Lost the battle but not the war...

As many who follow me know, I've been using cycling to help get me stick free & over 18 months ago I managed it. But last year my knee decided to play up for no apparent reason despite finally stick free for some months, done 2 Charity rides, cycled to Chelmsford & back to see Tour de France & those rides were all over 50 miles each.

 

Then after thinking I had knee sorted out, started a new job which involved a lot of walking & standing, leg had improved greatly. In February, the knee went again & worse than ever & back I went to see specialist. Who had done tests before & with physiotherapist notes to back up results, he diagnosed I had Osteoarthritis. This meant changes are needed to improve the condition but it will never go away, mostly lifestyle changes which reduces strain on the knee like sit with knee straight as much as possible.

But the timing of the knee flaring up was at the worst possible time, it was 2 months before Pedal 4 the J's & 3 months before Nightrider London. And having spent over 6 weeks unable to cycle on the road, both my knee & my level of fitness has been severely reduced. I had done 30 days of biking in April, but it was more of a 5 min run daily on a gentle setting of the turbo trainer & a few short rides at the end of the month.

And now that I'm beginning to cycle again I'm finding it difficult to do, partly coz I dont want to aggravate the knee again & I just don't have the leg strength anymore. The bike is feeling heavy & hard work so looks like I will be looking for an alternative 'lighter' replacement in the near future.

I had to drop out of Pedal for the J's last w/e as I just wasn't ready to cycle that course, but I needed to get things moving so I could do Nightrider London. So this week I decided I needed to start cycling further, so with a friend we went for a long ride around town to clock up the miles & it didn't go as well as I hoped. I really struggled to do 10 - 20 miles easily. This didn't bode well for me to be able to do Nightrider London let alone complete it, so after a few days of deep thought on the mater & a heavy heart I have decided I am unable to do it this year. The risk of doing more harm than good to the knee just wasn't worth it.

So I had emailed the organisers of Nightrider London to see if I can have the booking postponed to next years event so to give me time to get back to the level of fitness required & unfortunately they will not allow that. So on that premise I had to make further decisions as I now lost a good chunk of hard earned cash on an event I pre-booked to ensure I get a spot. It's not something easy to decide or I really want to do but I'm afraid I am no longer going to be doing the Nightrider London ride in the foreseeable future & I will not be pre-booking any similar charity event too as I can't guarantee I am able to do them on the day.

As for now I have to focus on my knee improving & able to manage it to avoid any further stick use if possible. The specialist has made it blatantly clear that I will never be stick free, but with the right management I can minimise the need of sticks. And until I know I can get the knee to be OK for more than 6 months, preferably over a year I think I will need to just work on my cycling distances on my own goals of getting the distances than try raise cash for charity on sponsored rides. Events like Pedal 4 the J's is still open for me to do as I can just turn up on the day & pay before I do it. Those sort of rides I will look out for to do in the foreseeable future.

So for now I may have lost the battle of going stick free, but the war to achieve it as much as possible as I have done for a decade isnt over. I'm just going to need new tactics & equipment as well as support to keep pushing forwards even if it is doing it slightly out of breath...

 

Nightrider London, do I or don't I?

In 2 weeks time it is the sponsored 100km ride around London sights, starting around midnight for me. Am I excited to go? I was until this week just gone...

Things have changed in the past week & I am in 2 minds to go. I don't know if others feel like this at times but I try explain it. 2 weeks ago I lost my job & I have been trying to sort out the benefits for it for the past 2 weeks, that in itself have left a big dent in my finances & made me wonder if I really should be forking out the £40 for the trains. But my parents have offered to help on that & I am grateful, but 2 days ago I got a letter saying I wont get any JSA. No explanation or what I will get, so I spent most of Thursday on the phone between DWP & HMRC as it seems that is the route cause of the problems. They don't bloody talk to each other, so after hours on the phone (mostly in queues) it seems it is sorted but nothing in writing tho. But this has stressed me & still am until I get something in writing.

So other than the financial stress, there's the emotional stress to go with it as I do have others to worry about especially my 2 diabetic cats. Also I'm having to spend hours on the PC looking for work every day, its a requirement & as a result my knee is now giving me jip. I knew it would if I spent too long at a PC desk, it's why I do NOT want a desk job. Then of course the bikes need maintaining, problem is after Pedal for the J's the Trek needs a service & Roadrunner still is not right & of course out of money.

So as a net result of all this I am stressed, more than I have been in a long time & in the mood I am in I really don't want to ride on these road for I know if an idiot cuts me up I will very much likely thump them. So that isn't a good frame of mind for cycling around London. I do wonder if those in the cycling sports suffer this? How do they get their mind into the game so to speak? Right now I just want to say Sod it to everything & veg in front of the TV.

And then of course that isn't the only issues, we have the mess of the trains. It's going to be hit & miss as if the trains will be running or be replacement buses which will be no good. Then there's the weather, if it is like it is atm I sure aint going to cycle around London in the rain. And to top it off I have no sponsors, so if I do this ride it will be just to push me. But the way I am feeling, I can say I am in 2 minds as to whether I do it or not.

When I did Pedal for the J's, I didn't feel like this. Bike was ready, I was in the correct mindset to do it & I had sponsors but Nightrider London its the complete opposite. I don't want to let down those who are going & supporting me but I cant see myself going if I feel like this, I know it wont work if I did & I really don't know how to get around it to change my mindset.

So for now I will have to wait & see what happens in the next 2 weeks as to if I go or not & try find a way to change my mindset on this...

30 Days of Biking, year 3 (lucky for some?)

Ok, those who been following me on various social media for a while now will know for past 2yrs I've done the 30 days of Biking & for those who are new to my blogs or social network accounts these, links to the other blogs will help explain. Old Wolfies blog: 30 days of biking, 'Autumn' 30 days of biking & these I did last yr on this blog site: The 2 Wheeled Wolf Tagged links for 30 days of biking.

And if you like to join in, the make the pledge at 30 days of biking homepage as its free to do & it will benefit you too. If in Colchester, we could meet up for group rides too...

Now last yr I broke the previous record of doing the 30 days in mileage & distance, so no doubt I will try to beat last yrs this April. But its gonna be a whole new ball game for me, a lot has happened over the past 11 months. I've moved & now have a new area to use which is hilly & not as great a cycle network in my opinion to Chelmsford. Also|I have a different bike, a lighter Trek one that I can go further. But don't worry The Beast hasn't been retired, it's still here with me (I can't bear to part with it) & is used when the territory gets a bit tough (snow mostly) as its a great bike for that. Oh and I am finally stick free! (On 2 legs) :D

So this year is going to be an interesting challenge for me to beat last yrs hard work. Again I am doing Pedal for the J's at the end of the month, but this yr I am pushing the limit. This year I am going for the 50 mile route instead of the 35 & again pushing me to cycle further than I have before.

 

The other challenge I have for the 30 days is work as I'm now working part time, so gonna have to push myself to go for short rides on those 2 days after work when I come home tired. Also means doing daily blogs & videos might not be possible this yr, was tight going to do last yr as it was. But a simple daily blog will be possible with a few pics.

Now for the Pedal for the J's I might have a lil surprise to reveal nearer to the day, but I will keep quiet for now on that (might not happen). But one thing I will reveal now is that this years 30 days of biking is also training for me for you see I have won a place in the Nightrider London 100km sponsored ride. That is is in June & again gonna push me even more, so the 30 days of biking is going to be good training & Pedal for the J's a good marker to how my performance will be like. So I will leave it there for now & will start the 30 days of blogs for the 30 days of biking in just a few days time. Oh yeah, donation page will be set up for both over the w/e too. ;-)

So for now, watch this space on social networks for further updates...

The Electronic Age - Guest blog with Cycling Made Easy.

If you have been following my blogs, you'll know I have had a mobility issue for some decades. This has meant I've had to give up cycling during that time & greatly missed it. But good fortune was on my side & after an operation I managed to improve my health with the help of cycling after a 20yr break. It was hard going & took a long time but after a few yrs I am getting there.
So where am I going with this you may well be asking, well over the years I have thought about the use of electric bikes during the 20yrs break & even when returning to cycling but was put off by the expensive costs, low performances & general lack of knowledge & availability of them. But you cant miss the trend has greatly changed recently with better tech, lower prices, etc. I know my 20yr gap may have been filled with cycling if I had an electric bike that are around nowadays. So when I was asked if I could guest blog a piece on electric bike, I thought yeah that be great as I know lil about them personally, except what I have read in the media.
So I will now leave you to read a piece from Neil at Cycling Made Easy & hope it will help those who were like me in the past, as I feel with better tech & prices the electric bike could help those who aren't fully fit to keep cycling. 

While electric cars hog the headlines with their celebrity owners and government subsidies, electric bikes were already outselling their four-wheeled counterparts by a factor of 62 to1 in Europe back in 2011. 

While the rest of the world has enjoyed electric bikes for decades, the market in the UK has remained small in comparison. 

Ray Wookey, who has been selling electric bikes in Surrey for the last three years, says, “This is a shame because e-bikes have the potential to open up cycling to large numbers of people like older people, people with fitness worries and people with lower limb injuries.”

He explains, “I'm in my sixties. Last year, I completed a 300 mile off-road cycle from London to Paris for the British Heart Foundation. It was tough and if I didn't have an electric bike helping me on my way, I wouldn't have completed it. I want to take part in cycling events for as long as I can. My e-bike can let me do that.”

Customers at Ray's e-bike showroom, Cycling Made Easy, agree. When Nicky Blumfield was diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder that affected her heart, she didn't think she could ever cycle. However, “After 10 minutes’ riding uphill, I was barely out of breath. I could chat with another rider and the dreaded pulse rate was OK! I had a bit of a ‘moment’ as the implications began to sink in: no more feeling left out and miserable.”

So what is an electric bike?

An electric bike is a pedal bike with an added electrical motor to boost the power of your pedalling. This means when cycling, the motor acts like an 'extra pair of legs' providing added power to get you to the top of the hill without you having to dismount and walk.

Can an e-bike help me get fit?

People assume that because an e-bike helps out the rider, you don't get any health benefits. This is not the case! The genius of using an e-bike for exercise is that the assistance stops you from over-exerting yourself. This has two benefits. Firstly, there are fewer chances of strains and sprains.

Secondly, and probably more important, the help from an e-bike means you don't tire yourself out, giving you the energy to go cycling again. In fact, e-cyclists have been recorded cycling five times as frequently as conventional cyclists! Fitness is a habit. Having the energy to go out again and again on a bike is crucial to forming that habit.

What if I don't want the electrical assistance?

Most e-bikes allow you to control how much assistance you get from it. They are fitted with a small control panel on the handlebars. If you are coming back from injury and slowly rebuilding your fitness, you can start with a lot of assistance and gradually use less and less as the muscles and joints strengthen. There may even come a point when you can turn the engine off completely.

What if I can't pedal at all?

Some e-bikes come with a throttle. These are helpful for accelerating away from traffic lights but they are also good for days when pedalling is too difficult or painful, or you need a break from pedalling during a ride.

Can I find out more?

There is more information about electric bikes on the Cycling Made Easy website http://www.cyclingmadeeasy.co.uk/ 

 

Is it worth paying extra for expensive panniers? (Final Update, 5yrs Later)

Note: Updates to the blog are at the bottom of the blog, scroll to this if you just want to read the update.

As a young cyclist, I used to go around with a backpack to carry whatever I needed. But now I'm a lot older, I have to carry a lot more as I now do my own shopping, get supplies for pets, DIY goods for the flat, etc, etc, etc... You get the drift, it means having a rucksack to carry this lot in from time to time isn't really advisable with all that weight on the back & so high up it makes you top heavy when cycling.

So the other choices are trailers & panniers, to which I now use both.

So as I have had a few years of using panniers, I have found them not quite adequate to the job. Well, the ones I have bought over the years. The first pannier I got was only a low budget £10 one to see how I go & to be honest wasn't expecting it to last.

It was small, simple to use & affordable for most. But in a matter of weeks I found it wasn't as waterproof as claimed, definitely not robust & after a month I was already sewing back on bits & new Velcro straps to hold it on as the old ones frayed to bits & I have been doing this regularly for a couple years.

In the end it was used as a tool bag for my longer rides than a shopping bag, I started using the trailer more until something else came up. Eventually I decided it was time to get another, this time go for a more expensive brand. When you have a look at what is about, the prices vary a lot. Definitely wasn't prepared to pay around £100 for a pair or even for 1 bag as I didn't know how good they are if at all.

Next one I tried a pair from Aldi, still below £20. They were of a reasonable size, each clipped on individually & for shopping they did ok.

Unfortunately the clips failed & rendered 1 side useless & as Aldi only gets them in from time to time the only option was a refund. So off I go again hunting yet another set & this time I did go for mid range & I bought bigger too at 47L in size that was almost double my last set.

Now when I got these, they looked great. Looked sturdier, thicker material & definitely right size to do the job or so I thought. On 1st load of shopping I found them awkward to strap down to the panniers & when lifting them onto the bike, this happened...

And why, well the next picture clearly shows the strain it takes & getting straps onto the pannier just adds to it as you had to lift them to gain access to straps. Clearly wasn't designed to come off the bike often, more like not at all. I guess as a Dutch brand, they don't worry about leaving them on the bike when shopping. Where as here, not a chance will I leave them on bike.

Warranty was useless too as seller wasn't of any help & passed the buck, so I decided to modify & strengthen the panniers instead as I needed them. But no matter how I set it up, modified the strapping, it just wasn't an easy set to use & would've been better as 2 separate panniers at that size. Also I kept kicking them when pedalling as strapping put them too far forward, they just wasn't working out but all I had.

As I paid quite a bit for them, I sure wasn't gonna throw them away & didn't have the finance to go any further up the price range. Plus the fact I was getting reluctant too after the messing around with these ones.

Well recently an online cycle shop Wiggle did a Twitter competition, just a simple Retweet one (My fav sort of competition). It was for a set of Ortlieb panniers, not a cheap set to get at £100 a pair. But I thought what the Hell, worth a go.

And would you believe it, I won! Woohoo!! Yes, that was my response & as soon as I got them I was like a kid at Christmas. Opening it up & couldn't put it down until it was put together & on the bike. Oh and Tweeted about it to all too as they sure did look good! lol

They were so easy to fit onto the bike, they just slide on & click into place & that is it. No fiddly straps, Velcro, rope etc. To take off is even easier, handle at the top which you lift up & panniers come off with it. Man, they are just so simple to use so why aren't ALL panniers aren't like these??

Size wise they are great too, nice contours so you don't kick them as you pedal & as I have found out I can carry as much as my previous 47L panniers & room for more. They are lighter on the bike when empty, something we all appreciate & also when it rains, they are totally waterproof (something none of my previous has ever been) & in our country is much needed.

So is it worth paying the cost of what these are going for? Even though I won them I now know what they are like, my answer will be YES!

They hold a lot of shopping quite well, not straining when it holds the heaviest of my shopping (20+kg so far) & I often have to check they're on the bike as I don't notice them on there when pedalling. It comes with a 5yr warranty, replacement parts & additional extras you can attached for more carrying. You can even turn them into rucksacks. lol

Now I know & if ever I need to get more of them (can fit them on front fork panniers too) or finally replace these tho not in a while. I will most definitely go for these again as so far they haven't come off my bike (except to fill with shopping) & unlikely too for quite some time.

There are a couple things to bear in mind tho when using them, firstly due to the mounting on panniers they do rattle a lil bit. Was disconcerting at first as I kept thinking I hadn't clicked it in place correctly. But when it has shopping, the rattling goes. Its just how they fit & nothing wrong with them.

The other which I say is important is careful how you pack the panniers, it doesn't like sharp corners pressing against the plastic fabric. I can see this could eventually tear it & not sure how easy it is to repair or if is even covered under the long warranty. So if packed sensibly, you won't have any problems & I for one am proud & glad to have these lovely if bright Ortlieb panniers.

Thankyou for taking time to read this & hope this is of use to those who're looking for a good set of panniers.

UPDATE

Since I had posted this a few days back, I have had the misfortune of a slide after coming off on a bend due to leaves. Thus the left hand pannier went scraping along the tarmac. All looked ok when I picked up the bike & pannier was covered in mud.

 

So after I get indoors with bike I took pannier off & gave it a wipe down & cleaned it up. I let the pictures show how it fared a slide on tarmac...

 Other than a few scrape marks on hard plastic parts, you wouldn't know it went for a slide. Another plus for the brand.

UPDATE (1yr later)

Well I thought I check to see when I posted this blog & would you believe it, its been a year already since I posted this blog.

So how have they faired over the year? Well for starters, they haven't come off my bike other than when sharing them with the other bike when I go out for rides & they're as much as part of the bike as my bell.

 

They still look almost new despite the 100s of miles I have done with them from around town to all around London & carrying God knows how much weight each time I cycle to the shops or just for a fun ride.

 

 

So I can happily say they are worth far more than what they cost to buy, if anything I am looking into buying the smaller version in White for my Roadrunner.

Update 18th June 2016

It's now been over 2yrs (almost 3) since I got my nice big yellow Ortlieb panniers, they've done a lot of rides with me & battled thru all sort of weather & road conditions. So how have they fared so far? Bloody well I say, I have now bought a 2nd smaller white set which gets used as much as the yellow ones & all still look almost as new. There's also been some changes to the bike collection to use them on too.

 

 

 

I have fitted the exact same Axiom rack on all my bikes so I can just clip whatever panniers I want for the ride onto whatever bike I choose to use, even the folding one which if you're asking doesn't effect the handling of the bike but actually improves it as all these racks move the panniers further back & help give clearance to pedalling.

They're so good they're even a feature on my wall with the bikes. :)

Update October 2018 (5 yrs later)

It is now 5yrs later & the warranty now expires for the first pair of Panniers, so how are they fairing up after 5yrs?

Well they are still going strong, still looking good & still waterproof. Even after a few scuffs when I've come off the bike & filled to bursting point with shopping many times that even makes the rack creak under the strain, definitely can't beat that for value for money. I have also bought another Ortlieb bag, a Rack Pack bag to add extra carrying capacity when I need it & yes its Dark Grey. That's coz the more popular colours sell for silly prices.

And that's the end of this blog. The Ortlieb panniers have proved their value in money & in my opinion are worth paying for to get many years & rides out of them. I hope this has helped you in your search for a good quality panniers. I'll be sticking to using Ortlieb bags & panniers for many many more years to come.