Me & Blossom


A bit more about me & my dear Blossom

Me:

I started "proper" cycling back in August 2003 when a work friend asked me for sponsorship for a group cycling trip he was leading from John O'Groats to Land's End in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer. Instead of giving him a donation I asked if I could ride with them and help raise money as well. 

My split second decision was not as well thought out as it could have been given 1) I had no road bike 2) I only cycled about 30 miles per week and only in warm weather and 3) they were leaving in 6 weeks. I also found out on day one that they were going fairly fast.

To cut a short story even shorter, I managed to start and finish the ride with the result I was beginning to become a "proper" cyclist, we had raised over £5K, I had cycled just over 1,000 miles in 8 days and me and my bum were still on speaking terms, and I'd had a great time with a great bunch of people. 

The photo above is me in the French Alps 2007-ish just a bit younger and a bit lighter than now but proudly wearing my  John O'Groats to Land's End "End 2 End" cycling top. For further details please see link below: 
www.easterleycycling.org.uk/e2e/end2end.html

 Given the bug had truly bitten, since then I have cycled France: Calais to Nice twice, Canal du Midi & Garonne*, Geneva to Nice, Le Havre to Paris*, London to Paris, A fair part of the Danube*, Southern Italy* and lots of places in the UK.
 * = with my wife, Ruth.

I get a(nother) new bike - my touring bike christened Blossom aka #8

Why Blossom? Well as you can see below, Blossom is a burnt orange colour which has a wonderful ability to sparkle and shine when in direct sunlight - due to metal paint flecks don't you know. In fact, you would not be wrong if you thought that the bike blossoms into a dazzle-fest of light and happiness. Either way, I realllllly loikke it - see the 2006 movie "The Holiday" for the correct pronunciation, which by the way was partly filmed in Shere, a pretty, idylic village with a population of under 4,000 in the Guildford district of Surrey.

 Blossom has many interesting features which make her very special. These are listed below but I strongly recommend that you only read this section if you are a bit of a cycling nerd.
  1. Ridgeback Panorama Delux Steel frame made from Reynolds 853, 525 and 520 tubing
  2. Schmidt SON 28 Dynamo Front Hub
  3. Schmidt Edelux II dynamo front & Busch & Muller Toplight Brake Line+ dynamo rear lights
  4. Pair of Kinlin XD230 six bolt disc  rims, 1 x rear Novatec hub, black Sapim Race spokes
  5. Wheels built by Harry Rowland - the best wheel-builder in the UK
  6. Igaro SON dynamo to USB (x2) equipment - this charges my electronic devices as I cycle along, merrily singing a song, possibly all day long, helping me stay strong.
  7. Marathon Plus 35mm tyres
  8. Hexlox unique bike security system
  9. ABUS Granit X-Plus 540 U-lock
  10. Tubus Tara Lowrider front and Tortec Expedition Rear pannier racks
  11. Carradice CarraDry Rear (58L) and Front (20L) pannier bags
  12. SRAM road and mountain groupset mix


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4th July 2018 - The final, final and thrice final blogpost until next year

Image
Hello Everybody! Route: Vallejo to San Francisco For the non-mathematicians out there: Distance: About 4 miles (Total 3,478) Average speed: slightly more than walking pace Calories: I had a small coffee and muffin Cycling time: A little while Average cadence: 74 rpm Climb: 5’10.5”ft, Descent: -5’10.5”ft Heart (yes I have one): Max 180 when Ruth arrived Aver 280 when Ruth is "suggesting" something to me Aver Temp: 37C, Max temp 37C Temperament: Still wondering what the heck happened I had a very nice breakfast with Kay and left (for the first time) at around 9.00am. We travelled about 300 metres and then I decided to search for my passport, which I could not find. I went back to Kay’s house and we both searched my room. We could not find the passport so I decided that I had packed it somewhere and even if it turned up I could always go back to Kay’s place given it was only a short ferry ride aw...
Read more

23rd June 2018 Saturday – Tougher than it looked

Image
Hello Everybody! Route: Ely to Eureka and then rest day For the non-mathematicians out there: Distance: 78 miles (Total 3,110) Average speed: 11.2 mph Calories: 2,065 Cycling time: 5h 13min Average cadence: 76 rpm Climb: 3,967ft, Descent: 3,845ft Heart (yes I have one): Max 154 Aver 112 Aver Temp: 30C, Max temp 39C Temperament: Very pleased to get to Eureka PICTURES TO FOLLOW AS YESTERDAY I set off at 7.10am so as to enjoy the lack of any wind, temperature, and traffic, almost just like yesterday. However the difference today was there was a westerly wind hitting me from the start and my legs were not talking to me or each other – they felt very heavy, almost as if they’ve cycled over 3,000-miles. This was only the first 100 metres of the day so I was not thinking happy thoughts at this time. However, Ying and Yang, the wind was caused by the buildings acting as a wind tunnel and I told my legs that ...
Read more

7th June 2018 Thursday – Made it Ma, top of the world

Image
Hello Everybody! Route: Salida to Gunnison For the non-mathematicians out there: Distance: 69 miles (Total 2,323) Average speed: 10.8 mph Calories: 2,484 Cycling time: 6h 21min Average cadence: 72 rpm Climb: 4,419ft, Descent: 3,717ft Heart (yes I have one): Max 147 Aver 119 Aver Temp: 25C, Max temp 34C Temperament: I think I am beginning to enjoy things here I decided to do an early start just in case the wheels fell off. I was very apprehensive about today. I’ve done a lot of miles but not much going upwards since West Virginia, which was quite a time ago it feels. There was only one climb, up to Monarch Pass, and it would take me and dear Bloss to the highest point in our whole USA journey together. It is not the most we will climb as we are starting at a fairly high altitude already. So my concern was reasonably well founded I think. ...
Read more