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LOL entered.

Did another training ride today on the fixed. 136km. Couple of easy days tomorrow and Tuesday for recovery and I should be all set for Wednesday. Not training to increase speed or anything just to decrease any feelings of struggle and feel comfortable.

Forecast for next Wednesday is looking good. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2646316

I'm SE in Sydenham. I've done it from West though when I lived near Ealing Hospital a few years ago. But now I can be at Purley cross in under an hour. I'm going to get the train to Meopham from Bromley South. It's around half an hour's ride. Then maybe 15 the other end. The train goes from Victoria and takes about half an hour.

Cool. Thanks hippy, I'll ask Tim. My route to Brighton is about 89km so a little bit less. I'll also have an extra 40 mins or so either end on Wednesday. I also need to eat more. All this 5:2 fasting means that I've got used to ignoring hunger. Not good on a full day's ride.

Should I book on the LOL already? Is it filling up? I have friend who rides with me quite often who has just joined audax and wants to ride the LOL as his first one.

Did a London-Brighton-London training ride today in readiness for the Wye Wednesday. On fixed of course with my usual 4kg of crap in the pannier; half of which I didn't need. A heavy D-lock that never got used and a whole box of muesli bars which didn't get eaten.

I was feeling so relaxed that I had this crazy idea of seeing if I could do it non-stop. But I made myself stop because I knew that I'd pay the price on the way back.

Had lunch with a friend, stocked up on snacks and then headed back. The traffic totally ruined the return journey. Even down country lanes there were lots of cars and vans. So annoying. But at least I've got a good taste of the conditions for next week.

Yep, still available. Send me a PM, a text, a tweet, a whatapp message or whatever works best for you to arrange a time. You could even call and speak!

The other question which I've been pondering a lot today is SP or SON28? All the reviews I've read say that the SON is totally worth the money but it is quite a lot more.

Thanks @Greenbank that's very encouraging. And thanks for encouraging me to do more on fixed.

Just booked Wye Wednesday. Now I can start planning. Train times, maps, training rides etc. Also booked no the Wormingford Dragon at the end of March. Need to book LOL too.

I'm considering getting a 2nd Cyo for my other bike. Would you say that the Edelux is worth the extra spend, as it's quite a bit extra?

Did the Windrush Winter Warmup today from Ashton Keynes near Cirencester. Stayed with friends last night who live about 10 minutes ride away from the start. Absolutely heaving with people (and bikes). After yesterday thought it might be a bit cold and icy but this morning the sun came out and there was no ice. But the wind, well that was quite another thing. No info controls and in fact only two proper controls with tea and cake and rubber stamp.

First leg (Ashton Keynes to Stanton Harcourt) was 47km which most people did non-stop especially with a tail wind. Lots of really nice cake in a big hall. Dead easy. Second leg was 32km was a lot harder with strong headwinds and a few climbs. Probably out of the saddle for most of it. Bacon roll at the end of this along with a home made peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Final leg was 28km which had a lot of long easy descents so I got into a TT ish tuck position and spun as fast as I could. Great fun. Suddenly it was all over and I thought, "Oh, is that it?". More cake and headed back to my friends place by the lake. (For more tea and cake.)

Some gorgeous views of the Windrush lakes as well as pretty villages such as Burford. Forgot my FWC card but got my route sheet stamped and signed by the organiser saying that I had ridden it fixed. One more point.

After hanging out for a couple of hours, cycled to Kemble to get the train to Paddington then another hour's ride to get home.

Counting the days to Wye Wednesday now. Will more than likely ride it fixed.

Anyone on the Windrush ride tomorrow? I'm getting the train to Kemble in a bit and staying over with friends who live about a mile from the start! Looking grim out there though. Chance to try out my new Sugoi waterproof gloves. Another one fixed. Have a bit of a lurgy but have paid 40 quid for train tickets so no chickening out.

Well done that man. Great report. Think I'd go greasy spoon over posh cakes myself.

Thanks for the encouragement. The Willy Warmer was a lot easier than had I expected. I wouldn't say it was 'easy' but certainly comfortable and managed to ride up all the hills even with all the extra (probably unnecessary) luggage.

Blimey, sounds very painful indeed. Hope you heal fast.

I was looking at 2nd hand iphone 5s on ebay when I was alerted to this - https://oneplus.net/uk/one
Used to have Cyanogen 7 on a Galaxy Ace before I switched to apple so am considering going android again. Any thoughts on the above? Says you need an invite before you can buy.

If I can do this one fixed then it'll save the bother of moving my lights again to the geared bike. Ideally I'd like a 2nd set of dynamo lights for the other bike but need to wait for funds to build up again.

Well, that's the tail light sorted. What about the front? Another Cyo? Fairly happy with that one so far.

I quite fancy that Wye Wednesday as well. I've put the gpx file on my gpsies account. A couple of climbs early on in the first 25km then fairly easy. Have a look.

http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=xmutoolvcclnrtam

I'll probably edit the file a bit more before it goes on my Garmin. Add in the controls, climbs, descents etc. Hmm. Geared or fixed???

Seat stay mount. Perfect. Thanks for that.

Thinking about getting a 2nd set now that I have it all nicely set up on my fixed commuter. Obviously I can take it all off and fit it to the other bike but it takes almost an hour. May just get a 2nd set of lights to start with as moving the wheel is easy. Thinking about the SP hub dynamo or possibly a Schmidt 2nd hand. Such as here

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SON-delux-HUB-DYNAMO-700-BICYCLE-WHEEL-MAVIC-A319-RIM-ST-ST-DTSWISS-SPOKES-/231458557771?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item35e4014f4b

On my geared bike the main issue is that I don't have a rack and the rear lights I've looked at (mainly B & M) are made for luggage carriers. I have an Ortlieb saddle bag so need to figure out a way of mounting my tail light somehow. I've looked into saddle rail mounts for lights but I already have a saddle rail mount for the bag. Any thoughts?

Thanks for that. Just trawled my way through 69 pages now have a bigger list to choose from. I'll stick with HTFU numb fingers for now till I can filter that list down. Hopefully before the next audax on the 1st of Feb.

I should probably UTFS and find the winter gloves thread.

Ooh. Tell me more about those gloves. Mine are old and knackered but used to be fine. They may also be a size too big or have just stretched because my fingertips don't reach the end. The most annoying thing though is if my hands get sweaty the lining comes out when I remove them and it takes ages to fit it back in. Oh and well done with the Willy Warmer!

I've just taken the plunge into dynamo lights after a friend did the same a few weeks ago due to his commute being along dark unlit country lanes. He bought a 2nd hand ready built dynamo wheel on ebay for about £40 but then blew over £200 on a set of Supernova lights.

My plan was similar but I wanted to start with as low a budget as possible and still get half decent parts. I bought a brand new Model DN-3N71 on ebay from Merlin Cycles for £25 posted. Being a wheelbuilder I built myself a new front wheel onto a used but ok rim. Bike24 in Germany then provided me with a B & M Cyo (60 lux version) and a Toplight XS for 63 Euros (48 GBP) posted. My wheel is now 400g heavier than the previous one.

I've only used this set up twice but am very impressed with the result. The first was last Wednesday riding from Much Hadham in Hertfordshire to SE London. Dark country lanes lit up so well that you could see where you were going with no fear of batteries dying. The second time was yesterday on an audax ride (the main reason for going dynamo) where I knew I would be riding dark country lanes for 3-4 hours after sunset. Performed perfectly giving me the confidence to ride at normal speed. Coupled with the GPS I could see ahead to how the road would bend and the light showing me any bumps or potholes. More respect from cars too.

I thought I would upgrade when I had tested my current set up more thoroughly but even at this low budget I'm quite impressed with the result and may just stick with it for while and perhaps even do the same with my other bike.