Struggling up some hill on the granny ring somewhere in the Worcestershire countryside yesterday my mind began to wonder… What ‘stuff’ could I really do with right now? Not neccesarilly stuff that I could myself afford but perhaps some ‘stuff’ that should I continue to be a good boy for the rest of the year Santa could potentially bring for me and place neatly under my tree in the early hours on the 25th December. A bit early for C********s I know but what the heck.
So here it is, in no particular order… The ‘stuff’ that would have been nice on yesterday’s 70 mile hit to the Malverns:
Energy bars. To lessen the need to stop so frequently for refueling. The bonk nearly took me twice yesterday… Like a Mirage it was but instead of seeing water all I could see was the following on toast!
Eggs, I like them scrambled. Because that Bicycling Weekly recipe of Porridge, Bananas and Honey once digested lasted me about an hour.
A palm/cycle based GPS system. To prevent future episodes of yesterday’s 20 mile accidental detour. Although Andy, you did a fine job and that piece of paper you had should be framed.
Another water bottle, because two is doubly better than one and more-over I s w e a t ( sorry about that ) so this boy needs water and regularly.
The Rapha lightweight jersey, with a full zip. 1990s heavyweight fluoro polyester with a half zip is really not the one. My upper body felt like a freshly cooked chicken wrapped in cling film.
A sigma Dp-1. Small enough to pack in your jersey pocket but powerful enough to snap the sharpest of shots ( I want one real bad ). Plus I forgot mine!
A Jimi wallet. To stop my banknotes and reciepts getting wet. Sometimes a leather pouch classy as it may be just doesn’t come through with keeping my stash dry.
All that said it was a great day and I am ready to do it again… right after that Santa dude pops over with my loot.
Tags: bonk, camera, clif bar, cycling, eggs, garmin gps, jersey, jimi wallet, malvern, rapha, sigma dp 1, struggling, water bottle, worcestershire
August 19, 2009 at 10:15 am |
i got the route…….next time.
August 19, 2009 at 10:47 am |
Yes… next time for sure.
August 19, 2009 at 10:50 am |
Oh and although we got lost a few times and had to resort to the GPS on my mobile communication device, we still took in some incredible roads and hills.
Some shit roads Yes, where Keiran nearly got killed by an articulated lorry and ones that resembled the hard shoulder of a motorway but even so… some great riding.
August 19, 2009 at 9:46 pm |
rule of thumb is apparently one bottle per hour, more if it’s hot. that’s what i do anyway, seems fine. definitely need food for anything over 2hrs – bananas, energy bars, sweets, meat, whatever… i also reckon those gps dealies look good. you can just input a route and then follow the squiggle without having to stop and use paper which is so 16th century. i read the blurb of those jimis and it said: ‘the wallet for people who hate wallets’, but nothing else – what the nuts does that mean?