New Year's Revolutions

The holiday season has seen the resurrection of my classic road bike (custom built for me back in 1991) whilst I continue to source parts for the Road Path build. My readiness to trust other’s measurements has led me on a something of a bum steer. The seat post diameter is in fact 26.8, not 27.2 putting paid to my plans to use some very fine offerings. Needing a 110mm square taper B/B and a one inch headset with a very low stack height- I’m eager to avoid Shimano if at all possible- most of their stuff is great but with the notable exception of Dura Ace, their headsets and chains have never fired my imagination. However, I’m reticent to hand over money for new, fairly nondescript posts etc right now- not least as someone typically offers me something gratis a week later. Besides, the global economic climate is having a pronounced effect upon the publishing world and the micro climate of my finances. So, I’ve taken this opportunity to treat the Holdsworth internally with a liberal application of Corrosion Block.

Outclassed in technical terms and looking a little quaint by modern standards, my bespoke road bike has been dry stored for the best part of a decade and only needed some fresh bar tape and a new seat post to brighten it up. It’s as exciting to ride as it was back in the summer of ’91 and maybe for a couple of short hours, I was seventeen again, imagining my ascent of the famous mountain stages of Le Tour a’la my teenage idols of Theunisse and Rooks. There’s a lot of fond memories integral to the bike. Rose tinted glasses removed, It was admittedly a time of great angst on many levels but equally one of great possibilities… University was just around the corner, myself and a few friends were going to change the world and live quietly decadent (in a bohemian sense) lifestyles- back bedrooms with bikes of every discipline adorning the walls in neat, orderly fashion, garages sheltering old, heavyweight Italian motorcycles etc, etc. Ah yes, the summer of ’91 where my family entrusted me to house sitting duties whilst they embarked on a fortnight's holiday.

I discovered my mother’s Rolling Stones albums, we rode all day, there were serious outbreaks of unrequited love and curiously, the kitchen ceiling fell in without the aid of unruly house parties or similar antics. So, the 6am runs involved copious philosophising and quiet reflection-yep, that’s more talk of women, adventures awheel and racing tractors then…No, not groups of hooch filled hillbillies charging across the rural landscape. The object of this foolish fun was to spot a tractor in the distance and wind up enough speed to overtake it at the last minute- my finest demonstration of the craft being the passing of a Ford at 37mph. This coupled with moped racing is another game well suited to fixed.

Around this time the fabled 501 framed Raleigh conversion was alive and well. Bowling along the pancake flat back roads one scorching summers afternoon, I happened upon the infuriating whine of a small capacity two-stroke (an 80cc Honda Vision if memory serves me right). With a deft snatch of the cranks, crouching as low as possible on the 42cm wide drops, lungs bursting we were soon neck and neck, nudging 42mph! Throttle against the stop, the moped’s pilot desperately trying to save his blushes whilst I battled lactic acid and a sneaking fear the old Maillard hub might snatch in the frame’s horizontal ends (Hadn’t been introduced to chain tugs back then). Turning a cadence of 135rpm I drew ahead for those precious few euphoric seconds- a fleeting victory earning me a lecture on group etiquette from my riding companions! Eighteen years back, wireless cycle computers were rare and fairly big beasts as the Vetta demonstrates (yes it still works!) I may have the odd dubious 99.9mph reading whilst climbing but I put this down to our proximity to the old Magnox nuclear reactor… In the name of nostalgia, I took to icy roads for a blast along memory lanes. Mercifully tractor racing was off the menu as there were none to pit my wits and moreover, legs against.

Thrusting warp-speed to the present day and I’m planning on adorning the road bike with some bespoke Maple wood guards (fenders) leaving the Holdsworth pared to the essentials, ready for a summer of time trialling and ahem, tractor racing. The hand of fate deals a mixed deck of cards sometimes…. Sunday night saw curiosity get the better of me and I popped the Vredesteins I’d earmarked for the Zephyr aboard the road mount. After checking both tyre and tube were properly seated, a not unreasonable 100psi from the track pump saw the sidewall explode in my face.

My five year old screamed and my mother demanded to know if I’d been firing a shotgun inside the garage. Both were mildly amused to find it was just a tyre… I’m relieved it blew in the safety of the garage, as the consequences of a roadside incident don’t bear thinking about. Unearthed some Stronglight cranks for the Zephyr and have plumped in favour of wide, 46cm black WTB drops and colour coordinated Raleigh Aheadstem.

A "Dirty Harry" lever has landed in my lap and some relaxed, festive surfing has uncovered a nice, serviceable and very keenly priced track wheelset...

So to 2009. My action plan is a little more bite-sized. I'm turning my attention to the redrafting of some short fictional works and providing a publisher with a synopsis of my book proposal by the close of next week.

Live Long and Prosper!