Raining the Changes

The cycle in was an enjoyable affair, but the ride home was far more fun and interesting tonight.

The baking sunshine appears to have taken a break and was quickly replaced by Scotlan's favourite season, RAIN. Just before I left work it started raining and I have to say that it was such a nice change from the dry, dusty conditions of the previous few days that I thrived on it.

That's the end of my cycling for at least a couple of weeks now, I'm not cycling in tomorrow because there's a work's night out to celebrate my new job and I'm away on holiday to Greece for two weeks from Monday. Hopefully the rain stays in Scotland and won't be following me to Paros.

Weekly Total: 79.34 miles
Overall Total: 1358.5 miles

Sneaky Pint

I cycled home along the Clydeside Expressway cycle path with a work colleague today. It was a little strange having to make small talk and also not being able to just crank it, but nice to have the company along the way too. We had to take a couple of detours along the way as they have now started work on renovating the Expressway so we had to avoid a few diggers and a great big hole in the ground too.

The reason for the alternative route home was to stop off at Simon's and pick up a PS1 that I'd let him a while ago. The bugger wasn't home when I turned up at his flat, however, so I eventually got hold of Cris who was rather unhelpful when it came to suggesting where Simon might be, but rather brilliantly he suggested a sneaky pint at Oran Mor before making the rest of the journey home.

One tasty pint and an excedingly burger later (cycling is hungry work) and Simon decides to phone to say he's back at his flat. I decide that a tasty cup of tea would round the day off nicely, so off I cycled back down to Partick and drank my tea, span some poi and picked up my PS1. Sorted.

Weekly Total: 49.25 miles

Roasted

Temperatures were around 30 degrees when I left work tonight and I got fairly well roasted on the way home. The cycle wasn't as dull as the ride in to work, but I definitely need to get a set of headphones soon, because I'm missing my music.

Weekly Total: 23.07 miles

Bland Cycling

Not even the incredible sunshine can improve my feeling that canal path riding is just so bland when compared to the incredible trails we rode yesterday. It felt so dull, so lacking in adrenaline, so boring, that I almost decided to turn back and get the train in.

It'll get better, as the memory of the weekend fades, but it was a tough cycle in this morning (my legs are killing me too).

Weekly Total: 11.76 miles

Bikes and Tents

Brilliant weekend - camping in Peebles then off to ride the downhill track at Innerleithen courtsey of an Orange Demo Day.

The way a Demo Day works is that various companies will provide a number of their top end bikes for a free test ride. Basically you get to try out the most incredible pieces of machinery and try not to love the experience so much that you actually end up buying the damn bike. I was lucky enough to get a monster downhill machine for my test bike and ended up being hugely thankfull for the massive travel on the front and rear shocks as the Traquair Trail ended up being one scary bugger to ride.

Feeling Good

Tonight's cycle home was far more enjoyable than last night's and I certainly felt a whole load stronger than I did yesterday. The bike is running amazingly well too, so all is well in the world of McFlea.

Tomorrow is my last day in my current role. From Monday I begin my training as 'uber-geek' and become a Windows Server Technician. Hopefully the role won't be quite as dull as it sounds but regardless, I need to take in a couple of farewell presents tomorrow so I'm not cycling in.

Weekly Total: 58.62 miles
Overall Total: 1279.2 miles

Smooth and Silent

The Benetatos Lube Session appears to have worked wonders!! No squeaks, the gears seem pretty solid and the only noise coming from the bike now is the occasional rattle of my front mudguard, which I don't think I can sort anyway. I'm so pleased to have got those wee niggly things ironed out but I'm pretty annoyed that I've paid out all that money and the bike hasn't come back perfect.

Anyway. A glorious sunny morning, a fast pedal into work, aching legs and a big smile. It's all good.

Weekly Total: 46.86 miles

Not Good

Overall, not a good cycle back home tonight.

The weather had turned fairly driech by the time I set off and I had already managed to snap the zip off my cycling jacket. I felt light headed and pretty drained, I could only hear music out of my left earphone because the other one had packed up and the bike was slipping gears and creaking like a good 'un. Not good.

About 3/4 of the way along the canal path, however, I bumped into a mate of mine John who has been a recent convert to the commuter's way of life. It was a good chat, aimless banter mainly, but a nice pit stop and I felt far more eager to complete the journey once I started back on the bike.

Got home, got out the WD40 and a tube of grease and a couple of allen keys. A few tweaks here, a little lube there and I decided I'd done enough tinkering. I guess i'll find out tomorrow whether or not its made any difference.

Still can't fix my earphones though.

Weekly Total: 35.08 miles

Taxi

Had to work late last night due to a couple of unforeseen problems, so I had to squeeze the bike and myself into a taxi in order to get home before 8pm (I had tickets for the Snoop Doggy Dogg concert at the Braehead Arena and was getting a lift in with Derek). So - no cycling home for me last night then.

The cycle in this morning was good, which is a whole lot more than I can say about last night's gig.

Weekly Total: 23.26 miles

Back in Black

Back on the bike and zipping along those canal paths. I can really notice how unfit I get after only a week out of the saddle, but I should be back up to speed in a few days.. hopefully.

I'm loving how smooth the bike is feeling just now, the brakes are super stiff, the cranks are turning smoothly and the gears are just flowing into each other.. all good, eh?

Well, not quite.

The gears slipped a couple of times and there is a tiny wee squeak eminating from the pedal on the left side of the bike. Small potatoes? Well, maybe, but when you pay as much as I have for a service, surely you have a right to expect that EVERYTHING is perfect? Another test ride home tonight - then we'll be making some calls if I'm still not happy.

Weekly Total: 11.85 miles

The Sweet Sound of Silence

I got my bike back from the shop today.

No squeaks, no rattles, no obscene grinding noises... just the quiet satisfying sound of gear cogs and sprockets working in harmony.

Unfortunately, this kind of satisfaction comes at a price, and what a price that is. It has cost a mere £125.97 to ressurect my steel beast and re-ignite my belief in its abilities.... Actually £125.97 is a lot of money, its a huge amount of money, especially to spend on a £200 bike and so I've made the decision that the next service will be one conducted by my own fair hand. It might cost me about the same to buy the parts, tools and learn exactly how to complete the service properly, but at least I'll know exactly where the money has gone and why it costs as much as it does.

For the record, my new bionic bike has had the following components replaced:

• chain
• rear cassette
• bottom bracket
• rear axle
• 2 cables
• front and back tyre (at my request)

The galling thing about the bill, is that they actually charged me the labour cost of replacing each part! I've been charged for changing the chain and cassette, then charged again for the work on the rear hub then again for swapping out the bottom bracket and then, just to really rub my nose in it, they charged me £2 for the grease they used to lube the groupset!

All in all, this one has hurt the wallet worse than ever before, but I have to admit that the bike is riding nicely and really looks ready to take on the remainder of the challenge.

Live 8

Amazing spectacle, I hope its manages to get its message across. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the huge array of arists on the stage although I have to say that I could have done with a little less Mariah Carey and a little more Pink Floyd.