Part of my problem is that I just do not cycle as much nowadays as I should. I am pretty much obliged to drive to work and, although I live within a very short distance of some tremendous countryside, I also live on top of a rather big hill: I’ve never been much good at steep hills on a bike, not least because of the unsuitability of my machine. The Raleigh Alaska is one of those hybrid bikes that is not only too heavy to cycle effectively uphill but also too slow to keep moving at any sensible speed on the flat.

Consequently, and in a bid to halt my growth, I’ve been saving my money and hope to combine my savings with donations from others for my birthday next month in order to buy a Ribble cycle. Ribble offer a bike building service, through which the customer can design much of the bike himself ^[1]. Now, I don’t know a lot about forks, stems, handlebars or wheels (well, apart from the obvious) but I do know that the gearing on my current bike is all wrong

As I’ve looked deeper into this sort of thing, I’ve discovered ‘audax‘: basically long-distance cycling without any pretence at being quick, indeed there is not only a minimum speed for audax events but also a maximum which is set low enough to keep the likes of Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis out of the sport. I am, at present, considering taking part in a 60 mile sponsored bike ride from Preston to Bleasdale and back. That, certainly, is not something I would like to attempt with my current equipment.

[1] or herself, or itself

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