Two weeks into my new commute!
ansbaradigeidfran
Posts: 526
Righty-ho..
Firstly, the reason that I'm only writing my 'report' after two weeks is that having moved house, BT only saw fit to transfer half of our services (thankfully we could phone them to complain that we had no internet access).
It's a 3-4 days a week commute from Penrhyn Bay to Bangor, making use of the hourly train service.
The task of buying the bike had three criteria:
* Folder: I don't want to be thrown off the train because it happens to be a busy Friday evening or both bike places are taken
* Mile High seatpost: 36 inseam makes buying trousers fun too
* Price: fixed celing of £150
Buying second-hand was tricky, as most e-bay lisitings don't bother mentioning how high the seat comes. The final choice was a cheap, Chinese model. As the business is based in Bangor, I collected the bike and dodged the £20 courier charge, rounding it off at £110.
An imminent birthday helped toward the costs of ancillary items (helmet, neon yellow jacket, D-lock, multi-tool, flashy lights, etc). Total cost of everything came in at ~£200
So, I started the week before last with the 2.5 mile journey to Colwyn Bay train station. Sped off from home happy as Larry, and then realised a mile in that it's been 10 years since I've been on a bike. There's also the fact that the bike and rucksack equal a third of my bodyweight. Meh, I got what I bought (and could afford). The long, gentle downhill from Bangor train station to my department is good fun, though, and the uphill isn't too bad.
Two late evening meetings landed me with stupidly long waits for the train on Tuesday and Thursday, so I accepted a lift from a friend who lives nearby, and stashed the (still fairly clean) bike on the back seat of her car. I take the train home and bike from the station on Friday, though. By Friday, I found the journey out was getting easier: some small levels of fitness returning, and re-learning when to shift gears.
This week saw three return journeys. When bombing it out of Bangor train station, not a single car passed me in the 30mph area (and cars tend to do 40 in the evenings) for the half mile until I turned off. I was so elated that I decided not to return to Bangor station that evening (and face a 50 minute wait until the 18:05), and cycle to Llanfairfechan (see the map, people) instead. I bravely set off, to find the slight climb out of the valley at Maesgeirchen to be steeper than I recall by car, and was unceremoniously passed by a roadie. I pressed on, and found the level road again, making good time on the A5 and backroads to Talybont. continuing along the cycle route, the climb up to Crymlyn really killed me, to such an extent that at 17:40 I was regretting starting the journey, and was afraid of having to call home and explain why I was so late.
But a few minutes later it was downhill again! Yay! I made Aber just after 17:50, and pedalled on to Llanfairfechan by 18:05, just as the train was due to leave Bangor. 13.4km in 50 minutes, that's about 10mph. Quite happy. Ten minutes or so later, the train came by to pick me up, and give me a lovely sit-down before the twenty minute ride back home.
I stuck to the regular route on Friday, and was buffeted by nasty sidewinds on both legs at the Colwyn Bay end. Still enjoying it, though. I'm looking to swap Colwyn Bay for Llandudno Junction station soon as it's a pound chaper each day on the rail fare, but it's not as flat as the costal route to Colwyn. I hope to try it this week, though, and do the Llanfairfechan return at least once each week.
In terms of casualties so far, the front tyre had some manufacturing fault, and last weekend developed a spontaneous tear in the wall (inner tube fine). Rather than hassle the original vendor for a replacement crappy tyre, I bought a basic one from the local Halfords for £15 instead. This week the front derailleur has derailed me five times, starting with between the outer cog and the guard, then jamming in between cogs, and finally between the small cog and the BB. I've re-jigged the tension etc. properly this morning. The bolts that hold the cogs on are some soft alloy, and the allen key holes are so shallow neither my LBS (in Bangor) or I can get them off properly. They've agreed to drill the pests out and look through their bit box for sensible replacements when they have the time next week: then I can straighten the outer guard with a few hammer blows!
Okay, I know it's rambly, but I just had all this stuff I wanted to write. It's fine, you can ignore as much of it as you want.
Firstly, the reason that I'm only writing my 'report' after two weeks is that having moved house, BT only saw fit to transfer half of our services (thankfully we could phone them to complain that we had no internet access).
It's a 3-4 days a week commute from Penrhyn Bay to Bangor, making use of the hourly train service.
The task of buying the bike had three criteria:
* Folder: I don't want to be thrown off the train because it happens to be a busy Friday evening or both bike places are taken
* Mile High seatpost: 36 inseam makes buying trousers fun too
* Price: fixed celing of £150
Buying second-hand was tricky, as most e-bay lisitings don't bother mentioning how high the seat comes. The final choice was a cheap, Chinese model. As the business is based in Bangor, I collected the bike and dodged the £20 courier charge, rounding it off at £110.
An imminent birthday helped toward the costs of ancillary items (helmet, neon yellow jacket, D-lock, multi-tool, flashy lights, etc). Total cost of everything came in at ~£200
So, I started the week before last with the 2.5 mile journey to Colwyn Bay train station. Sped off from home happy as Larry, and then realised a mile in that it's been 10 years since I've been on a bike. There's also the fact that the bike and rucksack equal a third of my bodyweight. Meh, I got what I bought (and could afford). The long, gentle downhill from Bangor train station to my department is good fun, though, and the uphill isn't too bad.
Two late evening meetings landed me with stupidly long waits for the train on Tuesday and Thursday, so I accepted a lift from a friend who lives nearby, and stashed the (still fairly clean) bike on the back seat of her car. I take the train home and bike from the station on Friday, though. By Friday, I found the journey out was getting easier: some small levels of fitness returning, and re-learning when to shift gears.
This week saw three return journeys. When bombing it out of Bangor train station, not a single car passed me in the 30mph area (and cars tend to do 40 in the evenings) for the half mile until I turned off. I was so elated that I decided not to return to Bangor station that evening (and face a 50 minute wait until the 18:05), and cycle to Llanfairfechan (see the map, people) instead. I bravely set off, to find the slight climb out of the valley at Maesgeirchen to be steeper than I recall by car, and was unceremoniously passed by a roadie. I pressed on, and found the level road again, making good time on the A5 and backroads to Talybont. continuing along the cycle route, the climb up to Crymlyn really killed me, to such an extent that at 17:40 I was regretting starting the journey, and was afraid of having to call home and explain why I was so late.
But a few minutes later it was downhill again! Yay! I made Aber just after 17:50, and pedalled on to Llanfairfechan by 18:05, just as the train was due to leave Bangor. 13.4km in 50 minutes, that's about 10mph. Quite happy. Ten minutes or so later, the train came by to pick me up, and give me a lovely sit-down before the twenty minute ride back home.
I stuck to the regular route on Friday, and was buffeted by nasty sidewinds on both legs at the Colwyn Bay end. Still enjoying it, though. I'm looking to swap Colwyn Bay for Llandudno Junction station soon as it's a pound chaper each day on the rail fare, but it's not as flat as the costal route to Colwyn. I hope to try it this week, though, and do the Llanfairfechan return at least once each week.
In terms of casualties so far, the front tyre had some manufacturing fault, and last weekend developed a spontaneous tear in the wall (inner tube fine). Rather than hassle the original vendor for a replacement crappy tyre, I bought a basic one from the local Halfords for £15 instead. This week the front derailleur has derailed me five times, starting with between the outer cog and the guard, then jamming in between cogs, and finally between the small cog and the BB. I've re-jigged the tension etc. properly this morning. The bolts that hold the cogs on are some soft alloy, and the allen key holes are so shallow neither my LBS (in Bangor) or I can get them off properly. They've agreed to drill the pests out and look through their bit box for sensible replacements when they have the time next week: then I can straighten the outer guard with a few hammer blows!
Okay, I know it's rambly, but I just had all this stuff I wanted to write. It's fine, you can ignore as much of it as you want.
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