Equipment
I'm a long way from knowing what a Selle Italia Turbomatic does. Nor do I understand why the lack of a Tig welded Reynolds 853 semi compact touring geometry frameset is the cause of amusement. But I have learnt something about the esoteric world of cycling.
The first and most important purchase in preparation for this adventure was of course the bike. I’d previously been riding a small - I now know the frame to be way too small for someone of my height (I’m 6’4’’) – mountain bike. No-one’s ever heard of the make of it. Whilst nothing to write home about or even to ride home on unless you’re nearly there, we’d done a fair few miles together and I can still regard it as a friend. It also supports a baby seat on the back so, before I bought the touring bike, I used it to carry Shem to mass with me on Sundays (4 miles away).
Buying the bike
Knowing little about bikes, I visited one of the local cycle shops in Loughborough. I was already a fan of Beacon Cycles as they’d proved to be friendly and knowledgeable without being patronising. Actually, in my limited experience, cycle shop staff are not nearly as superior as the stereotype. But Beacon Cycles certainly never smirked at my undoubtedly stupid questions. When I explained what I needed (I didn’t own up to the whole tour thing at that stage) John at Beacon more or less immediately suggested a Dawes (in retrospect this is hardly surprising as they are a registered Dawes dealer) and pointed out the lowest end of the range and the next one up; the Galaxy. I said I’d think about it and get back to him. Two or three weeks later, having scoured loads of websites and having spoken to various people (thanks to all for their advice), I returned to Beacon to order a Dawes Galaxy. I now know that this is the classic touring bike. There are several advanced models of the Galaxy for those who want a different and (presumably better) type of saddle / chainset / rear bi-metallic cantilever cartridge (OK so I made that last one up), but at £675 (that’s after a 10% dealer discount) I thought the Galaxy would do for me. The others weren’t even an attractive shade of green.
Another bike shop I’d recommend is Webbsters in Leicester. What I like about them (apart from also being manned by friendly and knowledgeable staff) is that they were more concerned about giving me sound advice than trying to get me to buy something. That said, I do seem to have spent quite a lot of money with them so maybe they’re just more skilful than I have given them credit for.
Gadgets and gizmos
I’ve never been one for waxing lyrical about cars - although I drive my Renault Scenic a lot it is a functional machine; nothing more - but I do like my Galaxy. As one of the few bikes specifically marketed as a touring bike, it’s a road bike designed for carrying heavy weights. So the tyres are wider (and therefore safer) than those of an out and out racer, and they have Kevlar protection (which I’ve no idea what it is but apparently it helps to avoid punctures). It has 27 gears (many of which I have still to use) to help you clamber up really steep inclines (apparently proper racing bikes have fewer gears because the machismos don’t need any more). It has bar end gear shifters (which means I change gear with a lever on the end of the handle bar but, more importantly, it means the wires that protrude to the gears do not get in the way of my bar bag). You see, I’m learning some of the lingo. Oh yes, and there’s a rear bike rack too.
I was a bit put out that £675 didn’t pay for a bike lock or water bottle, so I had to buy these as well (I now have two water bottles and cradles). I have also bought an odometer (which if you’re not careful you can spend all your time looking at instead of the scenery) and various other bits and pieces (including spare inner tubes – apparently no-one mends a puncture anymore - in case the Kevlar doesn’t work). For Christmas and birthday I received a bar bag, rear panniers and more bits and pieces (there’s this lazy man’s chain cleaner) as well as good cycling clothing.
Toe tactics
When I bought the bike I decided to start with the cycle toe-clips as opposed to the SPDs (basically you wear special bike shoes and clip in and out of the small pedals so your feet stay attached to the pedals). Nothing wrong with that decision but when I decided to change to cleats (another name for SPDs) I foolishly decided to change them over myself. All I needed was either the right sized spanner or Allen key. I had both but … well to cut a long story short, my miles of cycling dipped that week as it took me four days to figure out how to yank the wrench off the pedal!