C
2 C in a day attempt.
One lucky Calder Clarion reporter was given the privilege of interviewing
some of the bravest ( or dumbest, you choose) cyclists within
the Calder. Our intrepid explorers are due to undertake an adventure,
the likes of which they have never seen before.
Rider Profile:
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Eyes:
Hair:
Riding:
39
187cm, 6'1"
Far too much
Not so good after years of selective reading
What hair
A heavily modified Giant FCR1 2004 converted from a flat bar fast hybrid into the road ride of choice. Changes include: Drop handlebars, STI levers, New wheels, new bottom bracket for upgrade of
cranks, carbon fibre seat pin just for looks.
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Eyes:
Hair:
Riding:
37
183cm,
5'8" Still too much despite years of training
Not so good now, due to age
Too much,
Definitely slow him down.
A 20 year old steel framed Wilson, still going strong.
Peter used smooth hammerite to repaint it and has
fitted a new back wheel wearing a12- 25 cassette.
Drive side crank is a tiagra triple with a 52 tooth
ring replaced by a 39 with a 42 middle and 30
inside!!! This is connected to a square bottom
bracket with a campag arm on the other side.
Peter's
esoteric chainwheel
PG-
CC-
PG-
CC-
MP-
CC-
MP-
PG-
CC-
MP-
CC-
PG-
I had the standard 53-39 gearing, but I need the lowest ring these days. I even ran the bike
without the big ring and I never really missed it. I was looking for lower gears so I tried to fit
the old cranks from Martin's FCR but the front derailleur will not clear the big ring. I took the
big ring off, but the bolts were then too long so I added a 39 outer ring, simply as a spacer
Very interesting, but does it work?
It works fine as a low speed double. That 30 tooth little ring is fantastic and the upgrade to 9
speed at the back doesn't make the cadence change a pain. When top speed is required, 25mph
can easily be achieved with 42 x 12 which is quite fast enough for what we are trying to achieve.
I need to save the legs on this trip; Martin and I did our dress rehearsal ride a few weeks ago,
Sheffield to Cleethorpes and back. We had mixed weather, wind and heavy showers on the
120 round trip,but the bikes rode without fault.
You say dress rehearsal, dress rehearsal for what?
The plan is that Pete and I will ride the Sustrans C2C route from Whitehaven all the way accross
to Sunderland in one day. The idea began 3 years ago, a few weeks after we'd completed it over
3 days. With the painful memories of how knackered we were fading, we both considered the
possibility of doing it in a day. After a long time contemplating it, I made the announcement
that I would do it in the summer of 2009. I tried to drum up support from my cycling associates,
but only Pete and I had the metal to take up the challenge.
That's a big ride but it has been done before so what makes it special?
For me it's about setting personal goals and pushing myself to achieve them. I accepted that
I'm not going to challenge Mr Hutchinson on any 10 mile course and the 'Tour of' anything
glory is not going to come my way, so stuff like this gives my cycling purpose.
I was daft enoughto say yes and I know I'm going to regret it. My arse was
killing me when we got back from Cleethorpes.
These things are normally done for charity so what about this ride?
There are so many worthwhile charities to do things for, but this time we are cycling in aid of
Cyctic Fibrosis. My nephew was born with it, so it seemed like the right one to go for this time.
What about support for the ride?
The last time we did this, the support came from Martin's Father-in-law. This time I got my
Father-in-law to do the support for us. Without the help of some other daft bugger, silly things
like this are so much harder to organise, so a big thank you to Jack, Olga and Sally for the food
and support on our last trip and a big thanks to John for helping out on this one.
Martin
Price (PG) with his Giant at Cleethorpes