Smooth Solidarity.

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Barnaby Nutt

October (2011):
commutes by bike 12 (131)
commute distance 310.5 (3597km)
total distance 703.5km (9255km)
commutes by car 7 (39)
turbo sessions 0 (1)
time trials 0 (17)
run 23km (63km)
row 7km (256km)
nights not at home 0 (47)

After yet more days of not feeling well and so lacking the motivation to ride, I’ve ended October having commuted by car 7 times. In February that figure was zero.

Still, the Polish trip has bumped up the mileage for the year for the year and I’d should achieve the 10,000km mark for the second time ever.
I appreciate that this is more than most people, but to put it into context, I was speaking with a rider from another local club who was telling me that he was already past 21,000 and would get to 24,000km+. He had records going back 35 years totalling 800,000km! No wonder, even at 57 years old, he is still kicking my arse on time trials.
Still, a mini-tour over the next couple of days should get me past 9,500km and closer to having a rest at Christmas.

Kaffenback Sunset.

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Barnaby Nutt

I’ve had my Planet X Kaffenback since January 2007. Since then, we’ve covered almost 13,000km together. It is nothing special, just a simple steel frame with straight-forward components. There is nothing bling and no-one lays awake at night imagining owning one.

But this bike has been completely reliable as it has taken me to work through all weathers. There are rack and mudguard mounts to make it practical and I find the geometry perfect for covering long distances fairly quickly.

I’ve just treated it to a pair of SKS Longboard fenders/mudguards/wheelbrows. Apparently, they give better coverage (and therefore keep you drier) than any others. These are beige[!] and made from recycled plastic.

Planet X have now upgraded the Kaffenback. The mark 2 version offers the same, no-frills dependability but with replaceable drop-outs, giving the option of running disc brakes, fixed/single. I rode the prototype of this to Poland earlier in the year, a trip that I WILL write up soon.

But in the meantime, the sun isn’t setting just yet on my original Kaffenback. And who knows, maybe more people will ‘get’ the name with the re-launch…

Only A Mother Could Love It.

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Barnaby Nutt

You may have noticed that it got dark a little earlier on Saturday. That is because I took my new Planet X Exocet frame out of its packaging. The matt carbon finish (no weave; it looks like a lump of pencil lead) with darker grey graphics and black everything else just seems to absorb light.

Once it’s built and ridden a bit (with lights obviously) I’ll let you know how it rides, but initially it looks a very serious bit of kit. The super steep seat angle and low front-end (bearing races are built into the frame to take a few more millimetres off the stack height) give the impression that its design is all about function over form.
First race on it will be in 2 weeks time so I’ll need to get it built and get some miles in the slightly different position before then.

And of course, there’ll be plenty more pictures to follow…

Blanket Hog

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Barnaby Nutt

A bit more training for my trip to Poland in April.
Yesterday I dragged the Yak trailer 156.5km around Leicestershire on a route that was pretty much the same as the one we took on our attempt to walk the Leicestershire Round long-distance footpath in 3 days.

It was pretty tough and my decision to save the hills of Rutland until 100km into the ride was especially dumb.
The route is here if you’re at all interested…

get miles

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Barnaby Nutt

quiet on the blog just lately.

not because i’m not doing much.

if fact quite the opposite.

just too busy.

i do continue to clock up the miles in preparation for my ride to poland. only 8 weeks to go. i’ve been getting used to dragging the trailer. i need to start increasing the weight in it…