Cycling Gloves

Cycling gloves are an important part of my cycling gear. My palms sweat a lot and therefore I need them. I had bought a new pair off ebay when my Red Roadie was new. It was branded Pearl Izumi Elite but it was obviously fake. Despite being fakes I wore them for more than 3000 km. They had worn out on the left hand. I should have chucked them out of my closet long ago but for the want of something better I had to carry on with them.

Last night I bought an XL pair from Rito's Stay Tuned. Rito is yet to tell me the price but it should be around Rs 800. I had never heard this name before. Rockbros. I wore them for yesterday's 35 km ride. They were comfortable. Nothing fancy but it's okay. It worked fine. I have said good riddance to the fake Pearl Izumis. I have real Pearl Izumi bibs that my nephew brought over from America. They are excellent.  

North Wave is another brand that used to be easily available in India. But they are out of stock until fresh imports from Taiwan arrive. Rockbros are Chinese. I wonder how they sneaked into India. Right now all Chinese products are unofficially banned from entry into the country.

I have to see how long the Rockbros last. I have made it default for my cycling activities. I expect 5k out of them. Let me see if they last that long.

Removing & Installing The Cassette

A thoroughly cleaned cassette is a thing of beauty

Today I accomplished another first. I removed and re-installed the rear cassette. I had just completed 2,000 Km on the Red Roadie and thought it was reason enough to remove the cassette and give it a thorough cleaning. I had thought of removing the chain also but realised that this chain is not removable (unless you want to break a link and put a quick link in its place). So off I went with the cassette. 

I used my newly acquired lockring removal tool and the chain whip. I had had to wait for these for months to arrive. Funny though it may sound, there is no Indian manufacturer for such simple bicycle tools. While the lockring removal tool is from Taiwan, I have no clue where the chain ring originated.

I just followed the steps shown in the various youtube videos and taking it off was not such a pain. I cleaned it with kerosene, detergent and finally a clean piece of rag. The cassette looked shiny bright and new. This was the first time it got removed from the bike. 

While removing I had zip tied the sprockets so that I have no problem reinstalling them. The first six sprockets were fused together. Then there was a thin hard rubber spacer followed by three more sprockets. 

While reinstalling, I placed them back in the correct order one by one. Finally I put some grease inside and then installed the locknut. This, I realised was a little tricky. It did not sit properly and after tightening it when I tried to give it a deep tight the lock ring would just rotate and come loose. I took off the things and once again followed the steps one by one. Finally I placed the lock nut very carefully and hand-tightened it at first. This time things fell in place and I gave it a good tight. The recommended torque is 40 Nm. But I do not have a torque wrench. So just went by instinct. 

I cleaned the chain thoroughly. I am yet to ride the bike. Will report after the first ride. Perhaps tomorrow.

The cassette removed and the tools for removal

A Major Goof Up

It's late night. Almost 12 mid night. I came back from Mukulda's place and checked what was bugging my mind since the afternoon. The wheel was moving backward when I pedalled backward. This was odd. I took the wheel off. Reinstalled. Nothing changed. Tried two three times. No result. I checked the cassette it was fixed. It was not moving freely in one direction, as it is supposed to. It was fixed in both the directions. No wonder the chain was making the wheel move in both the directions. It had become a fixie actually.

I took off the cassette once again with all the tools engaged properly. Removed the first plastic disc. I think they call it the dork dish. Professionals remove it the first thing after getting their new bike. I did not and wanted to reinstall it. I have a feeling something was wrong there. Probably the disc was somehow stuck somewhere. I don't know. Reinstalled the cassette without the plastic disc. I discovered some fine metal shavings under the locknut. I think the cassette's insides got shaved a bit when I first tried to instal it. I put some grease on the thread of the locknut and placed the nut very carefully and it sat correctly after several failed attempts. It is not an easy thing to do. Newbies must be careful of this. None of the youtube videos forewarn the newbies about this.  

Now the bike is moving as it should. It's not a fixie any more. If I back pedal only the chain moves. Not the wheel. 

I had checked the chain in the afternoon. It is close to being .75 loose. I will go and collect a new chain and change it once it reaches 1. Perhaps in another 500 kms or so. But no harm keeping the chain in stock. Components are difficult to source in Calcutta.

December 29, 2020

Last night I went out for the first ride after the clean up. It was a super smooth ride of 35 kms. I am so happy that I cleaned up so thoroughly. Initially I was a little tentative. After all this was the first time I did it and if anything was fitted wrongly it could end in a disaster. But nothing happened and the bike rolled smooth as silk. I had forgotten to wipe the excess lube off the chain. That cannot be helped now. I am more than certain that if I could give the chain a thorough clean up, the ride would be even smoother. 

I also bought a new 9-speed chain and a pair of gloves from Rito last night. Will write about them separately.

My next project will be to clean the chain and cassette of the LHT. Its chain has a quick link. I have ordered for a repair stand which might come next month. Will do it then, I guess.

The Hanger

Recently our junior friend Rejick Mukherjee went for a cycling trip to Ayodhya hills. There, during the climb, the hanger of his derailleur broke down. He managed by cutting the chain short and making it a single gear cycle. This catastrophe triggered a lot of discussion on our whatsapp group. Someone mentioned "this is the reason why I always carry a spare hanger". 

Truth be told. Before this I had no idea about what a hanger was. Had heard the term but never bothered to find out. Now after the incident and the discussion I realised it's an important thing to know because it seemed like a common accident to happen and can potentially bring a tour to an abrupt end. 

First step was to research what on earth exactly a derailleur hanger was. I realised it is a hook like thing that is attached to the frame from where the derailleur hangs. Now where is my hanger and what does it look like? Research revealed that steel frames come with integrated derailleur hangers. They are not replaceable. I felt reassured. But I wanted to get to the bottom of it and actually see my hanger or where it should be.

Inverted view of my LHT hanger 

After the Badu trip (read about it here) I took out the wheels to clean them and this was an opportunity to inspect my hanger. Turns out it is indeed integrated into the frame. It is not really part of the frame but a separate thing, black in colour, that is sort of fused into the frame. It doesn't look like it can quite break. It could bend which would require getting it straightened out (though for that I might need to find out an expert ironsmith) but it is highly unlikely to happen. If, God forbid, it breaks that would not be the only part of the bike that would break. Lot of other things would also break, I am sure. It will have to be a tremendous impact. If I survive and can ride again I will certainly need a new bike then :-)

Next step is to check the hanger of my Red Roadie. The red Merida. It's a road bike. 

Cycling Stats

I want to keep a record of cycling stats so that I can see them later. This I am doing because I just realised that I have lost my odometer recording on the Edge 130. I had set the totals under history to zero on the first day of October. I think this also reset the odo at 0 because the two are showing exactly the same distance. I didn't think this would happen. I always thought the odo reading couldn't be reset unless you did a hard reset of the whole unit. But anyway. Here goes my record keeping. I started using the Edge 130 from the last week of June. For this calculation I have taken the June reading as only what I have recorded on the Edge. Not the full month's real figure (which is less than 30 km before the Edge came).

I am using this page from Garmin Connect to note down the numbers

June 2020 - 162.63 km

July 2020 - 345.10 km

August 2020 - 323.99 km (Century to Canning)

September 2020 - 268.39 km

October 2020 - 457 km (Century to Badu) 

November 2020 - 403 km (was affected due to a week's absence due to trip to Sunderban. Also failed to do any century ride. Otherwise daily average was good) 

December 2020 - 378.46 Km (December is always bad due to various evening type festivals. I had hoped to make it 400 in the last day but even that didn't happen. Felt very lazy) 

Fresh beginning to 2021

Cycling Stats for 2021 

January - 

Wheel Building

I have finally taken the first tentative step towards building my own wheel. I have been wanting to have a separate wheel for my training rides on the Elite trainer. None is available in the used market. So I thought might as well build one of my own. I had initially thought of making it a very cheap one. Then I realised the cheap ones run the risk of going wrong during the build process. So decided to make a moderately good one. Use it as my main riding wheel and convert the current wheel into my training wheel. 

Last night (Friday, 16th October 2020) I brought home the rim and the hub from Rito's Stay Tuned. The rim is an Alexrims DH 19 in size 700c. For more technical details click here. I have the same brand of rim in my LHT that came as OE. They are Taiwan made and of reasonably good quality. It's a 32 holed rim. According to the site its ERD is 599.8 mm. Rito says according to his measurement also it is the same. So I trust it must be correct.

The RS 400 Hub

I also bought a hub from Rito to go with the rim. It's an RH 400 Shimano hub. Now this hub created some confusion. When I opened the box, there was a skewer and a manual on the side. The manual had this boldly written right in the beginning. For rims with disc brakes. Now my bike has rim brakes. Rito knows it very well. In fact my rim is also for rim brakes only. 

After some discussion with Rito and some online gyan from the wheel building group, I realised I had the right hub. The main thing to see is what is the OLD of the hub. Over lock-nut dimension. For road bikes it is usually 130 mm and it indeed has 130 mm OLD. It is written very clearly on the packet. Therefore it is a rim brake compatible hub. I wonder why Shimano writes this wrong information on their hub. 

The other technical details mentioned on the hub's packet are as follows. That it's a 32 hole hub and its skewer length is 168. I had even checked the skewer by inserting into the old hub. It fitted just fine. That means the two hubs are of the same size. 

Incidentally this is meant for 11 and 10 speed cassettes. Rito has given me a spacer and says that will make it compatible with 9 speed cassette. 

Next comes the difficult task of calculating the spoke lengths. I guess I will need two different sizes for the drive side and non-drive side. I have to first buy a vernier calliper. 

I intend to follow this link to lace up the wheel. The instructions are very clear and step by step, easy to understand. 

The components for making a wheel

November 28, Saturday, 2020

The wheel building project was in limbo for some time. I needed to calculate the various dimensions of the hub and the wheel etc to arrive at a spoke length. In this period I bought a Vernier calliper and tried various sites to find the precise measurements. Finally last evening I went to Rito's house who calculated the measurements and here they are. 

Effective Rim Diameter - 599.8 mm

Axle Width - 130 mm

Left Flange Diameter - 44 mm

Lock nut to Flange (LHS) - 31 mm

Flange to Center (LHS) - 34 mm

Flange to Center (RHS) - 14 mm 

Lock Nut to Flange (RHS) - 50 mm

Right Flange Diameter - 45 mm

I put all this data in the website mentioned above and the result came my LHS spokes should be 293 and RHS spoke should be 291.2. I have informed Rito about it. Let me see what size of spokes he gets. I think he was talking about 291 and go for long nipples. I think best would be 291 and 292 if available.

I must mention a few things about the calculations. The site did not accept more than 3 digits so I could not write 599.8 for effective rim diameter. I wrote 600. I don't think .2 mm will make a huge difference in calculations. 

The site, apart from the dimensions, also needs to know other details like whether it is a front wheel or back, lacing pattern etc. It's my rear wheel with 3 cross lacing pattern. 

Monday, December 8, 2020

I did it. Yahoo. I laced my first wheel. What a joy. What pure orgasmic pleasure. I had to struggle a lot. After some 7/8 failed attempts I finally got it all right. Each failed attempt meant taking off all the nipples and spokes and starting from zero all over again. I even had a minor cut on my thigh from the rough end of a spoke.

After all the calculations I had finally ended up with 290 mm sized spokes. Sapim to be sure. Rito was confident that that size would be fine and I certainly don't need different sized spokes on the two sides. On Friday night I started my project. I sat in front of the computer to refer to the youtube video. The video that I was using (link given above) wasn't working for me. Finally I found this video (click here) which was really helpful. Even here I was getting something wrong every time. But that was not the gentleman's fault really. 

In the penultimate attempt I got the first three steps all right but on the fourth stage after getting 2 spokes to go in I found it well nigh impossible to get the spokes to reach the holes. They were falling hopelessly short. I cursed myself for getting 3 mm shorter spokes.

Finally before giving up I wrote to Rito informing him about the problem. He said get the spokes loose. They are too tight. I took off all the spokes once again. This time I would turn the nipples only one turn or two. Now some of the nipples were coming off on their own, being wound just a bit. 

But with this strategy the nipples all fitted nicely and my wheel was made. Or at least the first step in wheel building was completed. 

First set of 8 spokes laced from drive side

Second set of 8 spokes from non-drive side

Lacing is complete

Third stage of lacing. 24 spokes in

The next step will be to go to Rito's and dish it and true it on a proper stand. Buying all the tools for just one wheel doesn't make sense at all. And there is no demand for this sort of work in Calcutta. 

Front Derailleur Cable Tension Adjustment

This evening - Friday 25th September - I fixed the front derailleur of my Merida by pulling the cable and tightening it just a bit. The feeling of accomplishment and joy is incomparable to any other pleasure in life. It's a very simple thing to do when you think or talk about it. There is a nut that keeps the cable tight. A tight tension in this cable helps in precise shifting. You just take the cable out by loosening the nut. Pull the cable up to adjust the tension. Once it is taut, tighten the nut. Simple? Not quite when you try to do it the first time. Things go wrong and you end up making matters worse. Cold sweats develop. 

The problem that prompted me to try this in the first place was imprecise front chain ring shifting. If I tried to shift from the smaller chain ring to the larger (for going faster) I would need to keep the shifting lever pressed while still pedalling. Otherwise the chain wouldn't climb the bigger ring. Also when going down from the larger one to the smaller there were two clicks that were happening.

I had lubed the front derailleur last night in the hope that that was possibly the issue but it didn't help matters much. Today I wanted to tweak the tension in the cable. But before doing that I spoke to Someswar. He agreed that that was probably the cause and gave me the confidence to go ahead. He told me specifically not to play with the limit screws. Someswar is a knowledgable mechanic who I trust. 

Now the problem with this cable in my bike is that it is in a place where turning the hex wrench is difficult because the rear wheel is there. I used the smaller arm of the L hex wrench to loosen it. The cable suddenly came out, as if it snapped. I pulled it up with my hand and tightened the nut. Checked the shifting. Now it has become much worse. The chain just wouldn't go to the larger ring. It kept going back to the smaller chain ring. I realised that probably I had made the cable even more loose. 

Now, I used the 4th hand. It is meant for precisely this kind of applications. It's a special type of pliers that holds a pulled cable in its place when you tighten the nut. But using it itself is a challenge if you don't use it regularly. Somehow solved this challenge and then tightened the nut. Voila. The chain shifts perfectly now. I need not keep the lever pressed. 

There was another newbie issue that had to be solved. Between the nut and the surface on which it tightens there is a washer. Now whether the cable stays on this side or the other is something I didn't see when it came out. I did what my intuition told me to do. The flat surface of the nut, washer, cable and then the surface on which the whole thing was tightened. This was the order in which I did it. It's working. Therefore it must be okay. 

Barrel Adjuster - On the road last night (today is 26th) for a test ride I found the shifting was fine for the first few times and then it seemed it had gone loose once again. Today instead of pulling the cable up I tightened the cable through the barrel adjuster just a bit. It is working now. 

Barrel adjusters are very confusing little bastards. If you loosen them (lefty loosey) they actually tighten the cable and make them shorter. I did just that and it is now working fine. Let me see for how long. 

I used this video here . At around 6 minute mark the barrel adjuster adjustment is explained in very easy terms. 

Rear Derailleur - Today I also realised that my rear derailleur was also suffering from a slack cable tension. It was not climbing the first gear (largest cog). That's a surefire sign of the cable being loose. I turned the barrel adjuster a quarter turn (or was it two?) and now it's shifting much better and going all the way up. So adjusting cable tension is sorted for now. 

8th October 2020

After this initial success with the Roadie, I went ahead and adjusted the tension in my derailleur cables of the Surly. It also had front derailleur problem of a similar nature. You needed to hold the shifter while the chain moved from the smaller to the larger chain ring. After the adjustment it is working much better. Here the shifting is bar end and the barrel adjusters are near the down tube. Quite different from the Roadie. 

I have half a mind to change the shifters from the bar end to the downtube. There are braze ons and bosses there meant precisely for this. This change will remove some clutter from the handle bar. Two cables less and it looks like a less complicated system to shift.

K-Edge Mount

 

I had ordered for a K-Edge mount for the Garmin Edge 130 off Happy Earth and it arrived today. It's a Rs 2600 mount to be attached to the stem by removing the top cap of the head and then fitting the cap back with the mount on. 

To my utter frustration I realised that the mount is not meant for the angled up stem of the LHT. It leaves a gap between the head and the ring of the mount. Reluctantly enough, I mounted it on the Merida, which has a flat stem. Incidentally I realised that the Merida head cap is quite different from what I have on the LHT and there the pinch bolts need to be loosened up first to get the head cap moving. Anyway, that's the subject for a different post.

What I discovered to my real dismay is that the LHT handle bar is a 26 mm one (the current models have 31.8), while all the K-Edge mounts are meant for the more fat 31.8 mm bars. Therefore K-Edge mounts cannot be installed on my LHT unless I change my handlebar or put a shim available on Amazon US. I even wrote to K-Edge if they had any solution. They immediately replied back saying no they don't sell any shim but there are third party shims available on Amazon. However, they also clarified that such a shim will void the warranty on the unit.

To hell with K-Edge :-) I put the rubber mount of Garmin back on my LHT. 

Le Tour de Canning

This picture was taken near a place called Kumrokhali which is less than 10 km from Canning

Last week my cycling friend Rana proposed a tour of Canning. It's a small town at the bottom of the state and gateway to the Sunderbans - the world's largest mangrove forest. We wanted to go for a pure adventure trip on Saturday. We calculated the total distance would be some 100 km and it should be do-able. Well we did it successfully. A circular trip of Canning from Calcutta. 

Of course, this being the month of Bhadra in Bengali, the sun was really strong. From around 11 am, when we were already on our way back it started getting really hot and from 12 noon with another 30 kms or so to go, the last 2/3 hours were very painful. If I am not mistaken the temperature around noon was 41 degrees centigrade. And the road didn't have any large trees to give us any shade.

But with the journey behind us it feels very pleasant and worth the effort. Rural Bengal is all emerald now. The paddy fields are all green, the ponds are full and dark. It's beautiful. You can see monsoon is going away and autumn is about to come. It's that transition period now. The golden tinge in the cloud is yet to take effect and the kaash flower is yet to bloom. But this late monsoon greenery is something totally fresh and different. 

I woke up at 3.30 am on the appointed day. I have never felt so alive in a long long time and that too so early in the morning. I was very excited. Rana was supposed to call me but after waiting for a few minutes I called Rana, who seemed to be still sleeping :-). Got ready with a cup of tea and Monisha made me some boiled eggs and a couple of cheese sandwiches and packed in a few sausages (this last box was never opened. If the climate was cooler I would probably have opened it). I had some dates in my pocket. I also carried my usual stuff like two tubes, pump, tyre changing kit, a rainwear and even a travel towel and a rag for the cycle not to speak of the toilet paper. Apart from the two 1 litre water bottles, I tied an extra 2 litre bottle filled with water on the rear carrier, wrapped in a Salsa net. I filled one bottle with Electral and carried another pack in the Ortlieb bag to be used after 50 kms to make another 1 litre mix for the return journey. 

I sweat a lot and keeping electrolytic balance at this age is very critical.

I started off precisely at 4.22 am from my house, headed towards Narendrapur via Tollygunge. It was all dark. I had all my lights on. One main headlight, a small white blinking light on the front and a main backlight in blinking mode. From Tollygunge Metro station the road became quite potholed. This continued till Narendrapur. In fact the road is so bad that at one point the rear bottle fell off the carrier. I picked it up from a puddle. Packed it again and off I went. 

I arrived a couple of minutes ahead of Rana at the Narendrapur Ramkrishna Mission gate. It was 5:04 to be precise. We agreed that the main road seemed to be really full of traffic and we should take the new road along the dead canal. So off we went. At Baruipur we came on the main road and passed through Baruipur bazaar which was chock a block full even that early in the morning. It was so jam packed near the level crossing, despite the train service being suspended now that we had to get off the bike. No one seemed to be aware that there is a legal requirement now to wear a mask and keep social distancing. I wonder if they know that there is a pandemic raging through the world in general and India in particular. No one could care less.

After crossing Puratan Bazaar in Baruipur (the right turn goes to Joynagar) we stopped at a street side tea stall and had a small cup of sugared tea. Rana gave me some dates, which were of very high quality I must say. We kept pushing pedal. The town area of Baruipur continues for quite a few kilometers, at least on the two sides of the highway. After this rural Bengal comes out in its splendour in places when you can see verdant green paddyfields stretching right upto the horizon. In places you can see water bodies in the paddyfields that adds beauty and a break to the monotony of green. 

We crossed a few small hamlets with their morning bazaars and soon came to the town of Canning. It took us 3 and a half hours to be precise. After crossing the station area we cycled right up to the new bridge over Matla and found the distance was exactly 50 kms from my house. 

They have beautified the area before the bridge with a nice new road and some decorative benches where we sat. Rana's wife had made some delicious chhatu parota. I had one of them, which was quite filling. We had one boiled egg each also. Across the road there was a tea stall where we had tea. Again very sugary.

Rana had a long discussion with the tea stall owner about the route to take back. He was determined not to take the Baruipur route but explore the interiors of the district away from the highway. After much discussion about the route we started off again. I am glad that we took this route, otherwise the true splendour of Bengal wouldn't have unfolded in front of us.

The route we took does not have any well known small towns that a Calcuttan would know. So I will jot down the names of the apparently important places we crossed on the road. If you want to take this route ask people in Canning to show you the way to Chandkhali first, next place to ask for is Nagartala followed by Milanbazar and Chandaneswar. From Chandaneswar or thereabouts you hit a broad road that goes straight to Sonarpur to the left or Ghatakpukur to the right. We made a mistake here and took a right turn through a really deep village and followed a stretch of no road to go to Tardaha. This, I later realised was a mistake. We should have stuck to the Sonarpur route. That would've been much shorter. Anyway, since Rana had earlier come up to Tardaha (locally called Tarda) we went in that direction. It's a wide proper road devoid of any traffic. The road from Tarda goes straight to Ruby via Urbana. This is where urban civilisation begins in Calcutta.

It is really strange that places in these areas like Tardaha or Kheyada are so close to Calcutta in terms of distance yet are so very rural and devoid of civic amenities.

But the sun was really high up and it was really burning down everything, making the going tough for me. There was a dead canal on the side of the road. Dead with water hyacinth. Labourers were busy clearing it in places. I later learnt it was some 41 degrees centigrade. My speed slowed down. Rana had stopped for tea at a couple of places.  He was riding ahead of me, being much faster. I had already taken off my helmet and was following him slowly behind. I would have thrown away the gloves as well but for the fact that my palms sweat so much that my grip on the brake slips. My round neck T-shirt had no provision to pull the front zipper down. The deep ponds with their water were looking very inviting for a dip. I begged mentally for a sharp shower to cool things down but God was very unkind. He decided to test my mettle.

At the last tea stop we were told that Urbana is just 7 kms from there. Urbana is a new very large super luxury residential complex near Ruby. Rana stays just ahead of Ruby. I asked Rana to move ahead and promised that I would pull along slowly but surely and reach alone (my house is a further 10 km or so from his place). Rana was obviously stronger than me and wasn't as badly affected as I was. 

Mentally I told myself 7 kms is like a trip from home to office and back, which is not much. So I started seeing those short immediate destinations. Mentally I crossed Rashbehari, then Hazra, then Bhowanipore as if I was going to office from home. The meter was moving frustratingly slow. But I kept at it. Stroke after agonisingly slow stroke of the pedal.

There weren't too many tall trees to give any shade anywhere. The hot sun was reflecting from the black road. I was thinking what would happen if there was a puncture now. Luckily no such thing happened (thanks to my Schwalbe Marathon Plus and God) and after some time I could see the tall towers of Urbana. That seemed like a light house to a sailor in a typhoon. A very welcome sight in distress.

I reached Urbana and from there it was a matter of following the road home via Ruby, Gol Park and Southern Avenue. Rana spotted me crossing his house and shouted a greeting. I touched 100 km exactly on the top of Ballygunge bridge. This is my second century ride.

I was a little skeptical whether I'd be able to climb the bridge - I was so tired. But I did. On Southern Avenue I think my speed was something like 6 km per hour. I stopped and finished off the last gulp of the Electral water and reached home at 2 pm. 

Suffering seems insufferable when you are going through it. Once over, it leaves a very sweet memory. It has happened to me in the past. This is what happened to me with this trip also. I thank Rana for selecting this route. Without him I wouldn't have perhaps taken this route and large parts of Bengal very close to my home would've remained unseen to me.

Too tired for a selfie

Velo Orange

Velo Orange is a relatively small French company. They make high quality cycles and components. Both are quite expensive. One of their famous products is mudguard. They make beautiful shiny stainless steel mudguards that are much coveted world over by cyclists who love the classic look. 

In India the only importer for these expensive mudguards turned out to be who else but Happy Earth. I bought a pair from them that got delivered last year (August 2019 for Rs 5600). These mudguards are not in regular supply. The moment they arrived I grabbed them. I wasn't cycling for the better of 2019. So I kept them unpacked in the box in which they came. Then I started cycling every day from this year and my installed plastic SKS were doing fine. 

I used to want to install the SS ones but would push back the idea thinking that I might go for a tour in the near future and will install them after this tour. Then I realised that such a tour might not materialise any time soon. And then I also spent considerable time with Mezda's mudguards. So the thought about the VO mudguards became top of the mind. 

Last evening after going back home I cut open the box for the first time. I was under the impression that I had the snakeskin version. I cannot remember why I thought so. When I opened the box, much to my delight I discovered that I had the smooth ones. This is what I like. I would have preferred a black one but they did not import and black mudguard. The pack contains all the hardware needed for the mudguard installation and the two stays. I need not worry about getting leather washers etc (I had even planned to make my own, if they weren't supplied). I did not cut open the packet to see exactly what was included because I do not intend to install them now. I will wait for the monsoon to be over. Perhaps another month or so. As of now they are back in the box. 

If I ever go for a tour where I take the bike packed in the initial transport sector I will take the SKS plastic ones along. These are apparently more scratch prone. But installation may not be a cake walk. Let me see. 

New Merida Helmet

Today I got for myself a new helmet from Exadsports in Pune for Rs 2241. My relationship with them being very old I buy stuff from them directly rather than through a dealer. When it started they did not have any dealer for cycling products in Calcutta.

It's a shiny black Merida. The precise name of the model is like this - Merida Helmet Slider II K60 Black Shiny 58-63 cm. This is the largest size. They have this in two other sizes, I believe. My head size is 58. 

My other Merida helmet has hideous green graphics on it. This thankfully is more dignified with the Merida branding being in white. I adjusted the strap right away and it fits me nice and tight. There is a dialling knob behind the head which can be adjusted to fine tune the fit of the helmet. 

The straps are thankfully black. This will hide the discolouration that happens in the other helmet's white strap  after two rides. 

The new helmet came with a hood which I took off promptly. Those are meant for mountain bikers. I don't need them. There are two inserts that came for this purpose. I put them in the holes on either side of the helmet where the hood was stuck.

The Merida helmets are all CE marked. So that ensures some minimum level of protection as per EU standard. I hope their strength is not tested ever. The following is written in the literature that came with the helmet.

Product confirms to regulation 2016/425/EU and standard EN 1078 : 2012+A1:2012 this is personal protective equipment category II.

When you ride every day in the heat and sweat of Calcutta it becomes very difficult to manage with just one helmet or gloves. If it is monsoon and it's raining, or cloudy, the sweaty straps don't dry up properly and they stink. You wish you had a second one to wear alternately. I normally let my helmet and gloves dry out in the sun so that they don't stink. But in the rainy season that is not always possible. This second helmet, hopefully, will mitigate that problem. 

Merida makes very affordable accessories with acceptable quality. If I ever go abroad and have a lot of money I might splurge a bit on a Giro or Kask. For now let me wear these Meridas ;-)

The Most Unsung Component

Today I noticed a particular component on my LHT. Never knew it was there. Initially I thought it was a part of my front brake. It is attached to the steerer tube like a spacer, the front brake cable runs through it. I checked the Tektro website but it is not mentioned anywhere there as part of the brake. I checked Sheldon Brown's website for cantilever rim brakes. No mention of it anywhere in the diagram. 

Then I went for a close inspection on my bike itself and found the logo PS marked on the side. Is it a Problem Solver? I had read about the brand this afternoon in the aboutcycling website. I checked the PS website. 

Problem Solver is a smallish but specialised company in the US that makes this type of products that no one else makes. These are very practical, utility oriented products that solve a lot of practical problems for the cyclist. For example, on their site I found they have a strip that one can attach on the brake lever so that brakes don't slip out from a sweaty palm - or is it the other way round? The hand perhaps slips on the brake. This is my perpetual problem. I could certainly do with one for my LHT.

This particular item for example holds the front brake cable away from the frame and keeps it taut. Takes the space of one 5 mm spacer on the steerer tube.

Back to the product. The logo couldn't be found anywhere on their site but under the products section I found the part listed. It's called a Cross Cable Hanger. Check it out here .

I wonder if it is sold by anyone here in India. I don't know how people manage their cable with similar braking system without this item. Why is this not well known as a component? I have no clue.

July 19, 2020

Last night I had asked the owner of Happy Earth if he knew anyone who sold or stocked Problem Solvers in India. I had a feeling and I told him as well that if anyone at all did, it would probably be him :-) 

He replies saying he used to but they are very difficult to do business with as in they don't ever have stock of anything in ready supply. So sourcing their products from Taiwan doesn't make sense. They buy on individual customer requests provided there is stock in the US.

He told me one other interesting thing. It is a sister concern of Surly as are Issi or Salsa or Whisky etc. They all operate out of the same office. This was news to me. They are all part of the same QBP group. Check out their website here . The full form of QBP is apparently - Quality Bicycle Products. 

Adjusting A Mudguard

I belong to the old school. I call them mudguards (and not fenders) because that is exactly what they do, guard you and the bike against mud on a rainy day. 

Mezda's new bike came with a pair of unbranded plastic mudguards. Ritabrata had installed the rear one but found the front one fouled against the tyre. I had a feeling I should be able to fix it. So I brought it home and to cut a very long story short - I fitted it successfully today. 

Mezda came to my house with the bike and together we did the job over about an hour and a half. The stays were a little too long. And these are not adjustable stays like my SKS had. This is just one piece of a stay that runs from this side to that around the mudguard. It was longer than it should be by about 3 inches on either side. 

So what I did was to bend it like a bow and then fitted it. The precise amount of bend was calculated through eye estimation and a bit of trial and error after that. I did the basic bending by holding and pressing the stay over the wooden railing of our stair case. After that I had to do some fine tuning by hand. After a lot of trial and error it finally allowed the wheel to move freely. Oh what a relief when that finally happened.

A beaming Mezda after fitting the mudguard on his front wheel 

Mezda went for a short spin near our house. Found it wasn't fouling. And then he rode home without a problem. It's a distance of 5 kms (or perhaps 3.5 if you take the short cut through Mahavirtala). Hopefully the issue is solved once and for all. 

The tools needed for the job were these - Allen keys of 4 and 5 mm size, wrenches in size 9 and 10. The fender and the carrier (I do not call them racks) are perhaps the only two items in a cycle that require nuts. 

Incidentally I also had to adjust the pad fitment of the front brake. It was sitting on the tyre itself. This happened possibly because we had to turn the bike over a few times and also take the front wheel off and the manipulation one has to do with the brake - it's a linear pull rim brake. I once again noted the pathetic quality of the materials vis--a-vis my bike. I know this is an unfair comparison but I cannot help it. These cheap things work but working on them is very frustrating and difficult. 

Such small jobs done successfully give me a tremendous sense of accomplishment. 

How To Fix A Handlebar Rattle

Last night Mezda bought a new bicycle. The Psynyde from Pune. It's a general commuter bike. I think they call it Cycletowork. He took delivery from Stay Tuned. After a short ride he thought he would prefer the handlebar raised a bit. Rito said he had a spacer that came with the bike and added it to the handle. Mezda was satisfied and rode the bike home. 

Later in the evening when I went to his house he said there was a rattle from the handle. Indeed there was a play there in the head/steerer tube. Since he does not keep any hex wrench or any tool at home I asked him to come to my house the next morning, which is today.

I had read or even seen video about how to do this but since I never personally faced this issue I didn't bother to look very carefully about all the minute steps. Generally I knew in such a situation you just tighten the top cap of the head. Because the cap's job is to keep the spacers etc compressed down and tight. 

So that was the first thing I did. Tightened the screw on the top cap. It didn't improve matters at all. I took the screw off and tightened it again. Nothing much happened. The rattle was still there. Finally I learnt from a youtube video that you have to do a few things step by step. It's not just plain and simple tightening of the bolt. I am going to write them down lest I forget later. 

1. First loosen the pinch bolts attached to the stem but you need not take them off.

2. Now, tighten the top cap screw. 

3. Hold the front brake and try to move the bike forward. Does it rattle? Tighten more till it stops rattling.

4. Tighten the pinch bolts back. You are good to go.

It solved Mezda's problem. I also felt a sense of accomplishment to learn a new thing and help someone out. 

I did not take the handle out of the steerer tube. That is something I will learn later.

Today I also realised why my bike is so many times more expensive than an average bicycle (many people ask me and I cannot really answer this). I really saw, for the first time why a cheap bike is cheap. The head, for example, including the spacers, is completely plastic in Mezda's bike. I was pretty stunned by this. I never knew heads could be made of plastic. These are perhaps not toy plastic but some technical plastic like my mudguard is but plastic is plastic, regardless of what type of plastic it is. I realised why they say - steel is real. 

The steel head of my bike, whose photograph is there on the top (only the top cap) is from Cane Creek. I have no idea who made Mezda's bike's head. It's pathetic.

The four bolts that attach the handlebar to the stem come out from the other end on the rider's side in this bike. I have never seen this before. Of course I haven't seen too many such bikes very closely.

The screw that I drove into the head cap is of very cheap quality. You realise this the moment you touch it or try to screw it in, provided you have touched something that is well made. 

The pedals are nice. Thin but wide. They are made by Psynyde. The carrier they have given is also nice quality, given that it came free with the bike. The pedals were free too. Mezda got all the attachments for free :-) The carrier, mudguards, side stand and bottle cage.

A Dream Project

I want to one day build a cycle of my own. Here is the dream. 

Frame - Surly Ogre - Rs 49,000 Buy here 

Crank - Shimano Deore - Rs 9,500 Buy here or here

Cassette - Shimano Alivio 9 speed - Rs 2,441 Buy here

(Hubs - Shimano Deore Center Lock Disc Hub Set HB M 6000 Buy here)  - If complete wheel set is purchased then this is not necessary

Bottom Bracket - To Be Researched 

Chain - KMC 9 speed - Rs 1000

Wheel Set With Hubs - Shimano Deore 9 speed hub/ Ryde Sputnik Rims With DT Swiss spokes £ 170 - Buy here

Front and Rear Derailleur - 

Hydraulic Brakes -

Rotors - 

Shifters - 

Head Set - Cane Creek

Stem - 

Handlebar - 

Grips -

Seat Post - 

Seat Post Collar - 

Chain Wear Indicator

I got for myself a chain wear indicator from Ritabrata last Sunday, that is yesterday. Just for fun. It's Birzman branded. Both the chains seemed just fine :-) when I measured with the stick. But both had some gunk which the clean tip of the indicator picked up. 

Must keep it stored with a thin coat of WD 40 because the literature says it should be kept in a dry place. This is dropping broad hint that the unit might pick up some rust. Calcutta being so humid I am sure it will, sooner or later. My Crank Brothers multi tool has. It doesn't hurt anything but I hate working with a rusty tool. 

I had never heard the name of Birzman before. Must do some internet research on the brand and see what else they make. It is possibly Taiwanese and is following the same product strategy as Park Tools (American). That is what Ice Toolz is doing as well. They have more or less the exact same products as Park Tools at a much cheaper cost. 

Continental Gator Skin

700c x 25 @ 3K each from Stay Tuned

Having decided to keep the Merida Scultura 200 for good as a weekend rider for fast ego boost rides, I decided to invest in a pair of good tyres. I know what a pair of good tyres, properly filled, can do to biking comfort. This I learnt after installing the Schwalbe Marathon Tour Plus on my Surly LHT. They improved the ride quality by several notches. 

Today I brought home two Continental Gator Skins from Ritabrata for the Merida. These are reputed to be very good and puncture protection is quite fabled. They are not so fast but puncture protection and long life are two important factors. I am glad that they are now available in Calcutta. Unlike the Schwalbe these were properly packed and are relatively new. The Schwalbes never came in such original packaging. I think the packaging was thrown away to hide the old import date. But that's a different story.

The Continental tyres are folding, as you can see from the image to the left. Made in Germany. Size 700cx25. They have other non-folding rigid variety also as well as ones with wire beads. I am not sure if they are available here in India. My previous Maxxis tyres that came OE with the bike are 23. These new ones cost me, post discount, 3K each. I am yet to install them. I intend to ride this bike on the weekends for fast rides. So I can wait till the next weekend. I am in two minds whether to put them in with the spare Schwalbe tubes I have. Keeping tubes packed for too long might not be good for them. 

I plan to go for at least one brevet event and use this cycle if I find the comfort of the tyres to be good on the highway. Doing the brevets with the LHT might be a tall ask for me. After last Sunday's low pressure ride to Salt Lake I am not too sure how safe it will be for me to attempt those ten hour events. Right now there is no question of going anywhere. Everything has come to a crushing halt. 

I will make few more posts. After the installation - detailing the problems, if any and other observations. After the first ride - because comfort is a very relative thing and we forget or tend to take it for granted after a few rides. And the last one - after about 1000 km, whenever that comes.

July 29, 2020 - The installation (Velo 9 reads 775 Km)

Today being a complete lock-down day I installed the two Gatorskins on the Red Roadie. As usual installing a new tyre being difficult, this was also a little difficult. Folding tyres have this habit of losing their shape a bit. This was no exception. There were a few places which were out of true and the tyres were deshaped. But once the tube was properly inflated those crease marks went away. 

There was a paper stuck with the tyre under the plastic band with which it is tied. That paper has all the legal warnings etc in almost all European languages. Basically a useless piece of legal document. The place where the paper was in contact with the tyre had gone a little off colour. Possibly some mild acid or some chemical from the paper had leached. 

Anyway, with some effort the tyres were both installed. On the front wheel I put the new Schwalbe tube I had sitting in my saddle bag for long (it really has a very long presta valve because at the time I bought it that was the only thing they had at the Giant store on Bentinck Street). The older tube came OE with the bike. It has a patch repair done by me under the tube. I rolled it up and intend to keep it as my spare tube in the saddle bag for the city rides. If I ever go out of town on a brevet I will perhaps carry a new extra tube. 

The rear tyre had a Maxxis tube earlier changed by me. I have kept it. I had planned to buy a new Continental tube from Ritabrata last night but that didn't happen. Neither did he pick up the phone nor did he answer my message. I can take that later. This will do for now. 

I cannot ride the bike with the new tyres tonight due to the lock down. Will ride it tomorrow and report it. 

Tonight I also changed the two pedals. I had the smaller pedals on it that Happy Earth gave me with the Surly. I removed them and installed the ones I had bought from Firefox store when the Merida came. I think it's a Wellgo. Incidentally I also did two small videos showing how to install and take off the pedal. I will put it up on youtube once and for all so that I don't forget.  

I will also change the saddle and install the Probiker one. Later gator :-)

The Gatorskins had a tough feeling to the touch. It's not the rubbery feeling at all, like you would expect in a tyre. It's more plastic than rubber. The tread pattern is very distinctive. Like some tribal art or motiff. 

July 30, 2020 In Which Direction?

While installing I ensured that the first letter G was to the left so that the tire rolls in a logical way while going forward. I did not think these were directional tyres. But now I find it is mentioned on a forum that they indeed have a directional arrow (though many believe it is just a marketing gimmick). Will have to go back home and check it out for myself. If the arrow is in the opposite direction I have to take them off and change the direction.

Later The Same Night

Yes indeed they have a directional arrow. It was a real challenge to find it out. A very very subtle arrow on just one side of the wall (unless I missed the other side). I had to find it out with a flashlight. And of course I had installed them the wrong way. Didn't get it right even by mistake. So I had to change them.  No matter who says what, if the company says it should be installed in a certain way, I would instal it in that way only. 

For the front tire I just reversed the skewer and turned the wheel over. So that did not require the tyre to be taken off and reinstalled. The rear one cannot be given the same treatment. Had to take it off the rim and reinstall the tyre. This second time was much smoother than the maiden attempt. It got installed pretty easily. Funnily Gatrorskin still reads the same way :-) I didn't notice that they wrote the name in two directions. So no matter how you install it the name would read left to right.

There is a very subtle difference in the tread, depending on the correct and incorrect direction. There are two triangles. One large and the other small on the sides. Now that the installation is done correctly the smaller triangle is ahead of the larger one. Big deal? I have no idea. But Continental's design team doesn't think the direction is important enough. No one would notice the arrow and the tread is not as obvious as the Schwalbe Marathon, for example. 

Tonight I also installed the Probiker saddle. 

July 31, 2020 - The First Ride

 

Tonight I went for a short spin around Peep Inn and Menoka. Just a little over 2 Km. It was a lovely feeling. In terms of comfort over bumps and potholes it is not a patch on the Surly or the Schwalbes but as against my Maxxis Detonator they are a marked improvement. Tomorrow I intend taking it out in the morning. Will write a longer post about the impression after that.

I am measuring this bike on the Velo 9. I also intend to measure the tyres on Connect. Added it as a gear. I intend to keep the Garmin 130 exclusively for the LHT. 

Comments After 1373 Km - January 15, 2021

It's been quite some time since I wrote the above. The tyres have been since used more than I had initially expected to. These days, with Monisha going to work almost every day of the week, I am not getting a chance to use the LHT so much (I used to commute to work with it earlier during her WFH phase). So I ride the Red Roadie in the evenings - about 35 km each night from 8.30 to 10.30 pm almost every night of the working week. That's how the mileage shot up relatively quicker than anticipated for me. 

Another major reason for this higher than expected mileage is the tyre itself. They are so much more comfortable than my 23 mm Maxxis tyres and much faster than my Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour that I feel more partial towards the Red Roadie now. My average speed now comes to around 20 kmph. This I think is fairly decent given potholes and assholes on the roads of Calcutta, not to speak of the massive traffic on most roads. On the Schwalbes my average is 15 kmph.

To make the bike more comfortable I recently fitted it with my Brooks saddle from the LHT. Now a good thing has just become even better :-)

I do not know how good this tyre is on wet roads. I have seen many reviewers talk about poor grip on wet surfaces. But I don't normally ride in wet weather. So that's not a major concern for me. I had one fall when the tyre skidded on a plastic road divider and another time I almost skidded on a tram line in front of Triangular Park because I didn't realise there was a small groove just on the side of the track. These are not the tyre's fault. These are my fault. I should not have tried to cross any of these from the side keeping the wheel parallel to the object I was trying to cross.  

Touch wood there has not been any incident of puncture on the road so far. I have in fact stopped carrying my pump on these city rides. The pump in any case is useless for high pressure tubes. I think there is a Presta/Schrader adapter somewhere in the saddle bag. I can perhaps get it filled at any tyre inflation point. But I will check tonight how the pump behaves if the tube didn't have any air in it. If it can take me to 40 I am good for a slow careful ride home. But can I really change the tube in the night, sitting by the road side? I don't want to think about all these really and banish these thoughts from my head.

A very important thing in the world of tyres in India has happened. The Modi government has banned the import of tyres from abroad. This now means that in India you can now only buy Ralson tyres for your cycles. There might be other local brands. I am not aware of them. I am lucky that I have German tyres on both my bikes. But this pair of Gatorskins might require replacement later this year if my current rate of biking is sustained over the next few months (today in mid January I have already done a good 400 kms and the tyre is already close to 1.5K).

I intend to request one of my nephews or nieces to bring me the folding tyres. Let me see who comes next. Bringing the tyres for personal use is not illegal. One never knows. The policy might be changed also. Technically it is not a ban. They have made a licensing provision. If you want to import you have to apply for permission. Reality is that these licenses are not being issued and nothing is available in the market legally. EU has apparently sought clarification. But it may not yield anything much because India's tyre imports are mostly from China and Korea so EU is not really affected. 

I spoke to Minku, one of the largest tyre traders of Calcutta. But only car and motorcycle tyres. He said companies like Michelin and Pirelli who did not have any manufacturing base here in India are affected. Their tyres are not available in the market. No wonder EU enquired about the ban. 

Michelin's India website has a big notice on the home page that they are facing supply shortages due to the import restrictions. I wonder what their sales staff are doing.  

German cycling tyres have very few takers in India. I am one of those :-( 

Bicycle Related Links

Wheel Building

1. This video here is pretty thorough. Total viewing time nearly 2 hours but it covers every aspect of wheel building. Click here

2. This is a PDF of one of the best and exhaustive books on the subject. It's a 147 page book by Jobs Brandt. Click here

3. Here is the website of Roger Musson who also has a very good book on the subject of wheel building. Click here

4. This is the Sapim site for spoke length calculation. Sapim is a Belgian producer of high quality spokes. Click here 

5. This is a famous custom wheel builder. It has a famous spoke calculator. But you have to have top branded hubs and rims for this to work. Unbranded cheap products are not included here. Click here

Bottom Bracket

1. All about square tapered bottom brackets. Click here

New Bike Day

After bringing the new bike home these are the things one should do right away. Get a proper fit of the saddle. Once done, put a permanent marker around the neck of the collar on the seat post. If the seat post is black get an electrical black tape and wrap it there. Apply a thin coat of grease from this point down to the end of the tube. And fit it properly. Once every six months, take the seat post out, regrease this portion - whether you ride or not - and fit it back on. All you need is a 5 mm Allen key. This should be done so that the seat post does not seize. It becomes impossible to take the post out. 

You should probably instal the pedal before this. Because without pedal you cannot get a bike fitted to your size. And modern bikes don't come with their saddle installed. If you are a rookie buyer, buying from a shop, they will likely instal a very cheap pedal. Please take it off. Put some grease on the axle of the pedal and instal it again. Do this every six months. That is, take the pedals off. Clean the axles. Grease them. Reinstall them. If you ride very frequently do this at least once a month. The idea again is to ensure that they don't seize. You will need a sliding wrench, if not the dedicated pedal wrench.

Take out all the rivnuts from the bike. These are the nuts pre-installed on the bike's frame for after market attachments like bottle cage, fenders, racks etc. They are variously known as rivnuts, braze-ons, bosses etc. Depending on your bike you might have plenty of them. Take them off one by one. Apply a thin coat of grease and put them back on. Don't tighten them too hard unless installing something. Keep cleaning and greasing them once in six months. The idea is to ensure they don't seize. If they seize it becomes a very invasive procedure to take them out. This might even affect the frame of your bike. (I learnt it the hard way).

 

If you want you might replace the factory fitted bolts to stainless steel bolts, if the originals are not SS. You need a 4 mm Allen key to do this job.

You might want to follow the same with the stem bolts also. I do it once a year though. 

Now lube up the chain. I would assume the shop has put some lube. Unless it's a very reputable shop or has come factory sealed in a box from some renowned brand, degrease the chain, wash it clean, dry it thoroughly, lube it up properly, let the lubricant sit overnight, clean it up with a rag. It might sound counter intuitive but clean up the excess lube stuck on the external walls of the chain. The lube should be inside. Not outside. Never put lube without thoroughly cleaning and degreasing it first. Always apply lube on a dry chain.

Clean the chain, sprockets and the chain rings every week or so if you ride every day. Otherwise once every month. Good brand named chains don't rust even if they are left idle for a very long time. Cheap chains rust up very soon. Throw such chains out.

If I am riding on wet roads I lube up the chain every week and clean it thoroughly once a month or so. By thorough cleaning I mean individually cleaning each and every notch/tooth of the sprockets and chain rings. I am yet to take my chain completely off the bike and give it a thorough bath. I have ordered for the tool to do it.

I have used the term grease for the bolts and seat post etc. Ideally you should use an anti-seize compound. But they aren't easily available in India (there is an Indian brand Petreplus available on Amazon but I don't trust Indian manufacturers unless they represent a big long established brand). I guess Park Tool is sold by Happy Earth but they are very expensive. I keep a small tub of Castrol all purpose automotive grease. These are available in any large petrol pumps. 

These are the most basic new bike preps. They sound very elaborate but should not take more than half an hour to do the complete job. 

Diary of an Intrepid Bicycle Commuter in Calcutta

I have been cycling consistently to work for a few weeks now - more than a month actually - and I think it is now time to maintain a day by day journal. Just for fun. I will note down all the things I learnt along the way, hoping that you might benefit from those learnings.

On a normal day when we would go out in the morning the three of us in my family - my daughter, my wife and I - would go together. This has been going on for the last 16 years or so. I would first drop my daughter at her school on the edge of Park Circus (these days our next door neighbour's daughter also comes along as she is in the same school and class with my daughter). From there I would go to Dalhousie to drop her mother at her work. Then I would come back to my office. On the days when only I would need to go out, like on a working  Saturday (oddly enough, the first and last Saturdays are working for us), I would take out my motorcycle. I had often thought about cycling to work on such days but it never quite happened. 

Now, to unknowingly help the cause of my cycling, I ended up selling my motorcycle just before the lockdown because A. I got a decent price B. The guy who offered to buy it really pestered me C. I was wanting to sell it for quite some time, given it had certain inherent problems D. The BS VI norms for pollution control were going to be introduced in India when these pre-BS VI models would soon lose their value in the resale market.

Before I could buy a new motorcycle for local commute lockdown was clamped on India. After it was lifted for limited travel to office I grabbed the opportunity to go out of the house. I drove to work on the first day. The roads weren't really empty but traffic was really low. Next day I decided to cycle to work and see what happens. 

So off I went. 

Why Did I Choose To Cycle To Work 

If you are not an Indian you need to know this. Indians don't like cycling to work. Those who do, do it under economic compulsion. They are mostly daily wage earners, peons and other lowly paid staff or self employed people to whom even a public transport is unaffordable, given the poor salary or income they get. They do not do it because they enjoy doing it. They all aspire to graduate at least to a motorcycle if not a car. It is almost unimaginable here in India that someone who has a car and can drive as well as afford the fuel should cycle to work. We have colleagues who drive 2 km from their home to office.

Now, why did I choose to cycle to work? First, the distance from my house to the office is a short 3.5 km of straight road. It takes me just 15 minutes to reach work on a cycle. Second, I find it ridiculous to drive this distance alone. Third, the clean air of Calcutta that we got during the lockdown forced me to rethink the decision to drive for these short distances and contribute to the pollution. Fourth, I found the peons were coming to work from far off distances on cycles because public transport is neither available nor is it safe for them. There are guys who are cycling for two hours each way to and from work. So in order to show my solidarity with them I decided to also pedal to work. Fifth, to be honest I wanted to do something different. Set an example or inspire someone? Absolutely not. I just love being different. 

My Learnings So Far

The heat and sweat, exposure to direct pollution of smoke and dust and terribly undisciplined, uncouth and dangerous fellow drivers and pedestrians - these are the main impediments to cycling during office hours in Calcutta. I have so far not been stopped by rain. I have been extremely lucky that way. I do have a rain coat in my Ortlieb bag. But it cannot be used in heavy rain. Because when rain water falls on my glasses I cannot see anything. In a light drizzle I can use it. It's there in the bag because I have it.

The fear of heavy traffic is somewhat removed once you cycle for a few days in traffic. But the risk is always there. A veteran cyclist like Sanjay Daga has been knocked down on the by-pass and is right now recovering from the injury. I do not know the details of the accident like how it happened but Mr Daga, considerably older than me, cycles more than 50 km every single day including commute to work. 

The sweat is really unmanageable when I come back home because I take long detours to come home. On the way up to the office I take the straight route and do not sweat so much. Sweating is also a function of fitness. The more fit you are the less you sweat, relatively speaking. Cyclists don't sweat so much while actually riding. Our sweating starts when the ride ends. I find a wet chin strap of the helmet most uncomfortable thing in the world. My palms also sweat and often it becomes difficult to grip the brake lever. But I manage.

July 6, 2020

Today I chose to come home via Race Course. I went straight towards Planetarium and turned towards Victoria. From there I headed towards the main gate of Fort William and on to the Red Road. There I turned towards Eden Gardens and then towards Prinsep Ghat. I kept pedalling further on and after crossing the small hump of a bridge, which is part of the noodle like road network on this side of the second Hooghly bridge, I went past the race course main gate towards DL Khan Road. 

The road after crossing the bridge can be dangerous because it merges with another road that is coming from the second bridge. This road is on your left hand side. So you have to cross this to remain on the extreme left lane. I had to stop here for quite some time to let the traffic pass. Traffic, I must say, was rather heavy in this section past the Police Training School. From DL Khan Road I turned right towards Bhavani Bhavan and on to Gopal Nagar. Turned left and then came home via Kali temple and the Keoratala burning ghat. The total distance was a very satisfying 12 kms.

Tyre Pressure

I knew the basic fundamental of tyre pressure. That it made the bike roll faster but made the ride more rough if it was on the higher side and slower but more comfortable when on the lower side. In certain situations like wet roads or sandy roads lower pressure is better as it offers more grip.

But I did not know the exact limit. It is not written down anywhere for novices. I used to pump it up to 60 and 50 or sometimes 60 and 40 etc. Then I recently read the booklet by the owner of Thorn Cycles of the UK (if you have not I suggest you immediately download it and read it up). There he has given a chart for recommended bike tyre pressure for every possible tyre width. 

I checked my tyre pressure after a long time. I knew it was on the lower side because the bike wasn't rolling fast enough but being the eternal procrastinator I didn't correct it. Finally on Sunday night I did it. Actually I finished three jobs in one. A. I used the Lezyne pump that Guria had brought for me. I had not used it in a long long time and mechanical things tend to malfunction if you do not use them once in a while. Why mechanical? Even shoes behave differently if you do not wear them every now and then. B. I wanted to keep the pump properly rolled up in a soft plastic wrapper. Because it was lying in the pannier just like that and could pick up some scratches. 

So off I went. According to the Thorn Touring Bike Bible, the recommended pressure for my 1.75 tyre is 50 and 45 psi. I found my tyres had 30 psi pressure in both. No wonder it was sluggish but very comfortable. After the change the difference was immediately noticeable. It rolls like a dream. Since I am on the lighter side and the Calcutta roads are a little on the rougher side, I think for load less city riding I will keep it at 45/40 and see how it improves comfort. Of course the Schwalbe Marathon Plus touring tyres also help in keeping the comfort level very high. Touch wood, the bike now rolls like a dream.  

My Cycling Gear

I have a robust carrier (these days everyone calls it a pannier rack) from Tubus where I load an Ortlieb pannier (I would rather call it just a water proof bag). It's a very convenient bag to load and unload. It clips on the carrier's tube and you can unhook it only if you pull it by the designated handle. 

This bag contains everything I carry. Apart from my office lunch bag, reading glasses and charger, I have in the bag my multi-tool, tyre levers and other puncture repair paraphernalia, a chain link, my portable touring pump and a spare tube. If I get a flat, realistically speaking, I do not see myself sitting down by the road side to fix it unless I was caught very far from home that would take more than an hour to walk. I would prefer to walk it back home or hail a cab. I am not so enamoured by the idea of doing the work in the heat and dust of a busy Calcutta road but by the prospect of the spectacle that I would make to the casual onlookers and Calcutta is full of them. I can well imagine a motley crowd would soon gather around me and some of them will most definitely have some advice for me. I might soon get into a fist fight. I just cannot take unsolicited advice. 

I have fixed a flat on the road only once. That was early in the morning and in front of the All India Radio on a small traffic island where there was not a single visiting soul around. Also I am not sure how long it will take for me to unseat and reseat the 1.75 inch tyre if I was doing it on the road in full view of a curious crowd.

Master Link of My Chain

9th July - Today I discovered the master link of my chain :-) I had looked for it a few times in the past while lubing the chain and couldn't find it. I thought it didn't have it as new bikes often don't come with such master links. I should have known that this bike was hand fitted at Happy Earth and not in a factory. It does have a master link after all. Today I found it. It will be now easier for me to lube up the chain properly. I would start from that point and end there. 

Today I also fixed the iron stand that I have. It had to be finally widened to hold the bike properly. 

The Garmin Edge 130 acted a little weird in the morning. That got fixed on its own by evening though. In the morning it did not sync my ride. In the evening it did for the evening ride but the old unsynced ride still didn't sync through the phone. Connected through the cable to the computer. Things took care of themselves. Apparently Nishant's isn't syncing for a few days now. 

No More Pressure Meds (16th July 2020) - Last 4th July I had a sudden drop in my blood pressure. I was feeling very weak and dizzy. Checked the pressure. It was 90/60 or something like that. My normal is 120/80. Binayak told me to stop the Asomex 5 for a few days, which I did from that night onward. But I kept monitoring the pressure every day. I found it did not cross 110 (+/-5) and 70 (+/-3). Last night, after being off Asomex for 12 days I sent a message to Binayak informing him about the pressure range. He asked me not to take Asomex any more. I had thought he would make it 2.5 but no. He made it zero. 

Is it because of my daily cycling? I think it is a combination of factors and the ground was building up for some time. My diabetic control has much to do with it. In fact last time when I saw him, Binayak had said next time he would reduce the pressure medicine. That next time never happened for a long time and then the lockdown started. 

I think the daily cycling bit helped the cause but that may not be the only reason. My diabetic control has also been reasonably acceptable since I switched over to Jardiance from insulin. That might have played a role. End of the day, my hypertension is entirely linked to my diabetes. 

I am happy for my kidneys though. Very proud of my achievement because my nephrologist told me that my only treatment to keep the kidneys in good shape is to control the blood pressure. It is a great relief to know that it is not only under control but as of now I do not even need a medicine for it.  

July 21, 2020 

Last Sunday, that is day before yesterday I had gone to Salt Lake Bike Studio to buy the Lizard Skins bar tape and the back light. I started at 11 am. Although the sun wasn't quite strong due to a light cloud cover it wasn't quite dark. After about an hour I started feeling a bit weak. Finished half a bottle of Electral and kept pushing pedals. Finally when I somehow managed to reach home it was 2:40. Therefore I cycled for more than 3 and a half hours. I was in the shop for about ten minutes and had an ice cream for another ten minutes or so. 

I was feeling extremely tired and weak. I knew my pressure was really low. I finished the full two bottles of water - one had electral in it. I had an ice cream. Yet I was feeling too weak to pedal. Of course the cross wind and the strong sun on the EM Bypass didn't help matters. At one point I even took off my helmet, as its strap was thoroughly wet.

When I reached home, after two glasses of lime water with salt and a bottle of water, I took my pressure. It was 70/50. I couldn't believe it. I took it again. It was 73/51. I was feeling very very dizzy. When I got up from the sofa I almost blacked out. 

Slept after a shower and full lunch. Felt much better after that. Pressure also rose up. But I was pretty alarmed. Finally I went to AMRI today, after Monday's complete rest, to get my blood tests done. HbA1C, CBC, creatinine were Binayak's suggestion. Suranjan added sodium, potassium and cortisol tests (which has to be done in an empty stomach). 

The results came in later in the evening. Creatinine is on the higher side of normal range. 1.06. In 2018 it was 1.02. I think the limit is 1.9. But the most satisfying result was of HbA1C which is 6.1. This is my best in 12 years, despite all the rice I am eating twice every day. The previous one last September was 7.4, which is quite high.

I didn't cycle yesterday and today. So the Sunday 40 km got averaged out to 13 km over three days :-). I think I need to double my water intake on my long cycling days from the current 3 litres to 6 litres. Because Jardiance works like a diuretic of sorts. 

Sunday, 26th July 

Today I had gone to fetch my Merida from Ritabrata's Stay Tuned in Chetla. I had given it to him for a possible sale to someone who wanted Ritabrata to check and vet it. That sale didn't happen. So went to get it back. In fact while riding it the other day I felt like not selling it, as it rode like a dream. All it needed, I thought, was a proper pair of tyres. The ones that I had were too thin and meant for races. Some Maxxis model that came as OE. Good that the sale didn't happen. I have decided to keep it. But that is not the point. 

The point is, while riding the bike back I realised what a fantastic saddle the Brooks is. The Red Roadie has a Merida OE saddle which I always thought was quite comfortable. But today I realised Brooks has spoilt me. I was missing that subtle flex for which I love the Brooks. 

I will probably replace the Merida saddle with the ProBiker one that is lying idle and give the Merida away to a student or something. Meanwhile time for the new tyres - Continental Gator Skin. I will ride it on Sundays for long fast rides. I might attempt a brevet also with it. Let me see.

Garmin Outage

Garmin's Connect software meanwhile has stopped working. For a few days now. The company is saying nothing except that they are going through an outage that has affected all their software and even the call center. The rumour is that they are the latest high profile victim of some ransomeware. 

This didn't stop me from going out this morning for a 26 km ride with the Edge 130 on. There is no problem with the individual units recording the activities but when it comes to uploading that data or even looking at old activities on the internet one is blocked. I am hoping things will come back to normal soon. 

Some people seem devastated :-) I can wait to upload my data after at least 100 hours of activities, as that is the memory limit of my unit.

After A Long Time (10th September, 2020)

I haven't written in a long time. Nothing exciting happened actually in my daily commute routine. I go to work cycling on most days. I come back home. Monisha goes to work once a week or so. Those days I have to take the car out. Very reluctantly so. 

I have not been able to cycle this week (today is Thursday) because the lift had gone out of order. Going downstairs with the cycle is not such a big problem but coming back tired and sweating I don't want to pull the bike up. 

Meanwhile, one weekend I went for a 56 km ride to the airport on my red Merida shod with the new Gatorskins. Went via VIP and came back via New Town. Total of 56 Km. That has nothing to do with the coming 17th September when I turn 56. It was my fastest 40 Km, declared Garmin. I am glad. Yes, I did push the pedal hard but more importantly I stopped every 15 Km or so and drank some Electral. Pushed again. I think the regular Electral intake did me a world of good. There was also a young lad who rode with me on VIP. He was pushing very hard and to keep pace with him I also rode faster than my usual pace. In fact my fastest 5K happened during this phase :-) When I ride alone I do not push that hard. This is the beauty of pace making. You end up running or cycling faster.

 

The airport trip

Tomorrow is Saturday. I wish to go for another airport ride. Let me see if I can wake up. I installed the Garmin speed and cadence sensor on the Merida last night. Pointless keeping them on the Surly.