Continued refinement sees removal of the left hand brake lever, substituted for an orphaned silver end plug found languishing on the workshop floor. Some experimentation with a cheap but not so nasty alloy bottle caddy saw me revert to the lighter and arguably nicer nylon model which at least accommodates a seatpack, no matter how minimalist. The breakthrough came courtesy of this clever little Bor Yeuh mount, clamping to the saddle rails and accommodating two cages either side. However, closed cage designs like the silver Nitto are best as ultra modern, open ended designs such as the tacx allow bottles to escape over the course of a mile or two. A stainless Salsa offering will take its place.
This configuration still precludes the use of a bigger seatpack, leaving me with three options (a) mounting the trixie tool piggy-back on the the cage (b) carting it around in my jersey pocket (c)forgoing it altogether in favour of Gerber's mighty cool tool which fits comfortably inside the tiny Lezyne pouch.
Our second Sunday outing found us caught up in the excitement of some time trialling-the notorious Colchester Rovers Abberton ten mile course-a circuit with some sadistic little climbs. Fixers were a conspicuous niche' characterised by unbranded compact geometry framesets made from space-age composites. Some competitors seemed completely oblivious to traffic, cyclist or otherwise and the arrival of a race Marshall saw one rider stop dead without even the most cursory glances over her shoulder-nearly resulting in our collision!
This configuration still precludes the use of a bigger seatpack, leaving me with three options (a) mounting the trixie tool piggy-back on the the cage (b) carting it around in my jersey pocket (c)forgoing it altogether in favour of Gerber's mighty cool tool which fits comfortably inside the tiny Lezyne pouch.Our second Sunday outing found us caught up in the excitement of some time trialling-the notorious Colchester Rovers Abberton ten mile course-a circuit with some sadistic little climbs. Fixers were a conspicuous niche' characterised by unbranded compact geometry framesets made from space-age composites. Some competitors seemed completely oblivious to traffic, cyclist or otherwise and the arrival of a race Marshall saw one rider stop dead without even the most cursory glances over her shoulder-nearly resulting in our collision!Cross but composed I continued, only to encounter another Marshall yelling times at me, clearly oblivious to my lack of helmet, race number or other identifying marks. Another competitor, a friendly fella aboard a geared specialized began quizzing me about the route. My response was to smile, wish him every success before taking the long, straight road home, picking up the pace so as not to give the game away.
Trailer tugging is one duty I'd avoid on a fixed. Clearly spurred on by sunny skies, Joshua urged me to take him out on the tag-along for what would become his longest ride to date-a circuit of twenty-two miles to Mersea Island. Now, twenty odd miles is a nice jaunt-nothing for experienced riders to write home about but a very long way for little legs. To his credit and two rest stops he managed to pedal for the greater part. Indeed, the first stop was prompted by my need to adjust the hitch. Lowering it by a few centimetres has transformed the handling, giving a very planted feel and improving captain and stoker confidence-especially on long, winding descents. Cheaper hitches lack refinement-ours isn't too bad but I'll tighten handling yet further with the introduction of rubber bushings.... 
