Old School

With a new breed of 'cyclist' littering our roads, time for a spot of 'mostly' tongue-in-cheek reminiscing.

20 signs you are 'proper old school cyclist'.....

1. You think a Gran Fondo is an ice-cream.
2. You don't think toe clips are something that need doing when your nails are too long.
3. Your gears don't peg out because of a dead battery!!
4. It's a wet day in July and you don't take to the turbo or give that day's bike ride a miss.
5. Your old hand built steel frame doesn't scare the crap out of you on a windy day.
6. You remember the Milk Race.
7. Your brakes aren't leaking oil.
8. When someone speaks of tubulars and bells, you don't immediately think of Mike Oldfield.
9. You know who Merckx, Fignon, Roche, Millar, Kelly, Hinault and Raas etc are.
10. You think Garmin GPS is a security company.
11. You think riding 4 abreast is two ladies cycling along side by side, not a group blocking half the road.
12. You know that LBS stands for 'local bike shop' and not 'legs bl**dy sore'.
13. The steep hill you encounter on the road is there to be climbed if you feel like it and walked whilst admiring the view if you don't......not to be climbed in a lung busting, heart damaging 'look at me' fashion just to prove some sort of pointless point.
14. You've heard of, and remember, the famous Gavia Pass stage in the '88 Giro.
15. You're familiar with Reynolds 531 and know it isn't the start of someone's phone number.
16. You have heard of the Coors Classic.
17. You remember Winning Magazine.
18. A rest day is....what's a rest day!?
19. You can walk around off-bike without your feet sounding like Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire.
20. You greet fellow cyclists on the road with a cheery hello smile or wave, in stark contrast to the modern day grunt or silence.

S McKeown (Old School Cyclist)
February 2015

Now that's a first....

Now then dear readers, in almost 40 years cycling I think this has to be a first, a totally frozen and locked up rear derailleur on this morning's commute. And, with the chain making itself at home over a low cog, thankfully the front derailleur was working!!

I had thought of a way of de-icing it, but a combination of modesty forbidding me and the sub-zero temperatures, very soon put an end to that notion.........   #3gearcommute

If Carlsberg could do Winter mornings....

Another eventful commute this morning, sometimes I think there's wiser chewing grass in the fields. 

But you know for me it's just a privilege to be out in the fresh air.
And this same morning a fox ran across me...

Time for the Turbo

There's nothing else for it, time for the Turbo.
 
Now the humble Turbo sometimes gets a bad rap but there's no questioning it is a valuable aid to maintaining one's fitness levels on a day such as this and I for one am a big fan of it.

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Strangely Interesting

This was starting to get, ahem....... 'interesting'.
I can safely say, without fear of being called a cad and a liar, that as commuter bike rides go........I've been out in milder conditions.

A Timely Reminder

The photo accompanying this latest blog was taken back in the summer for a friend who followed my travels on 'The Raleigh' with great interest, but who alas sadly never got the chance to see it.

This has served to remind me, and I really shouldn't need reminding, of two things in particular.
1. Seize the day, don't put off until tomorrow that which you can do today and...
2. Never take life for granted.

This time of the year is traditionally a time for being with family and friends but there are many for whom this Christmas will only bring the still empty place at the table and a time of continual sorrow and sad reflection..... and my heart goes out to them.

From the Ashes

The news from Manchester this morning is yet another reminder of the acts of sheer cruelty that are carried out in this world and, as is so often the case, against those who can't protect themselves.
However, out of the darkness of such cruelty invariably comes a beacon of honest to goodness, human decency.

I've often heard the word hero loosely bandied about when referring to, let's use an example here......sports people.
Does trying to put a small ball into a hole for ridiculous amounts of money, or kicking a ball around a patch of grass for ninety minutes, again for absolutely crazy money, make someone a hero.......what nonsense, of course it doesn't.

To me a hero is someone who does or achieves something for a greater good, to help others and simply make our world a better place.....quite often putting their lives on the line in the process.

There have been countless tales of unbelievable acts of heroism down the years, and the stories of sheer bravery, kindness and of people uniting as one for a common goal, coming from the ashes of the tragedy at the Manchester and Cheshire Dogs' Home overnight, bear testimony to the goodness and courage that exists within the human spirit.  

'Bravery doesn't mean you aren't scared, it means you go anyway.........'