scobleism.

So I just did a 400k Audax last Saturday (260 miles completed in...

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:17:00 +0100

So I just did a 400k Audax last Saturday (260 miles completed in 23:35).

This year I have too many DNS due to both commitment and the new bike not being ready yet, the Asparagus & Strawberries is the perfect one to start my year with, lots of small rolling hill with almost no flat section, direct train from London, my first foray in riding through the night other than the Dunwich Dynamo.

Awesome if late start, one thing I love about Audax is that there’s no pressure, it doesn’t matter if you finish quickly, you’ll still get the same number of points as everyone, meaning you’re more likely to find someone actually pulling over to check on you if you got a puncture than in a sportive, the people are very much a mixture from the nervous first timer on a tandem to the veteran with their ancient Holdsworth and slightly misaligned cap.

The lack of proper hill was surprisingly off putting as there was no moment where you can kick back and descend comfortably, or spinning happily on the flat for miles, it’s either a slight ascend, or a descent, but never flat, have already did a write-up on my sordid experience.

Can’t wait for the 200k and 600k in the next couple of months, especially the 600k in particular which happen a couples week before the London-Edinburgh-London audax.

Sweet potatoes, beetroot pesto and cottage cheese, recipes can...

Tue, 14 May 2013 01:20:00 +0100

Sweet potatoes, beetroot pesto and cottage cheese, recipes can be found here.

Taste awesome, especially the home made pesto.

Rebecca Rusch is out of this world, just read what happen to her...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:24:55 +0100

Rebecca Rusch is out of this world, just read what happen to her during the Kokopelli Trail (of which she smash the record);

I just hit a rut at high speed and took a nasty, unexpected crash. My first thought was, “Is the bike ok?” Next, I felt my left index finger in the wrong place. Without thinking I put it back in place, flexed it to see if I could still operate the brake, and hopped back on.

I had to ride by moonlight on the most technical section of course for two and a half hours. That cost me lots of time and it was super dangerous, but it would have been impossible to continue without the moon to give me some visibility.

Full article here, I always look up to people like her, especially in these world where women are considered inferior to men (in term of strength and intellectual).

Fat and Furious, a man after my own heart; Forget 650b,...

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:56:00 +0100

Fat and Furious, a man after my own heart;

Forget 650b, it’s all about the fat bike, as demonstrated by Manuel Beastley and his Fat Bike of Glory, the rig that dominated every style of mountain biking at Sea Otter this year.

We hadn’t expected much, to be honest. Beastley informed us that he’d just departed a harsh winter in his native land, the Yukon Territory. He’d hopped a series of freight trains to complete the 3,100-mile journey. His $200 fat bike was fresh off a Walmart showroom floor. We collectively let out some nervous laughter, unsure whether this wild-eyed gentleman was delusional or some kind of offbeat comedian. The laughter immediately ceased the moment we saw Beastley ride.

I honestly think Brixton got it spot on with their village,...

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:53:00 +0100

I honestly think Brixton got it spot on with their village, which is basically an enclosed streets with roof, with a lots of small businesses that’s worth checking out (groceries, restaurant, cafe, etc.), it’s a perfect model for a sustainable encomony instead of those high street chain with their big sales, special offer and it’s homogeneous culture.

Oak Cycles 650B Randonneur by Gold Sear Photography, just need...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:37:00 +0100

Oak Cycles 650B Randonneur by Gold Sear Photography, just need to replace front light, align the front rack horizontally, change the brake cables and a triple matching front derailleur to work better with the big jump from the large to the small chainring.

Oak Cycles 650B Randonneur Project This is Ryan’s (of Oak)...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:20:53 +0100

Oak Cycles 650B Randonneur Project

This is Ryan’s (of Oak) first randonneur frame and I got to says for a fairly new framebuilder, it’s very impressive, it should be because it’s mine.

Right now I have mixed feeling because my dream bike have been made, end of the road, no more fantasy, it’s all here.

It’ll be in Bespoked Bristol this weekend (the British equative of the NAHBS), and I hope it get the attention it deserve.

I can’t wait to ride it.

Skiing was fun, too much savoury food is something I never...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 03:24:16 +0000

Skiing was fun, too much savoury food is something I never thought I would have too much of.

Kati typically underestimate herself by claiming she’s not that good while being more confident to go down red run than I am.

I love this photo, an old lady look very comfortable on her old...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 19:11:03 +0000

I love this photo, an old lady look very comfortable on her old trusty bicycle.

DNF

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 15:58:00 +0000

Three letters, in capitals stand for “Did Not Finish” have a profound effect on me

The idea of not completing a ride due to inane issue such as mechanical, health, or just severe weather bother me so much that I occasional feel horribly desolated, unable to face anyone even thought they have little concern about a simple “bike ride”, it’s the only thing I find myself from being out of control and were able to forget everything that’s happening and just concentrate on getting to the next controller.

I have to DNS (Did Not Start) The Dean 300k because of the severe weather warning of low temperature and heavy snow/rain, looking out of the window in London I kept telling myself I made the right choice but somehow I kept doubting it.

The next one is the 3Down 300k in a couple weeks time, I better have to make that one.

Adventure in Depressions

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 15:26:48 +0000

This comic blog that he wrote really hit it perfectly, especially this feeling I get when I finally snap out of it and go on the bike.

An oldie I know, but I can related to it.

The Cannondale

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 22:21:25 +0000

Since my custom 650B Randonneur bicycle is about to be done, I can finally get rid of the heavy steel CX bicycle that I’ve changed into a semi-decent audax bicycle for a lightweight aluminium road bicycle; the Cannondale CAAD8.

I’m hoping that my theory of riding a heavy and uninspiring bicycle for almost a year and have done various audax ride that made it feel like I’m quite unfit being incapable of keeping up with the road trains* will be enough to make me feel a lots faster on a decent lightweight road bicycle (with fat 28c tyres of course).

I hope I won’t get a rude awaking next week.

*group of club rider, my name for them

I love this Epperson mountaineering climb pack, but it’s...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:12:00 +0000

I love this Epperson mountaineering climb pack, but it’s ridiculously expensive compare to my modern Cilogear WorkSack which work just as well for hiking, even the GORUCK is a better value in comparison.

It’s a shame I’m a little more sensible toward bags otherwise I’d have an obsessive collection of them including that one.

Hi. I saw your picture of abandoned cars in the Ardennes Forest. I live in Belgium, and I'd like to show this to my husband as a surprise. Could you tell me more about the place you took the photo? Maybe the exact location. Thank you very much.

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:18:15 +0000

I’m afraid I don’t know the location, I linked this to the original source which doesn’t exist anymore.

A boy left his bike chained to a tree when he went away to...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:17:00 +0000

A boy left his bike chained to a tree when he went away to war in 1914. He never returned, leaving the tree no choice but to grow around the bike.
Photographer Unknown

Given that this bicycle look more of a child’s bike, I seriously doubt an 8 years old decided to fight the German in Europe.

Secondly, the American arrived fashionably late in 1917 (but was well received despite that).

Thirdly, most importantly, Cruiser style bicycle weren’t around till the 30’s.

What Do You Think About While Cycling

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 18:26:35 +0000

“that looks nice”, “I’m hungry”, “look at that”, “I’m thirsty”, “not seen anything like that for a while”, “I need to shift position”, “it’s so quiet”, “here comes a bend”, “I’ve not seen a car for over half an hour”, “mmm, banana flavour”, “engage my glutes”, “the trees have changed”, “I’m going to write another book”, “I’m hungry”, “hello, other cyclist”, “what will I eat when I get home”, “I’ll go fast for a bit”, “what the fuck is life about anyway”, “I’m hungry and thirsty”, “fuck off, cunt”, “wow, look at that”, “I love cycling”, “I hate cycling”, “something about the human condition”.

- Scarlett Parker

New Year Resolution

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:12:00 +0000

These sort of thing people often make and forget afterward which is fairly common, however I have a clear plan of what to do in 2013 already before 2013 beckoning;

Complete the London-Edinburgh-London Audax.

A 1400km audax in 5 days averaging 175 miles a day, I wanted to do some serious ride that’s out of my ability/comfort zone, I personally think that we should do thing we’ve no idea how it’s going to pan out, the last difficult ride I did was back in 2011 covering 600km from London to Cumbria in 3 days, and also brilliantly enjoyable despite being rather unfit on a bicycle I’ve brought 2 weeks prior with no experience of doing a long ride let alone a Century*.

I have a custom bicycle that’s yet to be done (deposit paid back in May 2012), hopefully the bike will be done before the ride.

Complete more audax ride.

Including the London-Edinburgh-London audax, I wanted to do a lots more audax ride in 2013, especially with the new custom bicycle I’ll be getting soon, from a modest 100km, a heartily 400km to a staggering 600km ride.

Find a job that suit my ability (whatever they are).

Currently I work in a chain bicycle shop (not unlike a Tesco with bicycles), volunteer for the London Cycling Campaign and do the occasional cycle training, but I would like to do something worthwhile and get paid to do so, probably a charity base job, but given my lack of qualification let alone experience, it’s pretty hard to see what I have to offer, if any.

Take the girlfriend out for a proper tour.

After we’ve put together her new new bicycle (her current bicycle despite being the right size, have an idiotically steep seat angle that increase the top tube length as well making the Brooks saddle redundant), I hope to do a 400km credit card tour with her in the summer, she enjoyed the Lake District last summer but her bike hindrance her ability and comfort which bother me a lots.

Adventure.

To put it simply, I want to walk mountain more, get out of the UK more, travel more, but these are dependant on resolution #2 especially the latter, I would love to walk Yosemite, The Sierra Nevada, ride the Continental Divide, etc. this is part of my future plan of living in California where my friends are.

Stop being a recluse.

I don’t know why, but I never find it easy or comfortable to be around people, let alone talks, maybe it’s the fact I’m deaf whom barely able to lipsread, I have appalling sign language as well, this is just one of those personal aim rather than a resolution.

Getting rid of stuff.

I have too much stuff, I would love to reduced my needs to a couple of suitcase worth, especially bicycles (I have too many frames and parts lying around), it’s surprisingly exhilarating to not have a lots of stuff, like not owning a car let alone a driving license make a major difference.

I’ll probably update this soon, but this is all I can think of in the last few months.

*Century - 100 miles.

Lil’ Buddy

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:41:30 +0000

Lil’ Buddy

A car drives around a house that stands in the middle of a...

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 18:14:56 +0000

A car drives around a house that stands in the middle of a newly-built road in Wenling, Zhejiang province, China. An elderly couple refused to sign an agreement to allow their house to be demolished. They say that the compensation offered was not enough to cover rebuilding costs. Their house is the only building left standing on a road which is paved through their former village.

Picture - REUTERS/China Daily

My new bicycle, a 650B Randonneur inspired by Rene Herse. It...

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:14:00 +0000

My new bicycle, a 650B Randonneur inspired by Rene Herse.

It intended to have Reynolds 853, low bottom bracket, brake bridge to fit the Gilles Berthoud mudguard perfectly, mount for only a front rack to carry a handlebar bag, fillet brazed with a wrap-around seatstay and lugged bottom bracket, and clearance specifically for the Grand Bois 42c Hetre tyres, and lastly, mount for centerpull brakes.

It’ll be build by Oak Cycles whom will start building the frame soon.