Cycling UK Forum

Anything by Bill Bryson.Easy reading and funny travel narratives."seabiscuit"by Laura Hillenbrand,a well researched,dense,well written account of a racehorse in 1930,s America.I,ve no interest in horse racing but this non fiction was a great read on holiday.Cycling book?"le Tour" by Geoffry Wheatcroft and "Tour de France" by Graeme Fife(read this a few times)"put me back on my bike" by William Fotheringham(tommy simpson biography) are all good reads by proper writers who know their stuff."Krakatoa-the day the world exploded"by Simon Winchester.Did you know the cataclysmic eruption could be heard 3000mls away.Lilian Beckwith,s"The sea for breakfast" a delightful account of life on a scottish island in the50,s ,.Fiction? try Nicolas Sparks "Message in a bottle" and "the notebook" ,tales of love lost and found.More into "mens stuff" try"Band of Brothers"and follow "easy company" through europe to Berlin,a true tale of ordinary men doing extraordinary stuff.Joe Simpson"Touching the Void"-surely everone,s read this!These are some of my best reads.Hope this helps.

cycleruk wrote:We have a sub-group in our Club go by the name of the Remoulds.
Generally retired and the oldest is around the 80 mark. Some people moan that we are to fast and won't ride with us.
But we are not proud and will let the youngsters tag along if they want.
Group moto - Ride hard or Ride home alone.

I also ride with the "old boys".Had an away day on thurs,a demanding 65miler with 6000ft of climbing.A newbie joined us who,although a fit man,hit the wall at the top of Nenthead in cumbria.No way was he getting over Hartside so I volunteered to return to Brampton via the valley from Alston with him.Someone said"started together so we,ll finish together".We all enjoyed the ride home;leaving a rider stranded is an alien concept to us.I,m sure your motto isn,t meant literally,sounds like a gentle reminder to warn folk to be fit before riding with your group.

Any old cyclists out there,say 75+.What are you doing?How has speed and stamina changed in later years?From an interested 65yr old cyclist.

As a 65yr old,regular cyclist(5000mls ish per yr),I sometimes wonder whether I,ll be cycling when I,m 75 or older,given good health and sufficient motivation.How many folk out there still biking,lets say,50-60mls at these ages and how has their speed-endurance declined over the years?

Thats exactly the one,though I think I paid over the odds at £10,secondhand.

Thanks for the feedback,will carry more zip ties as this seems to have worked for some.I have been careful with my own rims since one exploded in the car like a rifle shot whilst driving home after a 200km audax in scotland.I found a tool in a secondhand shop,shaped like a figure of eight and pivoted in the centre,that enables me to measure rim thickness.A scissor caliper,mirror caliper? someone will know.

Out today with the old boys and,just before the coffee stop,Neil,s bike had a clicking noise.On examination,the rim was starting to split,serious stuff 30mls from home.We let some air out and chose a flat route home(to avoid braking)My question is,could you put some zip ties round rim and tyre as a get you home fix,after releasing brakes of course.Would they simply wear away and drop off quickly.

Brass spoke nipples.

Broughton in furness,the square cafe,always stopped there when out for a ride.Good,hilly circuit from Hawkshead;east side of coniston lake,return via west side.You really need an O.S. map to get the most from this ride.

Sourced from a front wheel

Thanks again for valuable and interesting stuff to think about.I,m going the route of new rim,20quid,and use old spokes (265mm) of the same gauge.Cheers.

Interesting ideas.Further to my question, can I use spokes from a donor wheel of the right length.Do they have to be exactly the same gauge?

On examination,repair is impossible due to the double wall rim so new rim needed anyway.Nine spokes damaged!

Thanks for your input.I will check hub and spokes.Rim is a mavic 317 disc.I will have a go I think and see how far I can get.I can use an old rim for the donor metal.Cheers.

After unshipping the chain inboard,locking the wheel up and going into a barely controlled mega skid whilst offroad yesterday,I surveyed the damage.Three broken spokes,one of which was ripped out the rim.My question is:can I save the rim with a reinforcing piece behind the hole?