Kiss the yellow Pearson goodbye

There was a sad moment in the Optician Editor's house this weekend when I finally had to strip down the old yellow Pearson bike and throw away the frame.



I was having a general clear out so the futon and the snooker table became kindling, masses of books, toys and remote control cars headed for the charity shop and the shed was cleared. The faithful old bike suffered terminal damage last year after hitting a pothole in Epsom. A big section of the frame snapped off and basically that was that. It's been in the shed ever since. I did look into a repair but was told it would cost more than building a new frame, having hung onto the bike for such a long time I decided enough was enough. The Campag components were stripped off and the frame set to the tip. As you can see in the picture we had a brief moment together before we parted.

Fiona goes over to the dark side

First entrant to the photo competition. Fiona writes: Not the best photo! The sun was shining and hence the mud was minimal..u can see how dry and sandy terrain was and the clear view of the south downs in the background. The best bit was tha I could 'parade' my personalised dark Oakley J bones. Much to the envy of my friends.

And the dark side? Is it the lighting, the kit......or is that a mountain bike I see.

Photograph that kit

As the weather gets colder I find myself discovering more and more old bits of Optician Ironman Team and Transitions Swedish Bike Ride team kit.


Along with the commute my kit also gets an outing most weekends. This Sunday son #2 and I took a spin up to the top of Box Hill, nice and early, so we could return to a fry up and the Rugby. The pictures don't really do it justice but you get the basic idea of a sea of mist in the valley with islands of land poking out. Plus the Transitions kit.



As a diversion during the winter interregnum I thought we could have a little SBR kit photographic competition. Where are some of the most extreme, exotic or beautiful, muddy, wet places your kit has been? Send in a photo and I'll put them on the blog.



Winners can claim a slot in the yet-to-be-announced Optician two minute questionnaire inside back page feature.

The chain gang part II

I have come to see chain problems as a bad omen. Shortly after my beloved yellow steel Pearson bike snapped a chain the whole frame gave up the ghost. Last night my blue aluminium Pearson developed chain problems, just a frozen link to start with, but I managed escalate the problem to include not only a chain that was too short but a broken chain tool as well.
There was lots of oil and angst around last night in the Bennett household. I will re-size the chain, or replace it, and hope for the best.

Closed season is upon us

Happy days running in the sun

I was hoping to show off some gruesome pictures of my post operative knee (I had an arthroscopy in early August) but there was very little to see really, just a bit swollen. When the dressing finally came off you could barely see the incisions. Then it was holiday time and now the knee is pretty much back to normal. I'll have to see what the physio says later today.
I am trying my very best not to do too much too soon ( the main problem with this procedure apparently) but with a couple of turbo session under my belt and three good rides and nothing to report, fingers crossed, I think I may be OK. Running and swimming can wait a little longer.

Thoughts can now turn to next year's event and how it might be organised. I have already been contacted by ex members of the original Optician Ironman Team but linking in with a wider industry group proved very successful this year so may be the way to go again in 2012.
The big question of course is the challenge. Flat, hilly, mountainous, a bike ride , triathlon or what???

In the meantime I can rest my knee, I don't think so. The Crawley late summer triathlon is already on the horizon.

Any thoughts for events, team membership or anything else, on an ( electronic) poscard please.

Paris or bust

A great day was had by all in Paris at the weekend. The grandstand view was magnificent although as Sue pointed out the general public did make the place look a little untidy.



We then moved on to our 'Champs' seating to be closer to the action. Great views but there were some annoying
tourists taking pictures of everything.

The guy is yellow passed us a few times, he's pretty good, he should take it up seriously.



Perhaps I'll ask Luca to invite him to the next SBR run.


After the racing the real fun started when we got to rub shoulders with the teams and see the bikes close up.
Back stage the guys were letting off some steam and talking to the fans. Pretty cool given they had just spent 3 weeks riding 2,100 miles. A few of us tested the weight of Thor's bike. The mechanic said Thor touched 123kph coming down an alp. As Lance might say ' Awesome dude'.

A tough tour

If you thought it was bad riding in the Tour; forcing your very soul to the edge of exhaustion and then being knocked off your bike and thrown into a barbed wire fence, run over by a media car and scraped along the tarmac --then think again.
That is but nothing compared to what is happening to my fantasy Tour de France team! I am trailing miserably, my riders are retiring, I replace them and they break their leg and have to retire too. My team lead the race along for 100s of KM and then fade to the back of the bunch.

Let's hope now the Tour has reached the mountains my riders come into their own.