Fixed Wheel Belt Drive
Had this on the back burner as a project for the last few months but with work racing and family things seem to take a lot longer. The other thing I was waiting on was the hub to suit a Gates Belt sprocket to fit on.With the Halo Fix-G Track Hub I was then able to build it into a TREK District 2 and fit the belt drive :)


Madien flight for the bike was on Sat night in the dark down from the shop, kinda weird at first cause there is no noise but could feel the instant drive and pick up!

The next day I hit the local Club run which involved about 4hrs on the belty and it passed with flying colours, think I have just ridden my new fav bike :)

Build Up
So after being away from a race for two weeks I am pumped to start racing Cyclocross again this weekend in Rd6 SCX on Sunday @ Lochore Meadows Fife, on the Sunday past I had great ride out on the Fixed wheel with the DunfermlineCC crew. Nothing to hard with just a spin around to Falkland for a coffee and home, about 65miles all in.



Managed to sneak in a bit of Cross practice on the way to work today to hone the skillz :) from now it will be about active rest till Sun where I will hope to carry on where I left off with win number 2.


Till Sun then....come on!!!

Cough!! Cough!! Wheezee!!
After a great run out on the good old fixie for 65 miles or so last Sunday I had a small cough at night which unfortunately then turned into a cold from hell which has knocked me for six all week, so all this week I have been trying to recover drinking fluids and generally feeling a bit sorry for my self. As my wife would say I have a case of the dreaded Man Flu!!

The Cafe Run
Last Sat going round the usual Cafe route the Cycling Club turned into the Ramblers club as the road was covered in black ice for a 1/2 mile or so, there were a few fallers but gladly no injuries. I did witness one guy fall get up and remount to promptly fall back down again!

Ramblers CC

Class

Pedal, Pedal, Pedal.
Get'in the miles in is the mantra at the moment and hoping the weather is kind to make the miles pleasurable, well Sunday past was one 'o' those days when all the days previous and after were crap this was a great run round the roads of Fife.

Pedal, Pedal, Pedal
More pedaling and feeling that the legs are on their way, only thing now is to go into the land of hurt which is Cyclo-Cross and maybe in the next week or two I will be ready.

Getting the legs back
So since my last post I have had a nice break in Spain for a week and I am now getting the bike feeling back again, meaning I have been building up the mileage leading up to a 75 mile run on the Surly Steamroller Fixed wheel today which felt great.

"Fillmore" (The most cruel hill of the San Francisco Grand Prix)


Out on the summer Fixed wheel yesterday - the Fillmore (44x16) as the weather was great.
The gear change felt good and the bike is a bit lighter than the Steamroller so the higher gear turned over well on the flat and as I am a bit fitter was fine on the hills.

Fillmore Street, enough said.

OUCH!
I GOT DOORED

Today I came off the fixed wheel and I am nursing a sore hip and right arm. The off was on my normal commute up to Dunfermline, I was cycling down the inside of stationary traffic when a nice wee school girl opened her passenger door on me which I then caught with my right forearm sending me flying over the bars onto the side of the road!

I would always normally ride down the outside of stationary traffic to avoid this kind of thing but today I was on the inside as the traffic light crossing had turned green ahead which I thought meant the traffic would start moving, instead the traffic had still been stopped by a lollipop lady meaning the Dad of the school girl in the car had told said school girl to jump out and right into my path...........BOLLOCKS!

So I am now trying to recover for tomorrows ride in to the shop as the arm is well stiff and sore at the moment although this typing has eased it off slightly.

On a good note the beauty of riding a fixed wheel is there is nothing on it to break or bend as there is nothing hanging off it, so apart from a little scuff to the bar tape and left lever the bike is perfect which helps make my sore bits feel a bit less sore.

Sketch pic from RoadKillBill.com

A great day..........

Since I could not get out yesterday I took to the road on the fixed today to get a great workout the Picture is of my details from my Garmin 305 Edge and using the SportTracks software.

A cracking Club run this week at about 72 miles round the back of the Ochil Hills through Dunblane with a Cappuccino stop in Causewayhead. At one point in the run I managed to get up to 40.2mph going down to Gleneagles on the Fixie. Once you get to these kind of speeds on 49x18 it is like going through some sort of speed barrier as up to about 35mph it feels like your insides are in a liquidiser but once you go over the 37mph mark it seems to get smoother which is a bit bizarre.
Next week the first Reliability Runs start which I am looking forward to as it is a great test to see where you are sitting fitness wise. I will be back on the multi-gear machine for these as the speeds are generally a lot higher average speeds, anyway it should feel a bit easier as I have been on the fixed for a good month now.
Later,
Keep Spinning.

Out on Sunday past it was the first DCC Tourist trial of the year of 50 miles, a Tourist Trial is a fixed course with a pre set time to get round in.
The weather was very mild for this time of year which made it a bit sweaty by the end.
The pace was a bit brisker this week and as the Trials do not stop at the Cafe it was right roond apart from a stop for a puncture within the group.
Catch ya later.

It was a cold one on this weeks Sunday Run!!

A good workout of 70 odd miles again this week on my usual ride the Fixed steamroller. The side roads were a bit on the icey side so the group stayed on to mostly main routes as they were more likely to be salted. The main picture is passing over the Kincardine bridge with one of the platforms that are being used to build the new Kincardine bridge due to open in 2008 which could be named either
1. The New Kincardine Bridge
2. Clackmannanshire Bridge or
3. Kingdom Bridge once the local Councils have eventually stopped arguing. Behind the platform is the Ochil Hills which stretch across and down to the Wallace monument in Causewayhead.

Well this week it was another Sunday DCC Club run and it turned out to be a wet one most of the 70 odd miles round, anyway it worked out that 9 riders(two on Fixed) out of 15 that started out continued round getting a good workout. I felt better this week and as it was wet we kept on trucking past the Cafe stop to keep the warmth up, I could smell the coffee as we passed the road end.
Once we had turned to get a braw tail wind the speed went up to 27-28 mph and that is when the naughty boys with their multiple gears can stick it into you, so as a few disappered up the road the rest of the group came together and it was just as well cause one rider blew his gasket and needed a bit of a help to get home.
Till the next installment,
Keep Pedaling.

Now that all the eating and drinking over the holidays has been done it is time to get back on the training waggon and yesterday was my first Sunday out on the fixed wheel
(49x18) the group that I was in did about 70 miles with a Cafe stop halfway.
I thought my legs would have been in bits today but they feel fine, good news as I intend to start upping my mileage on the fixed.
Till next time ciao,
Craig.

The local paper Dunfermline Press had a feature on me last week check it out here:
Dunfermline Press feature

Fixed wheel mania coming soon, follow me on my journey....

Stay Tuned.