Rule of Seven

So here it is. In a nutshell. My project for this winter. 

The foundation, a handmade Seven frame, built to my exact measurements and specifications like a bespoke suit. There is no bike in the world exactly like this one.

And here it is, resplendent in Amber Ale, an appropriate choice of colour I think. Based on a Seven Mudhoney cyclo-cross frame adapted for disc brakes and an eccentric bottom bracket. The fork is a 3T Luteus Team CX carbon with disc brake adaptor.

The initial aim is to build a single-speed bike which will be happy on routes such as rail trails and made up cycle paths, what might be called a gravel-racer here in the US and a path-racer back in the UK if I were looking for a trending name for such a bike.

The frame is adaptable enough to reconfigure it as a geared epic touring type bike or commuter should I want to in the future.

The seat and seat-pin are from my bits box. Fortunately, my current road bike and the Seven have the same internal seat-tube diameter - 27.2mm.

So the current to-do list includes; build wheels, fit headset, fit bottom bracket and chain-set ... more soon ...

Marginal Thinking

Well, it's been a few weeks. Not really a huge break from cycling, because Number One Son actually quite likes cycling. Okay, not in a Tour de France/Brad Wiggins sort of way, but able to handle 50mile/80km plus rides on the Schuylkill Trail, around Manhattan and more ...

I only managed one out and out roadie type ride; Chris's farewell from the bike shop. Seventy or so riders headed out into the Sourlands to bid adieu to Halter's popular superwrench. Very nice it was too. Thank you  to whoever's voice it was which piped up from behind me on the climb over the ridge, "C'mon Wiggins!!!".

I would like to emphasise that, 1: the voice came from behind, and 2: my patriotic jersey is one I would never wear in a million years in the UK.

Good luck Chris - with me on the correct side of the road

So, here I am, back in the groove ... Speaking of which ... well, more thoughts another time ...

The Bloke Rides again

It seems a long time since my last blog posting. Not that a lot hasn't happened, or a lot of rides been done. But just one damn ride after another doesn't make for an inspiring blog, especially when all this British Bloke wants to do is pontificate about stuff in general.

Rainbow Hill Road Bridge, Montgomery, NJ, USA - 17.9.2012

So in future I'll be logging regular rides via Twitter. Follow my tweets should you want ride details.

Griggstown Grinder : 20120703

It was going to be a hot one. The temperature was 93F/34C as we gathered in the parking lot next to Montgomery park under a hazy sky.

The route took by the canal, up Mt Lucas Road and Cherry Hill Road toward the main ascent of the evening, Hollow Rd.

My route map varies from the direction the group took as we waited for a rider then rode directly for Route 518. The group, meanwhile, cut across from Cherry Hill Road to Province Line Road, before meeting up again for 518. Hollow Road is probably the most civilised route into the Sourlands, but lately the surface has degraded to not much better than a track. This is mostly an issue on the descent, but once you're on Long Hill with its rather better surface, it becomes apparent that Hollow's pitted and pocked surface imposes a significant burden.

Spring Hill has a relatively new and far smoother surface which encourages a swift descent, although I am always nervous of the right-hand corner - about mile 24 on this map - which in the past always had a patch of gravel running across the road which, at the very least always caused a nervous shimmy as you rounded the tight bend. The new surface seems to have eliminated that obstacle, but be careful, it's tight and can leave you on the wrong side of the road.

So a hot afternoon and evening with 1700ft of climbing. The map shows 1500ft, but Strava shows 1700ft. Most GPS mapping sites return different climbing data. I'm not certain why that is ... anyway, more on Strava another day.

Meanwhile, I'm writing this early morning, July 4th, wondering if the rain will ease of so I can ride with Princeton FreeWheeler's Independence Day event. Maybe a day to resist wearing my Union Jack jersey ...

Early morning Zipp ...

The Bridge at
Neshanic Station

This morning saw me off bright and early on a solo ride through Neshanic along the South Branch Raritan River to Three Bridges, returning over the Sourlands, interrupted by another pleasant interlude at Peacock's Country Store.

Certainly everyone was out and about as several familiar faces made Peacock's their stop too.

This week was a little different, because I was able to try out a set of Zipp 404 wheels and Mavic Aksion tyres.

I pumped the tyres up to about 115psi front and rear, although the tyre walls say they can be inflated to 130psi. This gave a much smoother ride than I expected, although I don't think the wheels enabled me to drop away on the descents as quickly as my regular tubeless Hutchinson/Dura Ace wheel combination.

On the other hand the wheels gave a much more positive feel on the ascents.

As I said, the ride was very good on a reasonable surface. However, the descent of Hollow Road, whose surface is now very poor, was made the more exciting with every jarring bump and crack in the road transmitted directly up through the handlebars.

Regardless, the Zipps were a confirmation that a wheel upgrade is the most effective improvement you can make to any bike, and these are about as good as it gets.

Peacock's Country Store -20120624

If you didn't know, last weekend's Montauk 100 was a disaster for me. I went down with severe cramps and had to SAG out. The ignominy ...

So after a week's break off the bike, I set off with SteveR for a leisurely saunter through the Sourlands to Peacock's Country Store.

Of course, a ride through the Sourlands can never be a saunter as a whole bunch of riders on the local Tour de Cure were finding out, but for us, the pace was just right, not really pushing hard and feeling free to ease off when the going got tough.

There were, as usual a bunch of cyclists at Peacock's, including another British Bloke on a weekend away from The Big Apple and pleasantly surprised at how nice the cycling is in the area.

So, a pleasant ride with few challenges. Just right.

Etra Lake to New Egypt : 20120610

A long fast ride with few hills, but I was wilting in the 30C/90F heat by the end.

So I'm a little apprehensive about the Ride to Montauk 100 this weekend, but hopefully I'll be fully recovered by then from a nasty virus I was in the depths of about 10 days ago.



*Thanks to Dave for providing this week's GPS map

Currently the weekend's weather forecast for Montauk doesn't look too bad; in the 20Cs/70Fs with a following breeze ... nice ...

Griggstown Grinder : 20120605

Tuesday evenings haven't a good weather record this year, and this evening threatened no better as rain spattered the windscreen on the drive up to the rendezvous.

It wasn't just me who was pessimistic as just a handful of riders showed up and with Diane away, it fell to Andy to lead.

We threaded a figure-eight path so we didn't stray too far from the cars in case of more rain, and indeed the heavens did manage a few spots plus a light sun-shower, but, being the hardy folk we are, we pressed on anyway.

I've posted the route below, and also a link to Strava, an application which compares your rides, matches up portions of the route you or others have done before and compares your performance. I do this with trepidation since, so far, my figures are pretty modest. However, I am one of the oldest there so I take comfort in that.

Griggstown Grinder : 20120529

My car thermometer was reading 33C/92F while we met up at Montgomery Park. While the sky was still blue, most of us had seen the forecast for thunderstorms, so we just sought out what shade was available as we waited to start and made bets on whether we'd run into them.



Fortunately, Diane took us on a route which made the most of tree cover, so the Coppermine climb, although brutally hot, at least, was out of the sun.

Around The Great Road, it became clear that we were in for a nasty storm, so we sprinted for home. This wasn't too difficult, because we had a terrific tailwind which bowled us along Skillman Road, through the pine tree debris, at more than 40kmh/25mph.

We made the cars without actually suffering more than on or two stray raindrops, but the evening had prematurely turned into night under the roiling clouds.

PFW Memorial Day All Paces Ride: 20120528

I missed my regular Sunday ride under the threat of rain, so it was a relief that Monday - a public holiday in the USA - dawned sunny and bright.

I arrived at the Princeton FreeWheelers's rendezvous a bit late due to ... well, what does it matter ... and after frantically pumping up tyres and getting into shoes I latched onto one of the last groups to leave. Turned out they were heading for New Egypt. That was good enough for me ...



The day was fine, but it quickly became very hot and sultry, so hydration was a major concern. By the time we'd returned to the cars the temperature was 33C/92F, but it was the humidity that was the real challenge.

I've never been to a PFW event before, and it was nice to speak to and occasionally encourage riders who'd not ever ridden more than 15 miles before and the sense of achievement they'd got from the day