Bicycles

When I resumed cycling in 2002 and set myself the goal of cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats (LeJOG). As an incentive I decided to buy a hand built bicycle. My excuse was that with a "dodgy" knee the fit of the bicycle needed to be perfect and to achieve that required a custom build. I chose a Longstaff. (http://www.longstaffcycles.com/) and went up to their shop to be measured and to discuss the specifications. A few weeks later at the end of March I went up to collect it. It was built to a touring specification, so is made from steel, has reasonably wide tyres, mudguards, rear rack and space for three water bottles. The saddle seemed rock hard, however after a quick cycle around and a bit of tweaking to the saddle height I took away my new bicycle.

It has lived up to my expectations. I used it for the LeJOG a couple of months later, which covered 1000miles in two weeks and have since cycled along roads, tracks, by-ways and various Sustrans routes (http://www.sustrans.org.uk/). Over the last 7 years it has covered 35,000miles/56,000Kms , and been remarkably reliable. I have replaced several wheels, front and rear, many tyres and inner tubes, brake blocks, a bottom bracket, several cables, handlebar tape, pedals and most recently the saddle, but it still remains my favourite bicycle. It has done the Norwich 100 (a charity cycle ride around Norfolk of you've guessed it - 100miles) twice, the Cambridge to London ride once and I have covered over 200Kms in a day on it.

The most recent replacements have been the saddle and pedals. I will be renting a bicycle for the Bangkok to Saigon ride, one with front suspension and even wider tyres, as recommended by the organisers. This saves me the significant hassle of trying to take this bicycle with me on the various planes necessary to get to Bangkok and back (via Hong Kong, Hanoi and Saigon). I will take my own pedals and saddle though.

As many cyclists will tell you saddles are a very personal matter. I have recently bought a Brooks Swift - honey leather and titanium rails, which I will take to Bangkok. Cycle lore suggests anything up to 500 miles/800Kms is required to mould the saddle to the right level of comfort. So I have been putting in the miles - so far it has done around 680Kms and the leather is nicely maturing. To be honest I am not sure any saddle is comfortable as such - the test is how quickly you forget about it as you ride. This saddle works in that department. Being a leather saddle it does require a little polish now and then and it has a cover to keep out the rain.

I will take my own pedals as I use Shimano pedals that clip to a cleat set in the sole of the shoe. This has the advantage of minimising foot/pedal slip, which can be very painful on the shins. Clipped pedals can also improve the angle of foot, leg and knee and reduce knee joint wear and tear. The pedals I use have two different sides, one for clipping the cycling shoe to, the other side is a flat pedal surface for normal shoes. This allows me to pop down to the shops without having to put on my cycling shoes. Your foot can be released from the pedal with a twist of the heel. When I first used them I did once find myself unable to unclip my foot quickly enough but managed to lean against a wall rather than keel over on the road. The release soon becomes second nature though. I also use the flat pedal when cycling on very rough tracks as unplanned dismounts are quite common.