A good reason not to think about your pension while cycling

I admit it, I was deep in a day dream. I was thinking about my pension. I was (to be frank) thinking about my boss's pension too, and some questions I'd like to ask him. Then suddenly, whack! I had that slow motion thing. But unlike the cockroaches you see in slow-mo on nature films, where they find a foot coming towards them laughably slow and can take evasive action, I was unable to do anything except fall kind of through my bike, hitting knee, elbow, thigh. And giving each a good hit and scrape.

The cause? I think I had hit a ridge with my tyre and because it was wet, slipped and fell.

The ridge was simply the join between two bits of tarmac - one green, one grey - with a little metal ridge to seperate them. I find that moving at an angle between two heights on a surface is very dangerous somehow,  and slippy.

Anyway, karmacycle escapes with minor injuries and a few aches - luckily it was in a quiet spot by the canal so no-one was there to run me over.

Try not to think about pensions while you're cycling.

Does your bike feel like it's flagging? Time to give it some air.

My previous post was all about speed. I have a little update. I changed my front tyre last night as I happened to have a spare Schwalbe Marathon in my shed (long story). I finally checked what the make was of my existing tyres, and it turns out they're called Maxxis Detonators - or, as I now know them, pin cushions. They seem to absorb glass and nails as methodically and surely as a sponge soaks up water. The website does call them "training" tyres - does that mean they're not for actual racing or indeed road use of any kind? Anyway, off one of them came, and off the other one will come as soon as I can get another Schwalbe.

Pump it baby

But that's not what I want to talk about. Because at the same time I pumped up my tyres to very close to the limit recommended. I set off with a bit of trepidation this morning. It was definitely a "harder" ride and my rack and paniers were shaking and rattling like never before. But ... my whole ride was transformed! It was like moving from a scooter to a motorbike, or sludge to crisp snow. It felt like I was going about twice the speed with so much less difficulty. I realised that I'd spent the last two or three weeks with a nasty feeling of going through treacle.

Pumped up in the sun

So the moral - should you need it - is that it's worth investing in a really meaty pump and filling up those thar tyres!

With the sun shining, the canal looking lovely, and much more wind in my hair (well, helmet anyway) it was one of the most delightful rides of the year.

Banksy is not the messiah - he's a very naughty boy

I'm loving some of the graffiti along the Regent's Canal in London. This one is just West of Camden Market. I'll put up a couple of others I've spotted over the past few months. Links to sites which show more would be appreciated!

and here are the others:

Cyclescheme and a new bike?

I feel a certain amount of disloyalty saying this, but I'm thinking of buying a new bike. The problem is that my current one needs:
- new wheels & tyres
- a new chain and set
- a new seat
- possibly new brakes and gears

The time comes when you think - well, that will probably cost about the same as a new bike. But inevitably I'm looking at spending a bit more than just the cost of repairing my current one.

My requirements are:
- needs to be tough as some weeks I do 100 miles over London's pot-holes and along the fairly rough canals
- needs to be light and fast
- needs to be strong as I'll be carrying a child on the back sometimes and normally I have paniers
- I don't want to do too much maintenance as I'm a lazy fool
- I think I may be prepared to spend about £600 - with the Cyclescheme through work you can get the bike for about half that price

Doing a bit of research and consulting my ever-obliging and highly knowledgeable bro-in-law, I was thinking of a Chris Boardman hybrid. I got quite excited. But imagine my horror when I discovered that the sole supplier of Chris Boardman bikes seems to be Halfords. And wait for it - the Cyclescheme does not have Halford's as one of the preferred partners.

So I'm back to square one and the deadline is in about 5 days. Any ideas?