My MTB build is slowly making progress and is almost ready to finally put together.
Instead of just having a plain looking frame I decided to get some artwork done to add a personal touch. The guy who built the frame has a partnership with local artist who has done a lot of bamboo frame designs before.
I was after something personal that would reflect my mix of German, Canadian and Kiwi roots. The design is predominately a flowing Koru and Fern design and mixed in is a German eagle from the Coat of Arms of the town my Mum was from and a Maple Leaf to represent Canada.
All that is left to do is to put a clear coat to protect the frame and then I will be able put it all together and then hit the trails!
Over the years I developed a ‘sixth sense’ on the bike of usually being able to spot things before they happen.
Even after a short while a cyclist will generally get good a spotting things like when a car is going to turn but is not indicating or when a pedestrian is going to step out but hasn’t spotted you.
Two weeks ago my ‘sixth sense’ kicked in a little too late and I ended up getting a bit more intimate with a car than I’d have liked. The intersection itself is probably not the safest one in the world, it is one of those faux roundabouts that is nothing more than a bit of a dot and some arrows. It is clearly signposted and is one of the main routes into the city so there was no real excuse for the driver not to at least slow down a little while approaching the roundabout.
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I have recently purchased a helmet camera to capture my rides, partly in case I needed evidence and partly to gloat to my UK friends about the cool downhills I get to ride on the way to work. One of my first thoughts after the crash was that the footage will make for interesting viewing, unfortunately though the camera let me down as it locked up during contact and only caught the lead up to the crash and the moment my brain registers the car is not going to stop.
Thankfully the driver stopped and was very apologetic and said he will pay for any damage. I quickly assessed the bike but saw that things were not quite right. I had only just set off so I was able to wheel my bike back home, just as I arrived my partner was coming down the stairs and I had to quickly reassure her that I was ok just a bit shaken and sore. I probably should have just stayed at home and, probably, foolishly just hopped on the other bike and road in to work but this time without incident.
In the aftermath the damage ended up being some bent forks, a slightly no longer true and relatively new back wheel. Through a stroke of luck, apart from not being seriously injured, I had been waiting for a new front wheel to be built but the supplier forgot to send the nuts for the hub so I had yet to put it on the bike and on the same day got an email to say that they had finally arrived.
As far as the body goes it turns out that I have cracked a rib. I put off going to the doctor for 2 weeks as from experience it felt like just the odd bump and graze. There is nothing really they can do about it, just some rest and lay off the running. Oddly, cycling 2 hours was fine but more than about 20 minutes of walking and I start to feel the ribs.
I have been thinking alot about how cycling in Wellington compares to London and I honestly think I felt safer cycling through London. The traffic and pedestrians in London were largely predictable and as a cyclist, provided you are not a feature on the channel Silly Cyclists, you can have a safe journey in London. The problem with Wellington is its narrow streets and jaywalking pedestrians. I joked the other day that I could start up a segment Silly Pedestrians as a partner to Silly Cyclists with the amount of close calls I see and capture cycling through the city.
The commuter bike is currently under repair, being an old bike it is harder to find forks for it but I have sent them off to a frame builder to have a look and see what he can do, maybe I’ll get some brand new custom forks out of it.
Anyway, I am still in one piece and still able to ride my other bike so at least that will keep me happy, I will just be a bit more apprehensive at until I get my full confidence on the bike back.
Not so straight anymore
So its been a while but I am now back on the trusty steed.
The almost freezing to death while cleaning my bikes was well worth it in the end as they, along with the rest of our gear, managed to breeze through Customs and MAF with minimal fuss.
There were a couple of casualties along the way, unfortunately two [carefully wrapped] German xmas market mugs from our previous years trips did not make it through to see another Glühwein. The only mug that did survive was the one I picked up from the London market before we left, but it’s just not the same.
My commute back in Wellington is quite a different experience compared to London, it is a lot shorter but much hillier. I have taken up going ‘the long way’ to and from work to get some extra riding under my belt and keep the fitness up. A benefit of living so close to work however is on those days where I just can’t be bothered or the weather has different ideas I can go directly home.
While I was packing up the single speed bike I remember thinking how well it had held up with no major issues over 3 years of commuting, even the wheels were still relatively true. Unpacking the bike at the other end was bit of a different story, the back hub was seriously loose and there were a lot more creeks and groans that were not there before…from both bike and rider.
I have since treated my bike to a few presents, a new rear wheel and I have just ordered a new Brooks saddle. For the wheel I decided going with track hub so I could experience a bit of the fixie culture by running it mixed with one side fixed and the other freewheel. If anybody in Wellington is in the market for hand-built wheels I can thoroughly recommend Wheelworks in Lyall Bay.
I have long being anti-fixie, especially the ones those that ride with out proper brakes, but having had a few weeks on the fixed gear I have been converted and really enjoying it for the commuting. It is almost like going back to the basics of when the Safety Bicycle* was first invented.
Wellington being quite hilly, especially compared to London, has provided some extra challenges to riding a fixed gear bike, the most challenge being downhill where coasting is just not an option! A unexpected benefit however is that it has been helping my pedalling technique become much smoother and I really notice the changes when I hop on my road bike for a weekend ride
Having done cycling related challenges over the last 2 years I am keen to keep it going. Last year I did an End to End of the UK and I have been looking at a similar trip of NZ but that might have to be saved till a later date. The more likely option for this year will be the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, all I have to do now is to decide how many laps and whether to do it on the single speed or the road bike.
An little update on bamboo bike, I have got the process started so I’ll keep you posted.
* I have been reading Rob Penn’s ‘Its All About the Bike’ so I had to throw that in there
When I packed my bike up all those months ago on that cold November day my legs were secretly happy they we going to get a rest.
As much as I love cycling, doing up to 200km a week commuting was really starting to take its toll without a decent break off the bike. 3 months on and with all my cycling muscles all but disappeared I am definitely itching to get back on the bike, I find myself ogling any bicycle I happen to go past wishing that I too could be riding.
I found out at the beginning of the week that the bikes have arrived in the country, they are just waiting to clear customs and MAF checks.
During my time off the bike I have started thinking about building myself up a new bike from scratch and now that I am back in Wellington I am definitely in need of a MTB again.
Something that caught my during last year was the more regular emergence of bamboo frames. While looking around I came across an outfit called Bamboosero who build bamboo frames and have builders around the globe, in fact there is one in New Zealand who is part of this scheme.
If built right, bamboo frames are apparently more resilient than carbon with even better shock absorbing properties. There is something quite appealing about building up your own steed and ending up with something very unique. Even though I didn’t personally build my commuter bike I still chose most of the bits to make it my own creation, before leaving London I was still getting great comments from fellow cyclists.
While I have been pining over my bikes I have been looking into the finer details of building a bike from scratch. I have worked in a bike shop many many moons ago and am fairly comfortable fitting all the pieces together the trouble is deciding which bits to use, off the shelf bikes already have those decisions made for you.
For now it is back to longing after me bike and looking around the online cycle shops…oh and a bit of real work mixed in to pay for it all
Despite New Zealands clean green image it seems to be a long way behind when it comes to the general attitude towards food.
Back in the UK we were used to having a good range of Organic and Fairtrade products along side the more chemically infused products. Even the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury’s would stock a healthy range of Organic and Fairtrade products. Some supermarkets even go as far as stocking only Fairtrade coffee and tea. Even throughout Europe it was normal to see Organic produce and destinations would even use the Slow Food movement to attract tourists.
In New Zealand there a very different story, Organic produce seem to be limited to farmers markets or special sections in the supermarket and you need an eagle eye to spot Fairtrade coffee amongst the rest of the coffee brands. Even when you buy products labeled as Organic it is not necessarily what you might expect. The other day we bought some organic chicken but after we started cooking it we quickly realised it had still been pumped full of water to bulk it up, a practice used by supermarkets to get to get more money out of each chicken.
I do admit that before heading to the UK I was guilty of not really checking what I was buying but my time overseas has really opened my eyes to why supporting Organic and Fairtrade is good for everyone involved. It actually makes me sad that New Zealand markets itself on being a clean green country but this attitude is not carried through to its food production.
I am not saying that there is no Organic or Fairtrade products in NZ, I am slowly finding places and markets around the Wellington area it’s just harder to find than we had come accustom to in the UK.
In between starting to write this post I went to Ignite Wellington which is part of the global event run by O’Reilly. The premise is each speaker has 5 minutes to talk about a subject they are passionate about with 15 seconds a slide. One of the talks was from John Hart who is a farmer from the Wairarapa and is equally passionate about local food. This was followed by a more obscure, but really funny, presentation by Richard Aindow on why life is to short to eat bad mayonaise.
It is great to see there are other people who are passionate about local food and harnessing what nature gives us without all the chemical numbers that goes in to food these days.
All this has made me think I need to branch out from just bread and past and be a bit more creative in the kitchen. Inspired in part of by Alastair Humphreys and his A to Z of world cuisine in London I am planning to try and cook my way from A to Z of world cooking, that is once all of our stuff finally arrives from the UK.
Life is to too short to eat crap food so go out and and savour what nature and the seasons gives us.
After snow, closed airports, flooding and missing bags we finally made it back to New Zealand.
Throughout our 4 years of travel the worst we ever had had was a slightly delayed flight, it felt like we had saved up 4 years of bad luck for this last trip back home. Even during the episode from the Icelandic volcano that nobody can pronounce or the regular BA strikes were we lucky enough to still go on holidays.
It’s good to be back in Wellington and catching up with all my friends who are still around.
Being back in New Zealand I find myself pondering some facts about living in New Zealand, really just simple things like,
- It’s great that it is normal for people to say thanks to the bus driver as they board and leave the bus
- You don’t fear getting stabbed if you should make eye contact with somebody on the street.
- There is not a “proper” side to stand on when riding the escalators.
- I have to remember that it now only takes 15 minutes before the sunburn starts to kick in, even waiting for the bus can one start to burn
The only thing missing now about being back is not being able to ride my bikes. I could borrow or hire a bike, in fact my dad has one I can use, but it is just not the same as riding my own trusty steeds who I know and love so well.
My bikes…I mean all our stuff is not due in the country till the beginning of March, delayed partly because of some misplaced paperwork, and then who knows what will happen once MAF and Customs get their hands on them. I spent a very cold day outside religiously cleaning the bikes and shoes as not to make MAF think we were not bad people for having missed a spot of dust.
Walking around the city I have been buoyed by the thought that there are a lot more cyclists on the roads, I have even seen a few dutch bikes around which would have been almost unheard of before I left for the UK.
So while I wait for my bikes to arrive, oh how I miss my babies, I am going to have to resort to running to get my exercise kicks and stop my leg muscles turning to mush. We are staying right next to a big hill which is a great challenge for trying to run up with out stopping, brilliant views from the top too.
Happy New Year all and I hope all you winter cyclists in the northern hemisphere are keeping warm and staying safe on the roads
Like the saying goes, all things must come to an end.
Today I said good bye to my trusty steeds (and of course the rest of our worldly possessions), to be shipped off across the globe. After packing up the bikes on the weekend I have already started missing my daily commute to work on the bike, the time on the bike would always help me wake up in the mornings and wind down in the evenings. Most importantly cycling makes me happy!
I have been in the UK for almost 4 years however the time has come to head back home to New Zealand. It is with mixed feelings we are heading back but I am definitely looking forward to bypassing another British winter.
For the next few weeks I will have to resort to satisfying my cycle cravings with rides on the Boris Bikes come snow or shine, but perhaps not rain. I always love the slower pace of life the Boris Bikes seem to bring.
In a way it is sad that am I leaving London just as the cycling culture is really starting to take off, but even in the last 4 years it has been great to see the changes out on the London cycle lanes. I will just have to keep an eye on the progress from afar.
This need not be the end of my cycling exploits, in 6-12 weeks I shall be reunited with my steeds for another chapter in my cycling adventures. Already on the cards is a End to End of New Zealand and next years Lake Taupo challenge. Maybe even combining the two. The first challenge though will be tacking the hilly Wellington landscape on [my single speed] Silver Sovereign.
My home town in NZ is Wellington and cycling there with it’s narrow streets can be challenge and a bit intimidating, even more so than London. Over the last few years I have definitely changed as a cyclist, I now ride far more defensively instead of putting myself in danger just to try and prove that I am in the right. I look forward to seeing how riding in Wellington has changed.
Maybe when I get back to Wellington I could start up a Cycle Chic page for Mark over at ibikelondon collection of sites, there is one for Auckland so why shouldn’t there be one for the Welly.
I plan to continue to write about my cycling exploits here and on Twitter, so stay tuned for more cycling tales from the other side of the world.
May everybody cycle safely through the winter months and remember to have fun.
The end of November is quickly approaching and that can mean only one thing, it’s time for the event that everybody hates to love.
Every year on the last weekend of November there is a cycle ride which regularly attracts more than 10,000 people and is the largest organised ride in Australiasia region. The event is called the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge and the event takes riders the 160km around Lake Taupo.
I have done the event a few times myself and every year I would end up saying “never again” but every year I would come back for more. The thing I would look forward to the most is crossing the finish line and consuming a large amount of Pineapple they would put on. Being over in the UK I wont be taking part this year, maybe next year.
The success of the event I think is born out of putting on challenges for every ability level, from the Pros to the little kids and everybody in between. Not only does the event provide a challenge for the entrants but raises money for the local community and support for the Heart Children Foundation.
The challenge that most people take part in is the solo 160km lap or team up for the relay of 40km sections. There are some crazy people who will do it on unicycles, choppers and tandems. There is even a mountain bike option. This year sees the inclusion of an 8-lap race (if you can call it a race), which starts on the Wednesday and scheduled to finish on the Saturday with the rest of the people taking part, pure madness!!
While catching up on news from back home I stumbled upon an article about a group, Pushing it For Prem’s, who are doing the event in support of the Neonatal Trust and Premature Babies and having been born quite premature myself there support has special meaning to me. I wish the group the best of luck with their challenge and their fundraising.
Some selected “fun” facts about the event.
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- Fact #2
Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge has 1,390m of uphill, and would you believe 1,390m of downhill too! - Fact #3
Harry White of Paeroa has faced the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge 26 times consecutively - Fact #4
In 2009, Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge had 30 solo riders aged over 70
- Fact #7
Ken Looi (I know him too!) rode a unicycle around the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge course in 2004, it took him 7 hours and 43 minutes
After the cycle challenges I have done over the last 2 years I am thinking when I return to New Zealand I am going to do it either on my single speed (the course is the exact opposite of being flat) or doing the 2 lap event.
Good luck to everybody taking part, remember to have fun and enjoy the atmosphere.
Please don’t tell my bikes but I have another passion outside of cycling and it is food.
I have always enjoyed good food, but since being in Europe I have really come to appreciate passionate local food producers and restaurants.
For christmas last year my partner gave me a breadmaking course at Daylesford. It was one of the best gifts ever, right behind a drive in an Aston Martin!
On the course we got lots of little tips on how to bake better bread and even came away with a sourdough starter. As a huge fan of sourdough breads I couldn’t have thought of a better gift.
Ever since then I have been baking my own bread every week, pizza bases and a variety of other bready products. If I didn’t already have the nickname piemanpete I could probably take up the name Dough Boy, anything that involves flour then I am your man.
Sourdough takes a bit of TLC and time to get right so I will share my love of bread with this easy-peasy yeast bread recipe. I have adapted the recipe over the months and it can be used for a Ciabattas, Focaccia, basic soft loaf or even a killer pizza base.
This recipe is mix of recipes from Jamie Oliver, Bourke Street Bakery and Daylesford Organic. The recipe should be enough to make big size loaf or 2 smaller ones or 2 standard size pizza bases. The best thing about making bread at home is you can make it what ever shape and size you want, what ever tickles your fancy!
Now for the recipe,
Ingredients
- 400g strong organic white flour
- 210ml warm water
- 7g Salt
- 5g Fresh Yeast or 1 sachet or 3/4tsp of dried active yeast
- A splash of Milk (around a tablespoon)
- 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Method
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- In a mixing bowl, add the Flour and Salt and mix up.
- Crumble in the Fresh Yeast or mix in the Dried Yeast.
- Make a well in the centre of of the dry mixture.
- Pour in the Milk and Olive Oil.
- With a fork in hand start slowly pouring the Water in stirring as you go and bringing the flour in from the side into the wet mixture.
- Once all the water is in keep mixing the ingredients until you get a rough craggy mixture.
- Tip the mixture out on to a clean surface. Have a little bit of the strong white flour on standby just in case the mixture gets too sticky.
- Knead the mixture until you get a nice smooth mixture, should be about 5 minutes if doing it by hand and how vigorous you are with the kneading.
- By the end the mixture should be sticky to touch but not so sticky that the dough sticks to you hands when pulled away. Dust with a little flour as you go if is really sticking to the bench or your hands.
- Once you have a nice smooth dough, oil the mixing bowl a bit, put the dough in and cover it with some clingfilm. Leave it for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
- For extra flavour to develop you can knock the dough back by kneading for a minute or two and let the dough rise again before shaping it to bake.
- The dough should now have a nice softness to it.
- You are now ready to shape your loaf. Depending on what you are making you can divide the dough up or make one big loaf.
- To shape and prepare the loaf you can either use a normal baking tin or form it into what ever a more shaped bread.
- A tip for getting a good shape is to use a rolling motion on the counter almost like you were to roll meatballs, don’t press too hard and use more of the edge of you hand.
- While your shaped loaf is rising again you can warm up the oven to 200c preferably with the tray you are going to use in the oven.
- Once you are happy with the size of the loaf place it on the heated baking tray and put it in the oven.
- It should take about 30 minutes to bake. The loaf should develop a bit of a golden colour on top. To test it is fully baked you can tap the bottom (be careful, it will be hot) and if there is a hollow sounding noise it will be done.
- Let the loaf cool before eating. When you first take the loaf out of the oven the flavour is still developing so letting it cool first will give you even more flavour.
If you want warm bread you can always chuck a few slices in the toaster. - Enjoy the smell of fresh home baked bread.
If you want to make a pizza base, after you have let the dough rise in the bowl you can take the dough and roll it out, you’ll probably get 2 normal size bases or one very large one with this recipe. You can either use a rolling pin to get it nice and thin or do the classic stretch in your hands like you see in the movies. In my opinion the best pizza base is the thin Italian style, none of the thick based crap Pizza Hut and Pizza Express churn out.
The pizza base should be a couple of mm thick, if you were to hold it up to the light it should be almost see-through but not quite. If it tears don’t be afraid to start again. Getting it nice and thin is how you get those nice crispy bubbles that sometimes form.
To help transferring to the baking tray you could dust another tray with some flour or semolina and prepare your pizza, then when you are ready to bake slide the pizza(s) on to the preheated tray or even better a bread stone. This part is not crucial, you just get even better results if you bake on a preheated surface.
My extra top bread making tips
- Kneading by hand is a good workout!
- You can make the dough the night before and chuck it in the fridge overnight to slow the rising process. Then when you get home from work take it out of the fridge let it warm up about 30 minutes and then continue with what ever you were planning to make.
- Fresh yeast makes all the difference to the taste but is hard to get hold of in general supermarkets so dried stuff does just as good.
- With dried yeast you get just as good results adding it straight to the flour mix before adding the water, no need to activate it in water first.
- Try to heat the baking tray first before you bake you bready creation.
- The general rule for the flour to water ration is 5 parts flour to 3 parts fluid. The amount of yeast is not as important, the less you use the longer you wait for rising (proving). For 500g I would use around 6g of fresh yeast or about 3/4 teaspoon of dried active yeast.
- If you are making bread you can knead in extra seeds before shaping the dough to add extra flavour. Things like Caraway or Fennel seeds add a great flavour to any loaf.
- To get an extra crunch to your crust, put a small saucer or oven proof fry pan with a little bit of water in the oven as you are preheating and while it is baking. This is similar to how baguettes are so crispy.
- After a few goes you will quickly learn the right mixture and making bread will become second nature.
Nothing beats the smell of pulling a fresh bread out of the oven!
Sadly I don’t have a picture of my easy-peasy loaf, but here is a pizza I made with the same dough recipe, it tastes a lot better than it probably looks. I really must remember to practice my food photography and take more pictures of my creations.
I love cycling to work, it sets me up for the day more than a cup of coffee ever could.
Recently I took part in a survey for the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme. One of the questions asked why do you use the scheme, among the options of ‘It is quicker’ and ‘To avoid the crowded underground’, I had to use the “Other” option to add ‘I like cycling’
I have to admit that I am probably more confident on the bike than then average commuting cyclist and will often will hold my ground against impatient and pushy motorists. These motorists are generally in the minority but they will often put off cyclists from commuting by bike
Over the years I have learnt to spot the signs of when a car is likely to turn with out indicating or a pedestrian stepping out without looking. Recently I have started riding a bit more defensively, I’d rather stay upright and avoid injury than try and prove a point. Regardless of who is right the cyclists will always come off second best.
For me, this post summed it up perfectly: Safety is More Important
Despite the potential hazards of my commute, there are always a lot more positives. I get to see things that people on the tube or even in the cars might not otherwise see. I now have a pretty good feeling of how small central London actually is.
Occasionally I get treated so some amazing sites, most often coming through Richmond Park or along the river. Richmond Park is extra special with the fog that often comes in Spring and Autumn along with the deer. As winter kicks in and all is dark you can see all of the city lit up from North London all the way through to Canary Wharf.
All this adds up to make my rides in extra special. It helps me wake up in the mornings or de-stress after a tough day. In the colder months sets in it can be extra invigorating
I always kick myself for not stopping more often to get those special photos during my commute, but here are a few highlights.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/piemanpete/5116682429/
This last one is not from my commute, but I love the colours and the out on the open feeling even though it is 30km from London
