suspension post.

All in all I am chuffed to bits with it. The only downside for me is the brakes. They are ok, they stop the bike and they will protect the rims but the stopping power is quite disappointing. Definitely no better than 105 calipers in addition to this they have a difficult to remove and often embarrassing squeal.

Reviews usually finish with pros and cons so I won't buck that trend:

Pros :
Stiff and quick
Very versatile
Comfortable
Amazing value
Disc Brakes ease wear on rims

Cons :
Disc Brakes squeal and are underwhelming
Weight

So my marks out of ten would be 8/10. Go for the non disc version!

A clip From Todays 67 miler

A quick clip to demonstrate my double chin and prove that I do actually go out in public dressed in lycra.


Severn Bridge from Nick on Vimeo.

The route can be found here as if you cared...... and here is the elevation profile:

Alarmingly it says I am under sea level as I cross the Severn Bridge!