Cocktails

We had our annual cocktail party last night. All of Team Tapas attended, along with some proper bike racing types and other assorted layabouts, culminating in some snowy muggings outside in the street at 3am. There were some vague mutterings about entering the Cardiff round of the Welsh Cyclocross League the following morning, but I certainly didn't make it, and I have strong doubts about the others.

Snow and ice

Just fitted some snow tyres to the SS, fairly narrow but with a deep tread and studs down the outside. Hopefully they will keep those heart-in-the-mouth moments when the front wheel slides a foot to the side on some ice to a minimum (I really dislike it when that happens on the way to work). I have also discovered that sticky rubber soled shoes work quite well on ice. Roll on the Puffer...

Wear and tear

Probably got my money's worth out of this chainring. It did well though, a couple years old and a few thousand miles. Now replaced with a very shiny Surly stainless steel one.

Breakfast

Wobble

Another fine weekend at the Real Ale Wobble. Rather unusually, the sun was shining on Saturday for a fantastic 23 mile or so ride around the hills of Mid Wales, with real ale available at the checkpoints. Some big grindy fire road climbs, slippery and sketchy descents, and the wonderful puddle run, where Matt took a swim on Sunday, followed by an evening in a marquee at the back of a pub with thirty or so real ales to try. There was a band as well (who play every year), with the audience degenerating into a sweaty mosh pit by the end. One of the best, and probably the most social, events of the year.

Ow...

... I think I may have some thorns still embedded in my knuckles. Any ideas how to get them out?

Strathpuffer 2011

We're in! The Strathpuffer is the toughest 24 hour race in the UK, and is rated by US bike mags as being in the top ten toughest races on the planet. It takes place in the middle of January north of Inverness, where the weather and conditions can be interesting to say the least. I will be borrowing some spiked tyres as the main climb has often be rendered unridable due to a covering of sheet ice. Speaking of unrideable, my Felt singlespeed is approaching maintenance critical mass - it currently needs attention to the chainring and chain (worn out), the EBB (full of dirt and creaking like mad), the bottom bracket bearings (shot), the rear hub bearings (also shot) and the front brake pads. And the front wheel is a bit buckled. Hope fully most of this will be able to wait until next week as we are off the Real Ale Wobble on the weekend - this event has a bit of a reputation as a bike wrecker so I am a bit loathe to put nice new bits on only to grind them into a paste a couple of days later.

World Solo 24hr championships

Massive congrats to Matt Page on coming sixth in the 24 hour solo worlds. I never would have thought that watching a Twitter feed could ever be exciting, but this was something else; an amazing performance from Matt at his first worlds, which showed depths of strength and determination that I can only dream of. A big shout to Nia and Ben to keeping the little bugger going as well.

Welsh Cyclocross League Round 2 - Risca

A decidedly wet weekend in South Wales, which was host to two significant sporting events - the Ryder Cup, and more importantly, round 2 of the Welsh Cyclocross League. Round 1 was fairly dry, but this weekend was very wet (so wet that the golfists had to abandon play the day before) resulting in a grassy quagmire of a course. As this was our second 'cross race we were now seasoned experts - Tim had bought a new tyre and I now had a gear that I could turn in the mud. It was very hard going though, on one lap I nearly lost a shoe running between the hurdles, and the grassy climb back up to the leisure centre was pretty much unrideable for the majority of riders. I had a couple of mechanicals but managed to stay ahead of Tim, and ended up getting in one more lap than him, and actually lapped someone at the end, successfully meeting my goals of not being last. Really enjoyed it though, felt like a proper cross race to me.

ETA Results just in: I was 57th, Tim 58th, out of 66 starters.

Team Tapas

Team Tapas embodies a new approach to bicycle racing. If you are fed up of racing round and round a field worrying about whether you are in 129th or 130th place, then Team Tapas is for you. The elite athletic members of Team Tapas would much rather pause for some cured meats, cheese and a refreshing glass of wine than charge past people shouting "rider" - it's more civilised, friendlier, and chorizo tastes really nice.




Some members of Team Tapas relaxing after a race.