Cycling and running (and the Ferriby 10 2010)

As I cycled past Cottingham High School I saw lots of runners making their way towards Skidby and the start of the Ferriby 10 (an annual ten-mile road race that doesn’t actually make it to Ferriby, oddly enough). I set off an hour later than I had planned, so I was able to catch up with a friend I’d been out with the night before, and wished him luck five minutes or so before his race. Then I set off on what was essentially the same course, but in reverse. It’s a long drag out of Skidby towards Raywell, I then took a right turn and headed towards Little Weighton. My first chance to get on to the big chain ring that day to check out my speed using the cycle computer I had fitted that morning. About 28 mph, but not using the smallest rear sprocket, 11T.

The Kinesis Raclelight T2 bike. Now with its Blackburn EX1 carrier it’s starting to look a good deal more sedate. Rather like putting bifocals on a teenager.

I was trying to establish whether there was any point in keeping the rear cassette that came with the bike. Paired with the Sora Triple chainset, it is perfectly fine for local cycling conditions. However, I plan to take this bike up to the Yorkshire Dales at Easter, so I could do with some lower gears. And at the upper end of gear range, I wondered whether I could make use of the 120” plus gear. When I arrived at the main road in Little Weighton the last of the competitors were making their way through the village after running up the long hill from Skidby. The look on their faces made me glad that I was on a bike that day. And it was very, very cold.

On the road to Skidby I had the chain on the 50T chainring and the 13T rear sprocket. I quickly got above 30mph before the front wheel started to wobble from side to side. That was possibly because I was spinning as fast as I dare and could have used a higher gear. But I didn’t bother. 30mph is fast enough for me I think. The amount of time I will have those conditions (long straight hill, slight tail-wind) doesn’t really justify a gear much above 100”.

Having a rest in Skidby. The cream telephone boxes are a distinctive feature of Kingston Communications. The old Hull Corporation telephones department remained the only municipal telephones department not to be absorbed by British Telecom.

So my first cycling online purchase: on to the Chain Reaction Cycles web site and two Shimano HG50 cassettes and an HG53 chain. I ordered a Tiagra 13-25 and a Deore 11-34. When I replace the Tiagra rear mechanism with my spare Deore model (assuming the 114 link chain is long enough) and drill out the retaining pins on each cassette I will have the following gearing:

50/39/30 and 13-15-17-19-21-23-26-30-34. This puts the 21T sprocket right in the middle where I can make use of it from the big chain ring. It is a fairly low gear, but one I like to spin in normal cycling conditions.

That’s the plan anyway.

The winner of the Ferriby 10 2010, Carl Ryde from Doncaster AC.

As I write this, it is starting to get light outside. I’m thinking of running later this morning. It’s been a while since I did any real running and I’ve felt a few twinges in my right hamstring lately. I want to get in a short steady run rather than cycle today. Mrs Bailey and I went for our first cycle ride of 2010 yesterday. That will have to do for the weekend I think. It’s the half-term break soon and I’ll start those jobs, cycling and non-cycling, next week.