Tuesday 21 July 2009

The Poor Student 200 Perm

This is the new bike on its first outing: it ran very nicely. I just need to do a little more fettling (= prutsen in flemish!) to get the setup just right. The seat needs be lowered just a fraction, but was at its lowest. So, I'll need to saw of a bit off the stem, or swap with another. The handlebar needs to be tilted up a bit and I'd like some extra padding (on the handlebar).

All in all, I was very happy and really noticed the greater flexibility compared with the racing bike which is very stiff (good for sprinting though!).




So I decided to repeat The Poor Student 200 route, which takes you from Oxford to Malmesbury and through the Cotswolds. It is a lovely route. I completed the route in 11.5 hours, which is an improvement on 13.5 hours when we did it in January. But then the conditions were very different!
Here are some pictures of the scenery:


Sunday 12 July 2009

The Poor Student 200 Perm

Yabadabadooo!! 11 hours including stops! 9 hours 45 minutes of riding.

After our allotment party yesterday, I really wasn't in the mood for cycling (not that I was drinking). But the alarm went off at 04:30 this morning and up I got. It was still raining, but I knew it was going to stop around 6AM, which was my planned start time in Oxford.

Everything went well. Made good time in the morning, so had lunch in the Summer Cafe. As I've mentioned before, the Poor Student is a lovely ride from Oxford to Cirencester and back via Malmesbury.

Loved seeing the lavender on Snowshill. More pictures on the slideshow till the next ride, or here.



Again, many thanks to everybody who has donated! There is still time to donate (after LEL, I will never ever ask again).