Changes

Exactly one calendar month since my last post. Not very good really so here’s an update

Sit ups
The sit up challenge is still a work in progress. It’s a 30 day challenge so should be complete by now but I’ve either forgot, been to lazy or too tired so I’ve restarted it a few times or gone back a few days to pick it back up if I’ve had some time off. I’m upto 75 sit-ups a day though with 140 the target. Half-way there.

Tubeless sacked
I’ve sacked off tubeless on my Ribble now. A few punctures recently and some very big cuts in my rear tyre just made me decide to knock it on the head. Too much faff and too messy on narrow tyres. I’ve still got it on my gravel bike. I was running a tube on the back and tubeless on the front for a few weeks so I just changed both tyres at the weekend and sorted it out. I’ve gone back to my cool checkerboard Jack Browns and their weird 700×33.3 size. Nice, wide and grippy but hard work too.

Whoa Boa!
I’ve been a bit late to the party with some things in cycling like disc brakes and cycling shoes are no exception! I’ve had ratchets and velcro for years. I’ve never seen a need to change then a deal fell in my lap so I took a punt. The Planet-X 365x shoes with a double boa had 40% off and I have to say, for what I’ve paid (£60) vs my 10yr old £220 Northwave SBS Extreme shoes they are a bit of a revelation. Firstly they are so much lighter, much more. They’re comfortable, the sizing is spot on and the Boa is a piece of piss compared to my old ratchet, be it a cool SBS (Step-By-Step) one you can take up and down a notch. Turn the dials to tighten them then a click anti-clockwise and I can just take my shoes off, the boa straps go limp. Simple. Stiff sole too. I’ve only been using them on the turbo at the moment as I’ve been using my winter boots outside. I’ll report back when I’ve had chance to do some juicy outdoor rides on them but so far, very good.

Lights
Last week I bought a new front light. For a couple of years I’ve been using a light I was convinced was 900 lumen which was actually only 600. I took my bike to Bristol with work a couple of weeks ago and did some rides at night down some unlit lanes and to be honest I couldn’t see shit and it was dangerous in places so I found a deal on a Lezyne Super Drive 1600XXL. £120 RRP, I got it for £83 delivered. The model is a couple of years old now but the burn times are just what I needed. 1.5hrs on 1600, 2.5hrs on 1000. Ideal for me.

I took the light for a 50km ride last night and on 1000 lumens I could see everything and cars were slowing down or stopping in the lanes. Perfect. It took me back years when I used regularly train in the dark. I don’t think I’m lazy because I ride indoors more now. My sessions are ‘ard but maybe I’ve become a bit of a wuss about the cold. I’m determined to do more now I can see properly.