Told You So - Fuji Sportif 2.1 Road Bike

There was always a chance this would happen, after spending hours researching bike makes that I was familiar with, the decision was finally made. Which means, somewhat to my surprise, I am now the proud owner of a Fuji bike.

I am still not entirely sure what swayed me into buying a make that did not originally make my manufacturer based shortlist. Maybe the specification, or discovering that they are better known than I first thought, or perhaps the understated colour. Whatever it was though I am very happy with the bike, it turned up on time and well packed from Evans Cycles, everything works perfectly, the size and riding position are spot on for me and although the pedals will need to be replaced with clip less versions at some stage, it seems to be very good value for money overall.

What had not occurred to me was just how fast a good road bike was going to be in comparison with my battered old mountain bike. The same amount of effort on the pedals has the wind whistling past your ears on the Fuji, which is fantastic, but slightly disconcerting initially. Obviously this was the point of buying it in the first place and I am sure that given a few weeks it will seem completely normal.

So part two of the triathlon plan is now in place and in fact the training has commenced. Well when I refer to training it means that my sporadic running has now been increased to everyday and a few rides have taken place, although not at any stunning pace so far, while my fitness levels increase.

Unfortunately this does not allow me to be completely smug yet as the speedo swimming goggles that arrived on my fiftieth birthday have still not been immersed in water of any type. One thing at a time though, the goggles will get an outing soon, in the mean time the gradually push back to a reasonable fitness level continues and appears to be going well so far.

Andy

Buying a Road Bike - £500 Budget - Choices and Decisions

Preparations are afoot to progress along the training path to complete a Triathlon in my fiftieth year. As mentioned in my previous ramblings on this decision, I already run and have appropriate kit to use on and off road. However the battered mountain bike, while still good fun, is not going to be suitable for the task ahead.

Therefore a road bike is required, the choice of which is quite frankly a minefield. When I was young any bike with drop handlebars was a racer, read road bike, and professionals had frames made out of Reynolds 531 tubing, apparently the options are now somewhat more complicated. Then there is the price, it seems that you can spend more on a bicycle now than a small car costs. Now I am sure that the technology is fantastic on the expensive bikes and that they are extremely light, but they are also way outside the budget of £500 that I have in place. Also my suspicion is that while the latest components might make a difference to a professional cyclist, actually being fit and completing the required training is more likely to be the best solution to covering the required distance in a reasonable time.

So what can you get for five hundred quid, well quite a lot it would seem, alloy frame, carbon forks, Shimano gear sets and a weight under 10kgs. Interestingly though these are not all bikes from budget manufacturers, Dawes and Raleigh have plenty of machines in this bracket and some companies associated with the more expensive end of the spectrum, such as Specialized and Trek, also have entry level bikes around this price.

To be fair you are quite likely to get what you pay for at this price, so my feeling is to go close to the budget level and choose something from a manufacturer that I am familiar with. Personally I know very little about Norco, Pinnacle and Fuji, actually I was not even aware that Fuji even made bikes as my association with them is more on the electronic side of things. I am naturally drawn to Dawes, although I suspect this is because a Galaxy Tourer to ride around Europe on was high on my list for some years, Specialized bikes have always appealed and discovering that Trek make something within my budget has just made the choice even more complicated.

Obviously I have to make a choice over the next few weeks, currently my shortlist contains the Secialized Allez, Dawes Giro 500 and the Cannondale Synapse Alloy Claris, although there is a temptation to spend a little bit more for the Trek 1.1 or 1.2. The odds are with one of these, but there is certainly a chance of going with something else entirely, the problem being that specifications are very similar on all bikes of this price, maybe I should just pick a nice colour.

Andy

Running, Cycling and Swimming - Maybe it is time for a bit of commitment.

Approaching a milestone age tends to give one thought for what should be achieved in the following decade. In my case there is a constant reminder that I will be fifty in less than a month, due to the flow of 'interesting' life insurance mail that has been arriving for the past few weeks.

However I am approaching this birthday with a sense of purpose, viewing it as an opportunity to make some commitment to my random fitness regime. Fortunately my natural build allows me to stay in shape quite easily, it also causes people to inform me that they were like this until twenty, or thirty, or even forty. Well I am about to be fifty and there is still no sign of me putting on any weight, so it seems to be genetic. 

The point about this is that I look like a long distance runner and have indeed dome some half marathons in the distant past, but none in the past twenty five years or so. I do get out and run sometimes, but it is intermittent, a couple of five kilometre days, then nothing for a week. My intention has been to put this right and start a proper schedule for a while and I am determined that this will happen.

I have also always been quite a keen cyclist, although the tatty mountain bike that gets used at present is probably not ideal for what I have in mind. You see training for and completing a triathlon has always appealed to me, there is one point which worries me though, swimming. It shouldn't really, I can swim, it just does not seem to come naturally. Obviously my genetic gains did not stretch this far as my parents were both fine swimmers, unlike me. However it may be that practice and training could me the key, when analysing my swimming it becomes clear that lazyness is the main problem.

So I shall make the effort, firstly by getting my running back on track, as it comes easily to me and will improve my fitness levels. The mountain bike will start to get a lot more use and I will venture down to the local pool and try and improve my distance and technique. There is no intention here of breaking any records, just the feeling that this could be a great personal achievement if I can manage to complete the challenge. Also my stock of excuses as to why I have never taken part in a triathlon has run out, so know is the time, probably.

Andy