It is my understanding that this is, in fact, a vendetta thinly diguised as a bet, and that Walt could get himself off the hook simply by buying the Colnago master frame currently languishing at CYCO.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Money, Mouth #2
I feel compelled to report that Celebrity Economist Chris Tennent-Brown has wagered $500 with Andrew 'Walt' Walton, that he, CTB, will crush Walt on the 2009 edition of the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, and that he will do so riding his Ken Evans or some similar bike with a steel frame, friction shifting and no more than 7 speeds.
It is my understanding that this is, in fact, a vendetta thinly diguised as a bet, and that Walt could get himself off the hook simply by buying the Colnago master frame currently languishing at CYCO.
It is my understanding that this is, in fact, a vendetta thinly diguised as a bet, and that Walt could get himself off the hook simply by buying the Colnago master frame currently languishing at CYCO.
Money, Mouth #1
From: David BensonSent: Friday, 22 May 2009 9:02 a.m.
To: timwoolford
Cc: James Lewis
Subject: RE:
Dude, you're on.
From: timwoolford
Sent: Friday, 22 May 2009 9:01 a.m.
To: David Benson
Cc: James Lewis
Subject: RE:
Box of beers says he buries EVERYONE at the TDF prologue in Monaco!
Tim Woolford _____________________________________________________
From David Benson
22 May 2009 08:41
To "James Lewis"
Subject RE:
Our Ref
Spartacus (Cancellara) is a pussy
http://www.velonews.com/article/92244/cancellara-says-thursday-s-giro-tt-is-crazy
Friday, April 24, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Doppelganger
I had entered to ride The Dual on last Saturday, but full of apathy,I deputised the redoubtable Jimmy to impersonate me.
This was a stroke of genius on my part, as I did not feel the slightest pang of discomfort when Jimmy underwent a veritable calvary of by cramp 10kms from the finish.
Not to be totally indolent, I got out on the fixie both days of the weekend.
Saturday I headed into Auckland, catching Carl Dickinson on his immaculate 80s Pinarello in St Heliers, then tagging along with Bob Tuxford and Calvin Bartley from Herne Bay to Mt Eden.
Sunday morning, I headed South expecting a less sociable ride, but found Murray Grace, looking dangerously fit, a couple of clicks from Kingseat.
This was a stroke of genius on my part, as I did not feel the slightest pang of discomfort when Jimmy underwent a veritable calvary of by cramp 10kms from the finish.
Not to be totally indolent, I got out on the fixie both days of the weekend.
Saturday I headed into Auckland, catching Carl Dickinson on his immaculate 80s Pinarello in St Heliers, then tagging along with Bob Tuxford and Calvin Bartley from Herne Bay to Mt Eden.
Sunday morning, I headed South expecting a less sociable ride, but found Murray Grace, looking dangerously fit, a couple of clicks from Kingseat.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Winterised
When I got my Breakaway fixie frame, I chickened out on brazing on some mudguard fittings, with the excuse that mudguards on a bike with track dropouts would be a pain in the ass.
After a winter of riding with wet ass, I wish I'd made the effort.
Fortunately the humble ziptie makes a fine substitute for a mudguard eyelet, but the lack of a chainstay bridge called for some ingenuity. Inspired by the nifty seat tube widget that comes with the Berthoud Carbon mudguards,I adapted a Blackburn taillight bracket to secure the front part of the rear guard.
MORE MUDGUARD MOUNTING PHOTOS
After a winter of riding with wet ass, I wish I'd made the effort.
Fortunately the humble ziptie makes a fine substitute for a mudguard eyelet, but the lack of a chainstay bridge called for some ingenuity. Inspired by the nifty seat tube widget that comes with the Berthoud Carbon mudguards,I adapted a Blackburn taillight bracket to secure the front part of the rear guard.
MORE MUDGUARD MOUNTING PHOTOS
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Best in Show
Monday, March 02, 2009
NAHBS 2009
As a penance for not blogging for a month, I humbly offer a compendium of photo galleries from the '09 North American Handmade Bicycle Show:
Update- some of the links didn't work as originally published. Fixed now.
http://nahbshow.blogspot.com/
http://picasaweb.google.com/nahbshow/
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=495730
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72276612@N00/sets/72157614447629887/
http://picasaweb.google.com/axiomseven/NAHBS2009Indianapolis#
http://flickr.com/photos/84383377@N00/sets/72157594551219816/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35826940@N02/
Sean Easley's Flickr set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35824735@N05/
http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t137/RiverKnife/NAHBS%202009/?albumview=grid
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtsj00/sets/72157614498379909
Update- some of the links didn't work as originally published. Fixed now.
http://nahbshow.blogspot.com/
http://picasaweb.google.com/nahbshow/
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=495730
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72276612@N00/sets/72157614447629887/
http://picasaweb.google.com/axiomseven/NAHBS2009Indianapolis#
http://flickr.com/photos/84383377@N00/sets/72157594551219816/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35826940@N02/
Sean Easley's Flickr set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35824735@N05/
http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t137/RiverKnife/NAHBS%202009/?albumview=grid
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtsj00/sets/72157614498379909
2009- the score so far
With only two months of the year passed, I have already destroyed more than my share of kit:
1/ In an incident of which I cannot tell, one Giro Pneumo helmet.
It is some consolation that my head took all the impact, leaving unscathed a brand new pair of Bicycle Fixation knickers; and that the Ionos that replaced the Pneumo is a much better fit.
2/ Daydreaming while descending Rotorua's Billy T trail , I bent my GT Peace 9r forks against a tree.
3/ One pair Rapha Grand Tour gloves torn in an otherwise unremarkable topple on a gravel road. A replacement pair is not in my budget, so I have ordered a pair of Knog Stranglers.
1/ In an incident of which I cannot tell, one Giro Pneumo helmet.
It is some consolation that my head took all the impact, leaving unscathed a brand new pair of Bicycle Fixation knickers; and that the Ionos that replaced the Pneumo is a much better fit.
2/ Daydreaming while descending Rotorua's Billy T trail , I bent my GT Peace 9r forks against a tree.
3/ One pair Rapha Grand Tour gloves torn in an otherwise unremarkable topple on a gravel road. A replacement pair is not in my budget, so I have ordered a pair of Knog Stranglers.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tempting...
but a couple of centimetres too small, this 1976 Tom Ritchey road bike seriously caught my attention when I spotted it on ebay last week.
Despite going through the same process a few times before, I spent a while proving that there is no way I can set up a traditional 57cm road bike to fit me. Maybe if I was 20 years younger...
ebay auction #140297305713
The same photos on flickr
Despite going through the same process a few times before, I spent a while proving that there is no way I can set up a traditional 57cm road bike to fit me. Maybe if I was 20 years younger...
ebay auction #140297305713
The same photos on flickr
Monday, January 19, 2009
Honjo mudguards, part 1
An unscheduled day off work allowed the time to fit some Honjo hammered aluminium mudguards to Donna's Bob Jackson fixie.
Even with frequent reference to instructions in Bicycle Quarterly and on the Jitensha Studio website the job took a couple of hours, and I'm not done yet.
Both the fork crown eyebolt and the bracket of the rear sliding bridge are too short and the guards sit a little high for my taste, so some custom widgets will be needed before I can call this job finished.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Not the January Retro Ride
Weather is not a deterrent for some people, and so, despite Biblical rain showers, 4 people turned up yesterday for the first Retro Ride of 09.
Mark Battley brought his rebuilt Frejus Super Corsa, which he bought from me a while back.
Once we were ensconced in the loungeroom it was hard to get going, so Mark, Peat Alexander and I decided to go to the shed and remove a few non-original braze-ons from Battleys 1968 Colnago frame, leaving CTB and Richard Oddy to battle the elements.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Stuff for sale
In a feeble attempt to simplify my life and make some space, I have a few vintage jerseys, some NJS goodness and a few other widgets listed on Trademe.
Check 'em out HERE
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Modern technology disappoints, yet again
Years ago, I renounced cycle computers, heart rate monitors and other digitalia as bearers of bad news.
Without them, you never have to know that you are slow, in the wrong heart rate zone, or down on power.
So why, when my prehistoric mechanical scales gave such satisfactory readings, did I decide to buy a digital scale?
Whereas in my older and happier analogue world my Ritchey Breakaway was a 19lb featherweight, in the cold light of digital day it weighs 9.54kg, a mere gnats whisker under 21lbs.
It is time to confess that all my earlier bragging was untrue, and that Oli's Hillbrick is the lighter by a sizeable margin.
Some uncharitable readers may opine that we should consider the combined weight of bike and rider, however it is style not weight that counts, but having seen Oli carving through the streets of Wellington on his Bianchi I know when I'm beaten.
Without them, you never have to know that you are slow, in the wrong heart rate zone, or down on power.
So why, when my prehistoric mechanical scales gave such satisfactory readings, did I decide to buy a digital scale?
Whereas in my older and happier analogue world my Ritchey Breakaway was a 19lb featherweight, in the cold light of digital day it weighs 9.54kg, a mere gnats whisker under 21lbs.
It is time to confess that all my earlier bragging was untrue, and that Oli's Hillbrick is the lighter by a sizeable margin.
Some uncharitable readers may opine that we should consider the combined weight of bike and rider, however it is style not weight that counts, but having seen Oli carving through the streets of Wellington on his Bianchi I know when I'm beaten.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Ergopower reach adjustment
Until the new '09 model, Campagnolo Ergopower levers had too much reach for small hands.
Here, I put a dab of auto body filler, aka 'bog', in the lever stop notch to move the brake lever about a centimetre closer to the bars.
Here, I put a dab of auto body filler, aka 'bog', in the lever stop notch to move the brake lever about a centimetre closer to the bars.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Keeping up appearances
Other projects and obligations have kept the Holdsworth Professional on the backburner lately, but in anticipation of it's eventual completion, I have bought the matching cap.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Warwick Dalton- The Lone Eagle
The Kennett Brothers new biography of Kiwi cycling legend Warwick Dalton will be launched 7pm next Tuesday at Avanti Plus, 25 Levene Place, Mt Wellington.
Click on the image for large size
Click on the image for large size
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Post K2 suffering
Today I am neck deep, and sinking, in the black hole of lethargy. Perky on Sunday, fairly jaunty Monday, flat yesterday.
Slept like a baby last night, and woke entirely unrefreshed.
I should be grateful, given that I finished K2 on Saturday unscathed, but it never ceases to surprise me how long it takes for fatigue to really set in.
Unlike my two attempts at K1 when I finished a gibbering mess, this ride went pretty well, thanks to the patience of Gaz & Kate who stuck to our simple, if subversive, plan to ride together and stop for lunch in Coromandel.
After struggling with the headwind between Kuaotuna and the Whangapoua hillclimb, we had a tailwind from Coromandel from Thames that provided some respite before we hit the final Kopu-Hikuai climb.
Slept like a baby last night, and woke entirely unrefreshed.
I should be grateful, given that I finished K2 on Saturday unscathed, but it never ceases to surprise me how long it takes for fatigue to really set in.
Unlike my two attempts at K1 when I finished a gibbering mess, this ride went pretty well, thanks to the patience of Gaz & Kate who stuck to our simple, if subversive, plan to ride together and stop for lunch in Coromandel.
After struggling with the headwind between Kuaotuna and the Whangapoua hillclimb, we had a tailwind from Coromandel from Thames that provided some respite before we hit the final Kopu-Hikuai climb.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tonsorial finetuning
This morning I shaved off my moustache, not in search of some aerodynamic margin, but because after 150kms of suffering this Saturday such a rampant walrus will contain a disgusting amalgam of snot, sweat and bugs.
Little else of my recent action has been so purposeful.
I wanted to do a long ride in the middle of last week, at the speed of a postman as Raphael Geminiani would say, but tiredness and bad worktime management put paid to that plan, so I contented myself with taking Friday off for an extra long weekend, which was dominated by further sloth:
Little else of my recent action has been so purposeful.
I wanted to do a long ride in the middle of last week, at the speed of a postman as Raphael Geminiani would say, but tiredness and bad worktime management put paid to that plan, so I contented myself with taking Friday off for an extra long weekend, which was dominated by further sloth:
Friday- didn't go to work. Rode into the city via Pt England, then retired to the shed.
Saturday- chores in the morning.
Nap in the afternoon.
Go to proposed fixie riding/beer drinking function on the bus.
Sunday- ride fixie in the rain with CTB.
Had Il Forno been open, we may have been content with doughnuts, but instead we ended up at the pub.
Monday- rise late.
Procrastinate until PM commitments have reduced possible ride time to about 2 hours.
Ride through the faux-Angeleno canyon subdivision atop Redoubt Rd, showing disapproval for the car dependent lifestyle by singing Neil Young's Revolution Blues on the way down the hill.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Crash Diet
When the pressure is on, everyone becomes a weight weenie, and after the savage pasting I got in the Waitakeres yesterday, I'm pleased that I have wisely invested in a pair of fancy wheels to assist me at K2.
Lacking the power to get any advantage from aero wheels, I opted for low weight and minimal rolling resistance.
I horsetraded a set of Campag Record 28 hole hubs from Wellington's Capital Cycles, and loaded my credit card with a pair of IRD Cadence rims. Spokes are Wheelsmith- 1.8mm doublebutted on the front & lefthand rear, 2.0 double butted at the driveside.
With Gran Bois Cerf 700 x 28 tyres, the wheels are 620g lighter than my everyday 36 spoke Mavic MA3/Campag Veloce/Gatorskin 28 wheelset, and reduce the weight of my Breakaway to sub-20lb.
Despite the possibility that my scales may be a few decades past their best, I choose to believe that the Ritchey, with a Brooks saddle and no carbon, is no heavier than Oli's 8.76kg/19.31lb Hillbrick.
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