Assuming that the ‘fit’ is correct, I’m interested to hear opinions on what is more important a good frame or a good set of wheels?
What’s more important, frame or wheels?
August 12th, 2009Mid Life Crisis? Whatever it is, rejoice.
August 12th, 2009There seems to be a theme in the media recently where long suffering cyclist’s wives share stories of sad husbands with sudden closet lusting for all things lycra and carbon and how these afflictions are symptoms of a mid life crisis. It got me thinking about what a mid life crisis is all about and I’ve come to the conclusion that, IF it’s real, it’s to be celebrated. The teens and twenties are all a blur of ‘don’t think, just do’. The thirties are a time to be serious (or pretend to be serious). It seems only logical therefore that most men reach a point sooner or later when they realize everything has become overly serious; that too many compromises have been made and that an error correction is necessary. Mortality comes into this, because it gets blindingly obvious that no-one’s getting younger and, after all, you only live once. So does affluence. Let’s simply celebrate that men are from Mars and rejoice in the realization that it’s time to claw back some of the fun. The reality should be that if you’re happy, those around you will be happy too (now you know what to think of the authors of the recent articles). However, a word of warning gentlemen, spending some hard earned cash and having fun are no excuse for bad taste, no matter how expensive it is.
In need of a new Look
February 10th, 2008I have a KG 76 “Hinault’. I have had it since 1990 and did not really start to appreciate it until 2006, when I started using almost every day for training.
Basal Metabolic Rate + Calorific Burn > Turkey + Trimmings
December 17th, 2007I can’t help myself looking for these numbers at the moment – it’s the thought of the turkey, or rather, what comes before and after AND what it’s washed down with. Anyway, I was looking for a rough formula to estimate how far I’d need to ride the week after Christmas. Credit goes to David Palese for this: Take your weight in kilograms and multiply by 10.2, then add 880. For women, multiply weight by 7.18 and add 795. I don’t recommend getting small scales out over Christmas lunch so just figure on doing double the usual on your Boxing Day ride. Enjoy!
205.8 – (age x 0.685)
December 13th, 2007I’m sure you all remember the 220-age for HRmax. Well, it’s not really that scientific (duh). Ultimately, you need testing and then need to realize that resting HR changes every day so those training zones should also change. Neither Garmin or Polar offer anything that will recalculate on the fly so meanwhile credit to Robert ROBERGS and Roberto LANDWEHR for the above formula. Read more at bikeradar.com. It’s a relief to know my correct guesstimated HRmax is 175.66.
Team spirit
December 8th, 2007A right old knees up
December 3rd, 2007
Not that anyone in Hong Kong ‘really’ has the right to complain about cold weather, it turned pretty cold last week. Whilst it was 13ºC at the Hong Kong Observatory at 6AM last Wednesday, it was way less out in Clear Water Bay with a monsoon wind blowing in from the South China Sea. As luck would have it, my knees were blissfully unaware of the situation thanks to my new Rapha knee warmers. They are made from fleece backed Italian Roubaix fabric and are just perfect. No fancy instructions to the amah – they can go in the machine with the rest of the wash. I had hesitated to buy them as my arm warmers were not so great – hardly any elasticity, so they dropped off my arms after the first faux cobble section of any ride. I then found out that Rapha had changed the material and so gave it a try. Highly recommended as they go with any pair of (bib) shorts and that means I can use on my Saturday morning SIR rides on Hong Kong island. Now, the big question is, do I talk myself into a new set of white arm warmers?
Bora credibility at stake
December 3rd, 2007Urgent, if you have not voted in the Campagnolo 75th Anniversary design competition, please do so NOW! I’ve just seen what’s in first place at the moment and it’s worrying to think that might win when there are better designs such as Tim Tribe’s ‘Passion’ (um, guess which I voted for).
High Island Race – everyday
November 11th, 2007
With the Hong Kong AFCD starting work at about 7.30AM, it’s always a race to get a run over to the reservoir and back before they turn up and impound a front wheel, as cycling is banned on one of Hong Kong’s best country park roads. Legend has it this is a legacy of a tiff between the government and the Hong Kong Cycling Association after a race on said road although I’ve never had a confirmation from anyone close enough to source.
Virtual Races only a few months away
August 31st, 2007 
Mark and I have been talking for a while about how technology will be impacting cycling and we’re both big fans of GPS technology (I worked on route navigation products back in the 90s). Garmin are really giving Polar a run for their money because this really should have been Polar territory. Anyway, I hope to be able to report back soon on how well these new Garmin devices work. Update 24th October – these new versions are now scheduled for 1Q 2008. Shame.