Continuous Improvement

So, a TRP Spyre calliper kit was wafted under my nose at the right price. Resistance was futile and deal done. Mine is the black/silver contrast, which to my eye, is even better looking than the stealthy, sexy black unit adorning the Revolution Cross 2.

Autumn is trade show time; Seven Day Cyclist www.sevendaycyclist.com is not at Eurobike this year but will be attending the NEC Cycle show later in September.

Talking of stealth, I was surprised by dusk’s advance towards the latter part of August. Blinkies have now been flanked by commuter plus torch-type lamps of the 300-400 lumen calibre on my cyclo cross and road biased builds. 

Generally speaking the preserve of suburban-semi rural commuters, these lights are fine for tackling the latter end of dusk and bright enough to be seen by but 600lumens plus is nearer the mark when darkness really bites. 

Several Moon models of varying capacities and the See Sense Icon + rear have arrived on our test bench this past week.

At the upper end, we have the XL 760 torch-type unit, which is surprisingly compact for a model offering 760 lumens and seemingly powerful enough for tackling pitch-black lanes at a decent pace. Quoted run times of 2hrs 20 in top also seem pretty reasonable, although the    removable 3200mAh battery is another nice touch, meaning you can carry a spare and swap over for extended playtimes. 

Seven settings optimise performance and economy, so you can toggle down for town and up for backyard scratching, although 360lumens is arguably overkill for sub/urban duties.

At the other extreme, their Aerolite is designed for contingencies and surprisingly powerful relative to its size-the sort that comes in handy for early morning TT’s, pre-standlight dynamo companion, reading maps/road signs, or those “Oh #$*@t! My main lamp’s just died ten miles from civilisation and I can hear the chorus of banjos” moments. Thankfully, the latter are rare these days but not completely relegated to the vaults of history.

For many years, I rode primarily in the dark and for a variety of reasons, the most obvious being seasonal- testing lights. Darkness also brings a new lease of objectivity when testing components, or complete bikes.

If you can’t see groupset and simply settle into the ride, things become much less subjective. I have been pleasantly surprised by just how well some budget drivetrains performed; say when shifting under load, or at the last minute.

While not a people person in overused sense of the word; I am also intrigued by people’s choice of winter bike(s) and riding attire. Much of this stems from beginning my serious riding career during the month of falling leaves, inspired by Au Pairs and predictably, the classically French off season attire.

Retro kit, so long as it’s still practical and relevant also gets me very excited. Enter this Minolta X300 35mm film SLR…Retro cool for pseudo artists? An “expensive” paperweight by some people’s reckoning but in my case, it’s a prop for a project or two…

An editor once remarked that being a journalist; though especially freelance also demands the ability to take good photographs. With this in mind, I am predominantly self-taught with some school-of-the streets input. Seeking to experiment in a very different genre to product/technical work-I’m occasionally approached by people asking if I would consider doing their wedding etc but by my own admission; I am a shower of sparks (rather than confetti) chap.

Nonetheless, I’m looking to stretch myself creatively-in parallel. Think I’ve found a suitable studio and instructor to safely explore the genre of artistic nude/erotic (not glamour) photography.

In a wider context, being freelance demands resourcefulness and the ability to problem-solve and think laterally-this extends to cars and other equipment. Purchases are seldom accidental (although things have been known to fall into my lap).

Given my family’s backgrounds in heavy industry/print, growing up, I was steered toward acquiring a sound academic education and a broad, transferable skillset.

Those who experience least economic and consequential turbulence have skills that can be ported over to another industry with similar remuneration. Traditionally, people were also invested in, retrained to bring some facets up to scratch as required-assuming they basically fitted the criteria, although this has also changed.

With this in mind, I have been eager to enrol on a qualifications based massage course, which has to date, eluded me. A lot of further/higher education colleges run this as part of beauty therapy but not a separate entity. I have also been deterred (not so subtly by some tutors) on the basis of gender and to a lesser extent, age. Now, I’ve just received a call asking me to cover a wedding-at an afternoon’s notice...