Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Ooh, me again! Today I had to get in early and power-dress, I figured on the bike in some not insubstantial rain I could do one or the other, but probably not both!

My neck has been giving me the s**** since December. Lots of physio since January has lead to the conclusion that it is due to poor posture and poor use of my deep neck flexors. My riding position on my old bike has probably exacerbated this (as has commutting with a backpack).

After a long Sunday ride on my new bike (which has a very different fit) it was evident on my commute the next day how tense my shoulders and neck became.

So I've decided to give commuting a miss until I install some new 'ergonomic' bars for the old bike. Soma Highways with the 26.0 mm clamp diameter. They have a much shorter reach will help maintain a better posture when riding on the drops. I picked up the bars a while ago, but I decided that enough was enough. Am waiting for new cables from ebay before building the old bike again.

SWMBO allowed me to use the car to drive to work today as my new bike build is ready to pick up from the LBS (installing BB and cranks) and don't want to wait until saturday. Hoping to do some further work on it tonight with the aim of first ride saturday or sunday.

Geez I feel lasy today. Freezing cold temperatures and wet weather I can handle, but not both in the same day. There better be thunderstorms this afternoon like it's forecast.
Another excuse not to commute was because I just washed my bike on monday and CBF washing it again before saturday if it does rain today.

Slack.

Walked into the kitchen to fill the bottles before heading out at ~ 7:30, just in time to see the neighbours house burst into flames. Scrapes and pulled muscles from vaulting fences, so I'm in no mood for riding again this weekend.

Very sobering to see how quickly a house is engulfed - this will certainly change our attitude to locked windows, as it's a miracle the owner made it out of the house before the centre of the house went up.


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twizzle wrote:Walked into the kitchen to fill the bottles before heading out at ~ 7:30, just in time to see the neighbours house burst into flames. Scrapes and pulled muscles from vaulting fences, so I'm in no mood for riding again this weekend.

Very sobering to see how quickly a house is engulfed - this will certainly change our attitude to locked windows, as it's a miracle the owner made it out of the house before the centre of the house went up.


Sent from my iThingy...

An excuse but you're in the wrong thread. Must be a hero thread around here somewhere .


Cheers, Simon
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twizzle wrote:Walked into the kitchen to fill the bottles before heading out at ~ 7:30, just in time to see the neighbours house burst into flames. Scrapes and pulled muscles from vaulting fences, so I'm in no mood for riding again this weekend.

Very sobering to see how quickly a house is engulfed - this will certainly change our attitude to locked windows, as it's a miracle the owner made it out of the house before the centre of the house went up.


Sent from my iThingy...

That is a damn good excuse
Glad everyone's ok.

Going.... going...




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Hope everyone got out ok. I've seen a house go up before, really scary stuff - will never forget it.

My excuse today - just moved house and can't find my riding shoes

Have put new handlebars and housing/cables on my old bike. It's ready to go but I woke up with a head full of man-flu. The forecast looks better for tomorrow and Wednesday in any case.

Crumbs, onya Twizzle for mucking in, hope everyone's OK.

My excuse is much lamer, my eyes wouldn't open. Then I couldn't get out of faff mode and ended up in the car. Such a nice morning too

I had lots of excuses this morning... flat tyre, it's freezing cold, late night (so I feel dreadfully tired) and just getting over a cold. To address these "issues", I rode my spare bike; dragged out my winter kit; sucked it up and rode to work anyway. It must be intertia. It seems easier to ride than catch the bus/train.

Leave day + housebound due to new carpets being fitted.

Also: wah-CHOOOO!

I would like to think that this should be in the honourable reasons thread - my back is stiff & sore - but I could have ridden in, just need a cup of concrete with my breakfast

I'm soft.

That's all.

"Babe, there's no water in the shower..."

It's -4 in Kyneton this morning.

Yup, water pipes are frozen at the mains. The wife has headed into work, so I'll be staying home with the plumber on speed-dial this morning if we have any burst pipes. Then, I'm off to "insulate" the external pipes. Any ideas what's best for insulating/minimising frozen pipes?

Recovering from surgery has been my excuse for the past fortnight. I'm supposed to take it easy for another fortnight but I'm due back at work on Monday, and loathe commuting by car.

Fletcher wrote:Recovering from surgery has been my excuse for the past fortnight. I'm supposed to take it easy for another fortnight but I'm due back at work on Monday, and loathe commuting by car.

that's an honourable reasons thread fletcher - if you're being told by a medical professional to not ride, then that's a legitimate reason, and approved as such.
so different thread for you. how the recovery is going well.

My excuses for not riding in Singapore:

1. too hot
2. too humid
3. too much rain
4. too hazy
5. unfamilar with the roads
6. too many cars
7. no bike lanes
8. no facilities at work - no shower, no bike storage, no lockers, no iron for my shirts
9. blah blah blah - TOO LAZY!

My shirts starting getting too tight so it was time to act. I purchased some non-iron shirts and we moved office so we now have 1 shower for the whole floor (still better than none).

It is hot and humid. Anyone who has been here knows what I mean. But early in the morning and in the evening it is no hotter than a Sydney summer. Not much I can do about the humidity, and I'm dripping when I finish my ride, but a shower at work and swimming pool at home helps. And when it rains, boy does it rain. For the most part it helps cool things down, but if it is too heavy I pull over. It's a visibility thing as there are no bike paths and it can be difficult to see anything in the rain. Thankfully the serious rain tends to be short so I don't have to wait long.

The only other issue is the haze. This year it reached record highs - visibility was down to 50 metres or less, and being without a N95 mask outside was suicide. The rain has help with this, putting out the fires that caused the issue. They are still smoldering over in Indonesia but hopefully they are under control for now.

There are too many cars. And no bike infrastructure that goes to any meaningful location (oh, that sounds familar). But the roads are well maintained and the lanes are quite wide. I have not had any real close calls but I am being more watchful because the lanes are so much wider drivers don't like to change lanes. Singapore drivers have been given a bad rep but they are no worse (maybe even better than) Sydney drivers. Yes, there are some haters out there in the forums who hate everyone and everything on the road that did not pay as much as they did for their car and don't go as fast as they do (or don't in the traffic). They do pay too much, way way too much, but no one forced them to and there are alternatives. With the money I'm not spending on a car and associated taxes that lasts only 10 years I can catch a taxi everyday to take me everywhere I need to go. That would cost me $100,000 - still not enough to buy a Ford Focus ($130,000!!!) And that doesn't include the on going road taxes, petrol costs and registration charges.

So I really have no more excuses.

welcome back, I think

No bike to ride today.

The singlespeed has been out of commission since September 2012 when I tried to drive into the garage with the bike still on the roof. I really should get it fixed - just a minor dent in the downtube.

The new cyclocross commuter - front fork sent back to Specialized as part of recall. Two weeks and counting for the return of the fork.

The roadie was due in for a service and timely too, because the rear derailleur is cactus. I had all sorts of trouble using the lower 1/3 of the cassette last week. On the upside, bike shop just called to say, all sorted, come and pick-up. So I'm back on the bike tomorrow. Yay!

2 bikes out of service, and they didn't offer you a loaner?

jasonc wrote:2 bikes out of service, and they didn't offer you a loaner?

Different shops Jason. The roadie was serviced at my LBS. The new cyclocross commuter was purchased from a bike store that I visit once every couple of months. I enquired twice about the bike and the final time, they'd knocked off $1200 off the ticketed price without me trying. When I got serious and asked about upgrading the gruppo to full SRAM Force and they said, no charge, I said you've got a deal! It didn't seem nice to tell them, let me see what my LBS (who also stocks Specialized) can do.

Good news is the roadie is running beautifully again, did the commute this morning. Also, just got an email that they received the fork yesterday and the cx commuter will be ready for pickup this arvo.

It is too cold and I am old and soft