Candy Cranks

Well, its been a while since I’ve posted – my bad, work and life has been busy! So I’d thought I’d do a little catchup of what’s been happening in London Town in the past couple of months.

First of all, I’ve made my first foray into the world of track riding! A friend of mine and cycle coach down at Herne Hill Velodrome ran a couple of ladies only training sessions, and they were a roaring success. Track can be a little scary so it was really nice to have a private session with a bunch of my bike girlfriends.

It was hard work though. After changing my gearing to a more suitable 83 GI we all lined up and wobbled round the track for a while, we all became gradually more confident and by the second session we were riding in stack formation, rotations and racing!

Racing is a lot of fun, I’m generally as slow as a 2 legged dog with a Krypto chain on, but even I managed 3rd in the ‘Joker in the Pack’ race. The idea is that each of the 6 riders is given a playing card by the coach – no rider knows what any other rider has, one rider will pick the joker. The race itself is a 2 lap dash, at any point on lap 2 the Joker can start the sprint, however no other rider is allowed to start sprinting until either the Joker has gone or they are past the 250 yard line on the final lap. Guess what..I was the joker! I started middle of the pack, bided my time, then BANG I went early, throw myself into the sprint- looked over my right shoulder I see Rebecca – she’s a proper racer, so I’m expecting her to pass me..I’m thinking ‘hang on, I’ve suprised them all!’ I look over the left – Damn! My friend Sam is whizzing beneath me on the black (fast) line. Sam is bloody quick and almost beats Rebecca at the line. I still make third though and am pretty happy with that!

Ladies of the Track!

London Cycling Campaign Ladies Ride and London Cycle Show.

I blagged a free pass to the show by offering my marshalling services on the LCC ladies ride. The ride started at London’s Imperial War Museum in Lambeth, and went through some quiet roads through the city, ending at Earls Court where the show was based. Apart from getting comically lost after one of the ladies had a mechanical – we finally made it and I walked round looking at all the shiny things!

Highlights for me were the Pashley 3 Speed Fixed, some beautiful Colnago’s and a fixed Moulton!

Pashley 3 Speed Fixed

Fixed Moulton Belt Drive

Octagonal tubing Colnago!

Finally, but by no means least – after 2 years on the waiting list – I finally received my Archie’s Grobag!

Archie’s Grobags is a one man custom bag making business – based in East London, he hand makes every single bag.

My bag is MASSIVE, maybe a little too big for me to use daily – it constantly amazes me how much I can actually fit in it. For day to day bimbling around I have one of his other smaller ‘Ninja bags’ this is a perfect hip pouch, or it can be worn as a mini courier bag. It holds loads of stuff and has useful essentials like pump loops, light holders, D-lock holders and tarp lining. I’ve also just invested in a ‘Rosie’ pouch – these things are currently going like hot cakes – 4 batches in as many weeks have gone almost instantly, and have even been mentioned on Wired magazine’s website. A few pics below – Archie’s not taking orders for large bags at the moment, but if you want to get your hands on a ‘Rosie’ pouch start watching this thread on londonfgss.com – a 5th batch is planned soon but beware they go quickly!

My Grobag

Grobag Open

Side View

Rear view - lots of padding!

Rosie Pouch - Yes you can get all that in there.

Rosie Pouch in use

Hopefully I’ll have more time for posts this winter, and the next update won’t be so long!