I'm Back...With a Vengence!

After taking a week off to 'recover' I've been putting in the miles again. Starting with a training ride on Monday and Tuesday. Monday's ride was a quick spin with a couple of guys from the club, the winds made it especially hard and having created the route I spent most of the time on the front, meaning I got a good workout. Tuesday was a race team ride with Tom and James, after pulling my fair share at the start, I had to sit on the back for the final third as the pace was too high for me to maintain. We averaged 31.9 km/h on a route which included Tom's Hill and the backside of Ivinghoe Beacon, followed by Billington hill - my nemesis of climbs.

Wednesday was an opportunity to test my form as James suggested an impromptu time trial on the Tring course, which has a reputation for being fast. Upon arrival we were informed that the course has recently been resurfaced, as a result it isn't quite as fast as it used to be. However the air was completely still and so fortunately there was no wind to deal with.

The result was that I set a new PB, breaking the 24 minute mark by just two seconds. Despite the new PB I was slightly disappointed as I felt I should have gone faster at the start. I held back as I wasn't sure how my form was, and it was only after being passed by my minute man after 2 miles that I realised I was pacing the ride awfully. It might also have had something to do with the fact that I was riding without any sort of speedometer, riding purely on feel. After a PB perhaps I'll ride blind more often!

With the school holidays having started I'm looking forward to an exciting week of training in preparation for this Thursday's race.

Time Xpresso 4 Pedals - Review

The pedals are not showing many signs of wear after 700km.

The Time Xpresso 4s are Time's mid/low range pedals. I've had them since April now so I think it's about time I wrote a review (no pun intended).

Before buying the 4s I actually purchased a set of the Xpresso 8 pedals, which are a higher end model. However upon arriving home, I quickly realised that buying white pedals may not have been such a good idea. So I held of using them and returned to the shop two days later to exchange the 8s for the 4s. The difference between the two models is negligible in my opinion. I think the weight difference is something in the region of 12g, so unless your bike is made of feathers it's not really going to be noticeable. The only other difference, is the size of the bearing, apparently bigger is better.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the cleats.

The 4s go for around £50, and considering they're made from precious, precious carbon, that's not bad at all. I've only done about 700km on them so far but they've been great. The biggest difference I've noticed in the upgrade from the Shimano SPDs to the Time Xpressos is the fact that the Time Xpressos hold my feet much tighter and give them less room to shift around. This is one of the biggest factors that convinced me to upgrade. The only issue I have experienced is that, the cleats, despite the fact I do very little walking in my cycling shoes, have almost worn out completely. In the year and a half that I had the SPDs I never once replaced the cleats, but I expect I'll have to replace these ones before long. As you can see from the photos the rubber on the cleats has worn out fairly rapidly, leaving the bare plastic exposed.

The rubber has worn away quickly, exposing the plastic

The open design with the Time Xpressos is great, I thought this might weaken them somewhat and shorten their life span, but so far there are no signs of the pedals themselves wearing out. It means it's quick and easy to engage them, particularly useful when pulling away from a busy junction. There's no tension adjustment with these pedals as they work much like a mouse trap however this hasn't proved to be a problem.

Overall I'm very happy with the Time Xpresso 4s and I can certainly recommend them to anyone looking to upgrade and take the step up from entry level SPDs. I'll keep you posted on the cleat-front, so we'll see how long they actually last



I'd be interested to hear your opinion if you have tried Time pedals, and particularly how the measure up to other brands. 

Race Day.

I'd left something at home, again. It wasn't the money this time, it was my race number. Thankfully they let me race anyway*. Although I hadn't been for two weeks I was feeling good and thought it might be my first chance to pick up some points.

I had a position midway up the bunch for the first few laps, trying to conserve energy. But after rubbing hands with the guy next to me it was quickly abandoned in favour of one closer to the front. It was a pretty nervy race yesterday, a lot of swerving, and shouts of 'hold your bloody line!'. I like to stick to the inside of the course, that way I know where my line is.

I held a good position for most of the race, James on my left came second overall.

I was able to hold my position in the bunch fairly well throughout, and stayed within the front ten most of the way round. Then (near) disaster struck, as we approached the bell lap one of the riders to my right swerved suddenly towards me. Our handlebars locked and for what felt like minutes we were jostling around trying not to fall, my front wheel came up and I thought 'this is it, your first ever crash, you're going down Wilf. Prepare yourself'. I'm not sure how, but I managed to stay upright. It did mean I lost a lot of places though, and I think several guys behind had to brake hard, one guy went into the grass and had to abandon the race with just a lap to go. I didn't manage to make my way back to the front on the last lap, and although I must have gained about twenty places in the sprint I was too far back to be in contention. 

The Milton Keynes Bowl, courtesy of Google.

James Barlow, who also rides for LBRCC placed second overall, despite his claims of 'not feeling too good'. And good races were run from the other LBRCC guys: Neil and Gareth, who handled my little tussle well, skilfully avoiding running into the back of me, I'm very grateful for that!

In the end I was glad that both me and my bike were unharmed, if a little shaken up. As for losing my position, there's always next time. 

Strava profile for the race.

*After the hiccups of Wednesday and yesterday, I've decided to write out a race day list which is pinned to my bag. Never again shall I forget!

Second TT and a PB

Yesterday was time trial day, I've only ever ridden one time trial before which was last Thursday's Hemel 10 miler. The Hemel course is simple enough, you ride up a straight road on the way out, then down the same road on the way back. Nothing complicated especially as there are marshals at both roundabouts. It's a long slog uphill on the way out, which I like.

Yesterday though, yesterday was hard. The North Bucks TT is a really undulating course, but it's long undulations which I hate. I like the long grueling gradients that go on and on, ones I can settle into a rhythm on. This, was not one of those. My TT started bad and got worse.

It was 5:30 and I thought to myself, right 15 minutes and then you need to get ready to go. Half an hour later and I was scrambling around trying to get my bits together. Spare tube, tyre levers, etc. Quickly attach the clip on aeros. Go. I was supposed to be meeting James at the Three Locks, which is a pub en-route to the TT. It's only 6km outside of Leighton Buzzard but 10 minutes wasn't a lot of time to get over there. It turns out I was so desperate not to be late that I rode like the wind and pulled in early. So it was a leisurely ride over to McDonalds, where the makeshift car-boot headquarters were parked. I was bugged the whole way by a squeaky cassette, I'd forgotten to oil it after cleaning my bike. Anyway, I was here now, time to get down to business. Okay sign on and...oh...where's my money? Oh yeah, that's right, it's sitting at home on my desk, in a neat pile, with some selo-tape round it so it doesn't jingle in my jersey pocket. Thankfully Miles was there to save me, he's a great guy and lent me the money.

So I put all the mishaps behind me and began to get ready, music on, get motivated. I take the music with me on the time trial. You're not really supposed to but it gives me something to do. Well for 100 metres it does. Before it cuts out and I spend a good thirty second fiddling with the iPod trying to get it to play, those are thirty seconds I should have been riding for. I gave up eventually and got down to the cycling. I knew Tom was my two-minute-man and he's fast so I told myself that if he hadn't caught me by the halfway point, I was going well. It was a headwind out and mostly uphill coming back which meant it was hard - really slow on the uphills and not fast enough on the short downhills. I struggled to get my speed back up after cresting any kind of bump. About 3/4 of the way round Tom caught me. He was going fast so I decided to try and keep him within sight, and I did. I kept him within about 40 metres for a good while until the roundabout where I had to slow for a car. I couldn't have finished more than thirty seconds behind, which meant I wasn't more than 2:30 off Tom's time. I was happy with that.

As it turns out I set a PB, 24:50. Which is thirty seconds faster than my previous attempt. Mind you I hadn't pushed myself particularly hard on the Hemel course, and I'd ridden it on a full stomach. Interestingly, I also got a 3rd place overall on a Strava segment whilst racing to the meeting point with James...I've decided to be late more often.