Just watch the trailer!
Category: posts
Martyn Ashton: Road Bike 2… SKILLZ
Awesome Day at the Canadian Railway Museum
Just spent the afternoon exploring And riding on various engines and trams at the ExpoRail Canadian Railway Museum.
A Day Without your Smartphone
The Affleck-Damon Batman Angle
So this is making the rounds on the Interwebs today…
Now after some post Five Guys though with Burgy the only way this could work is if the following cast was also involved:
Matt Damon as Robin as seen above
Movie Written and directed by Kevin Smith
Alanis Morissette to play Harley Quinn opposite Alan Rickman’s Joker
Jay and Silent Bob as their Henchman
Scott Mosier as Commissioner Gordon
And of course Ryan Reynolds making and cameo as the Green Lantern
Running of the Coq and Balls
A slightly bizarre game has taken over my group of weekend riders, some of which also like to run and sometimes swim and not particularly in that order. So among these Dads, several of us use either the Garmin Forerunner 410 or our iPhones to track our rides and runs. And as of late, we have been drawing some pretty bizarre stuff with the tracks. Like the time Christopher decided that a lizard should be eating my house:
And then at seem point later thing quick went straight into the gutter as John decided to dedicated a portion of a lazy run towards marking out a todger into the side of a nearby hill.
To which Christopher replied with his own dealing sabre.
I this point I could not let these feeble attempts at obscenely geo-tagging our hood go unanswered I replied with my own pecker in the park.
However it them dawned on me that no one would ever see our masterpieces unless they were to zoom into one of our cock runs. So the only way to make sure our meta-hooliganisms got he appropriate attention of unsuspecting Strava browsers was to make the entire run a giant knob to which I proudly present:
Of course there are always be those who take it that one step too far! Jim of course wins the Internet with this magnificent Coq & Balls.
And I’m sure that some will say that none of this is anything new, as mad Englishmen were doing this kind of silliness back in the 17 century across the chalk hill of Dorchester. May I present to you: the almighty Cerne Abbas Giant
Today’s Riding Lesson: Commit to the Cattle Grid
This morning I set out for ride through the New Forest which straddles the Hampshire and Dorset county line. I left Bournemouth just before 6AM and headed up towards Cranborne for some lovely climbs past Gaunts Common, Holt and our old cottage near Horton. After an brilliant descent into Cranborne, I spent the next 25KM climbing towards Fordingbridge and then up aptly named Godshill before another awesome descent into Cadnam, hitting 66kph before tucking in and hoping to stick the roundabout. It was on this descent that I learned a vital riding lesson:
Commit to the cattle grids!
When you approach six horizontal bars anchored into the pavement at 40 to 50 kph, the worst thing you could ever do is slam on the breaks or try and change directions. I have no idea if any cycling club would ever recommend this, but here is what I did: stood up with feet at 3 and 9 O’clock, hands on the hoods with arms bent and two fingers gently covering the brakes; with my knees bent I squeezed the saddle with my thighs and lined myself up to cross the grid panel head on and right in the middle. You want to stay away from the edge that get butted together, those look far too inviting for 23mm wheels. I hesitated between a bunny hop and just lightly lifting the pressure off the wheels. To be honest I was concentrating so hard on NOT letting any poo come out that I can’t remember which technique I actually used. The first grid scared me silly, especially since there was no warning that I was approaching it until it was far too late. By the time I had crossed my third grid, I was actually welcoming them. Now granted it was a very dry day and my tires and rock hard at 120psi, I’m not all sure this technique would work in the wet or in a curve (if you’re the guy zoning a cattle grid in a curve then f&$@ you). Also if you’re riding a MTB you are probably well versed in stupid road hazards, so your thoughts on this are welcome in the comments.
And We’re Off!
More Actions Shots from the #RTCC
All pics are courtesy of Edwin Santiago
The donation drive for the 2014 Ride to Conquer Cancer is now Open, please give generously
The Pack Mentality, Re-Learning to Ride Safely
In light of this weekend’s tragic accident during BC’s Ride to Conquer Cancer where a young cyclist aged 16 lost his lost after clipping another rider’s wheel and falling into oncoming traffic. I think it’s important that we all remember and in some cases learn some of the basic rules for riding in a pack.
We share the road with cars who despite our numbers, loud jerseys, reflectors and lights will always claim they did not see us. Therefore it’s always a good rule to assume that you ARE invisible to them and try to ride in a way that is akin to the way motorcyclist call defensive driving, anticipate the road and the others around you. If you don’t make eye contact with the driver, then assume they have no clue you are on the road.
I stumbled upon this piece from the MEC Ride don’t Hide blog and had to share it. Please click on through and the read the great tips from Jess Hainstock and Allan Prazsky.
“Fluidity and subtlety are key whenever you’re in a pack, because an element of risk comes with group riding. Etiquette within the pack is important for several reasons, most notably safety for you and those around you,” Allan responds, when I explained the code of conduct I’d observed on the group ride. “There is something called ‘the accordion effect,’ where the action of the front rider gets magnified as you travel to the back of the group. A sudden acceleration, deceleration, or swerve becomes exaggerated as it moves through the pack, ultimately leading to frustration, a crash, or worst case, a frustrated crash.”
As my buddy Alister mentioned this morning when he forwarded the CBC news clipping: Safe Riding People