The Ride is out there
I ride. Therefore I am.
I first turned a pedal in anger in 1991, at a local mountain bike race.
Since that overcast Sunday in April (which was a day before being made redundant from my dream job) I have owned, raced, toured, couriered, fixed and sold bikes.
I didn't really make a conscious effort to like them, and to be honest there are so many more people out there who are rabidly into cycling in a MUCH bigger way. But somehow they've come and gone. So that makes me a slow burner. I guess.
Bikeanomicon - eh?
Hmm. Good Question!
Bikeanomicon is I hope, a book about bikes. OK, I needed something that was somewhat unique. On a superficial level this site is repository of my thoughts and experiences on a bike. I did have a basic blog but to be honest it's very limited. I also am starting to diarize my trips, which could help the uninitiated. It's epic stuff when you learn from your mistakes, but honestly, when you are midway on a 100 mile bikepack journey without a shop in sight, some second hand insight is a great thing in deed.
Lanza 4-day MTB Stage Race UCI
Almost an epic....
Hmm.
I really shouldn't be going back to February 2025. But please give me a break and give me the pleasure of recall, as the story has matured and grown in legend as calendar pages fly by.
Jim and I decided to revisit the epic event-island of Lanzarote almost 10 years after we both completed the 2015 Lanzarote Half Ironman. That was for me, a very successful event, to the point I couldn't bring myself to revisit the half tri there, as I felt I could not better my results.
A lot happens in 10 years. A huge change of job from 50 year old Senior Marketing Manager to a near 60 year old, struggling bike mechanic, a global pandemic, no core strengthening activities and a change of lifestyle overall.
However, one thing hadn't changed. Jim and I have a hilarious rapport with each other. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I said we were both a bit dippy and simultaneously capable and serious. We appreciate our 'space cadet' moments, yet don't ridicule each other. Even when we are up against it, we'll produce a proper trouser-ripping moment of laughter.
I've known him since 2009, when I joined a Watford Kung Fu Club. He is an established instructor, and also a former ABC junior boxing champion. Also throw in the experience of at least 10 Ironman events, Ultras, duathlons and everything in between.
There were plenty of those trouser rippers, most of them involving misplacing, mistranslating and mistaking everyday things normal humans take for granted. Of course they should have their own blog, one day, for sure.
Preparation was good. My epic, with its 29r wheels had to fly tyre-less to fit in the revealingly outdated bike box. (nearly everyone at the airport had EVOQ bike bags) I had to re fit and refill the tubeless tyres, whereby I just opened up the tyre and poured the Stans fluid straight in, CO2d the tyres to engage the rim. Jim was suitably impressed!
Other than that, Jim's derailleur was slightly out of synch. I adapted my clothes rack, a metal tubular framework for the kids bedroom which I wheeled into the living room and hung his Canyon Lux by the saddle tip. Adjusted the barrel, the b-screw checked limits. Nice.
La Santa is an excellent town both in its character and its distance from Club La Santa. Rideable in about 10-15 minutes we could rock up a the start nicely warmed up. That, was the plan.
Time is generally a constant. Yes, it does apparently dilate when you factor in travelling close to or faster than the speed of light. However the worst distortion of time occurs on the morning of a race when everything that should have come together starts to unravel, and everything that is already together creates a 'faff wormhole' where all your preparation starts to funnel into nothingness. So, an hour becomes 15 minutes, and 15 minutes turns into about 5 minutes.
But we were ok! The bikes were prepped, we were in a good place and the race start time + travel-to was still 20 minutes in the black. It was a proper 'off the ramp time trial; we were both looking forward to.
As soon as we hit outside and the main street, we noticed the headwind, strong, aggressive. Oh, and the start was a bit further than we thought. A lot further once we factored in the wind. Mild panic set in as we were not going to keep to our timings. Another chap dropped in on his bike and we made a stab at 'through and off' keeping sheltered for as long as possible.
We reached the start line with about 10 minutes to go for Jim and me about 15 minutes. Jim looked good as he set off and disappeared into the foot of the hills. The ramp start was a fun first for me as I followed.
I honestly can't remember much about the TT, it was very tough, and it was a proper 'burner'. As with all time trials I hated every minute of it. The end was somewhat ridiculous as if every last drop of off-road was squeezed out of it. Oh well, we finished day 1.
We ascended the hill and seemed to long out the ride home. It was a 21km xc ride for chrissakes!
After a wash and brush up, we went to our new favourite restaurant. I ordered a seafood pizza and Jim some pasta meat affair. Mine wasn't as delicious as I anticipated, as the tuna on the pizza was tinned, and then there was a smattering of 'crabstick' slices - a rather low blow in my opinion and not something I'd expect from a meal in the middle of a fishing village. I was getting full so offered Jim a slice which he didn't refuse. A bit more analysis of the race and we hit the sack.
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I first came across recycle a bike in Uxbridge about 10 years ago. It was a very niche, cool firestation-come-bike studio, with a workshop downstairs and a showroom upstairs. Its prime objective was to refurbish or repurpose donated bikes and sell them back in to the community. Some of those in the team were sufferers of mental health, and so it doubled its value by developing them into full scale employment and durability into the bigger social picture.
For mountain lovers
Hike, climb, enjoy the magnificent nature!
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