Sunday, April 01, 2007
Dunwich and Back to the Sound of Sweet Ant Music
Today I went out on my first 'social' ride, with a couple of mates. Jonny "ice to the eskimos" and Paul "tree surgeon" Bush... The latter is true, possibly the most aptly named tree surgeon in Britain... It was tough keeping up with these two seasoned cyclists, but I only fell behind on one occasion as I was surprised by a missed left turn and push up a hill on the A12 leaving Yoxford. I found myself in the wrong gear and wrong frame of mind and a gap formed. I caught up again on the reverse of the long climb, hitting 28.6 mph in my pursuit. We did just over 21 miles up through the gorgeous countryside around Westleton and up as far as Dunwich on the coast. Some fabulous houses, including a lovely converted barn up for sale, on the Westleton/Darsham road. Probably out of my budget, but worth a quick search on Rightmove....
Anyway, the main thing I wanted to tell you about this journey is the new attachment I have on the bike... It's called a Gomotron and I bought it off eBay from a site in Japan. I thought I'd get ripped off, but only 3 days after paying via Paypal, it arrived on my doorstep... It attaches using tie-wraps, to the left crank (the arm that the pedal is fastened to). It's a clear plastic tube with a bit in the end with some kind of patented chemical in it. You have to collect at least 30 ants from the garden and place them carefully in the tube. Once the pedals start turning, the ants go crazy and start to dart around in the tube, giving off a natural chemical unique to ants. This chemical reacts with the patented ingredients in the red plastic bit on the end of the Gomotron which causes a mini jet of air to shoot out of the end. This makes the cranks turn faster without needing increased pressure from you the cyclist.. At one point, when the ants appeared to be getting a little randy with eachother (it's ant mating season according to Wikipedia.com) they were generating so much of this chemical that I was able to navigate a reasonably steep climb (about 1:7) without pedalling at all (well not much anyway)... I can recommend Gomotron, and if you want one on your bike drop me an email and I'll send the URL for the eBay store...
Anyway, time to go. Just a quick note about my fundraising. An email sent around the office on Friday, resulted in 7 immediate donations and I'm now over the magic £1,000 mark. Thanks to those that donated, and thanks to all of you who have supported me in whatever way so far...
Happy April Fools Day....
Anyway, the main thing I wanted to tell you about this journey is the new attachment I have on the bike... It's called a Gomotron and I bought it off eBay from a site in Japan. I thought I'd get ripped off, but only 3 days after paying via Paypal, it arrived on my doorstep... It attaches using tie-wraps, to the left crank (the arm that the pedal is fastened to). It's a clear plastic tube with a bit in the end with some kind of patented chemical in it. You have to collect at least 30 ants from the garden and place them carefully in the tube. Once the pedals start turning, the ants go crazy and start to dart around in the tube, giving off a natural chemical unique to ants. This chemical reacts with the patented ingredients in the red plastic bit on the end of the Gomotron which causes a mini jet of air to shoot out of the end. This makes the cranks turn faster without needing increased pressure from you the cyclist.. At one point, when the ants appeared to be getting a little randy with eachother (it's ant mating season according to Wikipedia.com) they were generating so much of this chemical that I was able to navigate a reasonably steep climb (about 1:7) without pedalling at all (well not much anyway)... I can recommend Gomotron, and if you want one on your bike drop me an email and I'll send the URL for the eBay store...
Anyway, time to go. Just a quick note about my fundraising. An email sent around the office on Friday, resulted in 7 immediate donations and I'm now over the magic £1,000 mark. Thanks to those that donated, and thanks to all of you who have supported me in whatever way so far...
Happy April Fools Day....
Labels: ants, bike, cranks, cycling, Dunwich, eBay, Gomotron, london, love, paris, pedals, ride, Rightmove, suffolk, Westleton
Monday, February 26, 2007
Three Hundred Miles Is A Long Way
I've just achieved another milestone in my training schedule. A lull in the wet, cold, windy British weather allowed me to go out for a quick ride at lunchtime. Work is especially busy at the moment (when isn't it?) so I could only afford 45 minutes maximum. The quiet country roads I usually train on are part of a big traffic diversion of the main Saxmundham-Leiston road, so are quite busy and have been cut up by the big lorries now using them. Instead I headed South for a change and did a 11 mile circle taking in Snape (where the famous Maltings are) and Friston (where nothing really famous is, although my Suffolk Cycle Map says they have an unusual hexagon shape church).
Nearly lost the back end in a muddy puddle. It just slid and I thought I was a gonner for a split second, but the front tyre hit some dry ashphalt just in time and there was enough grip to allow me to get steady again. When I got home I was covered head to toe in muck from spray off the wheels, but it was good to get out again.
The milestone? According to the odometer I've now passed 300 miles on the new bike. Before you think, "hey that's impressive" that's actually the same distance that I'll be riding in the space of four days when I go to Paris. So it's taken me just over five months to finish the equivalent of my challenge... Luckily there's plenty of time to keep training.
Nearly lost the back end in a muddy puddle. It just slid and I thought I was a gonner for a split second, but the front tyre hit some dry ashphalt just in time and there was enough grip to allow me to get steady again. When I got home I was covered head to toe in muck from spray off the wheels, but it was good to get out again.
The milestone? According to the odometer I've now passed 300 miles on the new bike. Before you think, "hey that's impressive" that's actually the same distance that I'll be riding in the space of four days when I go to Paris. So it's taken me just over five months to finish the equivalent of my challenge... Luckily there's plenty of time to keep training.
Labels: bike, challenge, cycle, cycling, london, mud, paris, riding, suffolk
