Life In The Saddle

1) Ortlieb Classic Panniers I had a year of commuting in London last year and used a 30litre hiking rucksack to carry my kit for my 36mile round trip between London Bridge and Heathrow. I was always a bit scolding of the 'pannier boys' who couldn't squeeze through the gaps between the red buses and couldn't track-stand as easily at the lights. But when we started planning our France and Spain Touring Trip back in January, I clearly couldn't put off the pannier conversion any more. I researched what the round-the-world tourers used (just in case we got lost I guess!) and found that the Ortlieb Classic was world renowned as one, if not 'the' best panniers out there. So I ordered a pair and waited to see what all the fuss was about. And now I see - they are worth the fuss! From the moment I opened the box the German manufacturing build quality was evident. These panniers are built effectively as a roll-top waterproof bag with pannier mounts. But the qua...

This year the Isle of Wight Council decided to rack the price of entry for the Seven Hills Killer event up to a whopping £25. That kind of price is perfectly acceptable for a XC event such as the Southern XC series, where there are costs such as course creation, taping and marshaling; but for an orienteering event, where Wight Mountain (the sponsor) appears to cover most of the costs and organisation of the event and the only real cost seems to be the hire of electronic dibber equipment, I find it hard to understand how a price of £25 is justified. £15 would be acceptable for a fun, non-race event, where the aim should be to encourage people to get out on their bike for a challenge. Sorry, that was a bit of a rant; but I think the Council should be doing its best to encourage people to get out on their bikes, not using the cycling festival as a money-making scheme. Onto the event. Because of the price and the fact that I am still getting over my little ride in France it seems, I de...

Departed: 31st August 2011 Returned: 18th September 2011 16 Full Days of Riding Distance: 2283.13 Kilometers (recorded - we missed a few off) [1418.67 Miles] Riding Time: 99:33:12 Hrs (probably over 100 considering the missed) Average Speed: 22.9 kmph [14.23Mph] Average Daily (moving) Riding Time: 6.2hrs in the saddle Average Daily Distance: 143 Kilometers [89 Miles] Rider Weight: On departure: 76.0 Kgs On return: 72.9 Kgs Bike Weight: Between 30-35kgs Fully Loaded

Lazy start to the day - breakfast and coffee in sleeping bags. Fast progress down the river valley towards Le Havre in the first few hours and a chance to stop for some awesome panoramic pictures. We rode over the fantastic bridge on the approach into Le Havre and felt quite euphoric as we headed down towards the city. Le Havre certainly is a bit of a dump of a town - made worse by the spitting rain and cold northerly gale that was blowing through it as we made our approach. We found a small supermarket to grab some lunch and a celebratory bottle of French cider for the ferry. Slight mess up when we found that our fast progress meant we couldn't check into the ferry for another two hours; which meant we had to shelter outside a shopping centre for an hour or so. We got over it when we were on the ferry though - the last leg of the epic journey - It was a pretty interesting crossing with the winds as they were too: We were back on the Isle of Wight by 2230 and had a fast ride back f...

It was a good start to the 5th century-mile day in a row today, although once again a pretty chilly one; it is noticebaly getting a lot colder as we head north. Good tailwinds on long sections of flat road aided speeds of between 45-50kmph in the earlier part of the day, as a result we made some seriously quick progress. Although the flat lands of this area of France are fast with a tailwind, I couldn't imagine using them as a training ground - they would get rather dull and rather tedious if you ended up just cycling on the flat all the time - but at least you would get some pretty awesome TT times if you chose the right route! We arrived in Beaumont le Roger an hour and a half earlier than expected, and as we fancied an easier day tomorrow for the last day, we continued on down the river valley, eating into the last few kms towards Le Havre. About 5km out of Beaumont it started spitting with rain, we sheltered under a bus stop as a huge rain shower came through before heading out...