Diary

Bye-Bye Gilles Rearsets

| Richard

Well it had to happen eventually!

Way back in the mists of time, I used to organise and instruct on trackdays for the Motorcycle Folly.

Initially, I just had the ZRX, so I’d use that but to make it less unsuitable, I fitted a set of Gilles rearsets to push my feet backwards and upwards (with a consequential increase in the extent to which my knees would have to bend):

Blue Rex side-on

Blue Rex side-on

Note also that in that photo there are no grabrails or pillion pegs fitted.  That was fine when I was doing almost 100% solo riding, but since remarrying someone who loves being on the bikes with me, I’ve refitted the pegs and grabrail.  That always led to some clash of feet, no matter how much we tried to be careful.

Fast-forward to buying the BMW R 1250 RT LE and getting off that and on to the ZRX and it’s a case of “have my footpads fallen off?”  So couple those two issues with the degree of necrosis in my knee and with a heavy heart, the Gilles rearsets were removed last weekend and the standard footpads refitted.

End of an era.

New Boots and Panties

| Richard

I mentioned a while back that I’d bought some new Klim riding gear for Alison and me. I’d held off from buying the matching Klim Latitude Jeans for me and Klim Altitude Jeans for Alison as we both already had waterproof trousers, but Alison’s didn’t really fit and my Alpinestars ones were waaaaay too big and the Triumph Taloc leather jeans too big (but not massively so).

Klim Latitude Pants Klim Latitude Pants Klim Altitude Pants Klim Altitude Pants

I’d been using a pair of Alpinestars J-6 boots for general riding – as seen in this photo – but as I found out after a long walk in Gran Canaria to collect a bike from CanaryRide, they caused the odd blister after a while.  Now I could use my crashed-in but waterproof Alpinestars SMX Plus boots but they’re a bit heavy for walking around off the bike, so I decided to get another pair of boots that are waterproof, will go better with the light grey trousers, and should be comfortable off the bike. So I bought myself some Alpinestars Fastback 2 Drystar boots and at the same time bought Alison some Alpinestars Women’s J-6 boots, both of which are waterproof and should be good to wear off the bike.

Alpinestars Fastback 2 Drystar Waterproof Boots Alpinestars Ladies J-6 Waterproof Boots

These were all ordered – again – from SPORTSBIKESHOP but on their ‘try before you buy’ option using their Reading store. This was because the Klim sizing can be a little strange, apparently, although I’ve not had any problems.  We set off to Reading on Bank Holiday Monday to try the gear on.

We had followed the sizing guidance and had ordered my trousers in a 34″ waist on the basis that the feedback was they were a little smaller than that. They weren’t. Even with the thankfully adjustable waist cinched up small, they looked like a schoolboy’s first set of school trousers that you’d grow into eventually.  So I tried on some 32″ Klim Badlands Pro trousers and they seemed much better, so we ordered the Latitude trousers in a 32″ waist.  They arrived today – yes, the day after ordering late on a Bank Holiday! – and are fine; I can even cinch the waist up some more if I feel the need to before walking around. It looks like all my exercise might be paying off.

Oh and that noise you can hear? That’s my wallet crying…

 

Spring Has Sprung (and been replaced)

| Richard

With the RT collected after its initial ‘running-in’ service and with the suspension replaced under warranty, it was time for a ride to check everything out with a bonus test of the super-trick “adaptive headlights” which apparently move from side to side when cornering (like they do on my Abarth 124 Spider).

And yes, they’re good and bright and work well:

Then my wife headed off for a family baby shower, leaving me unsupervised for a weekend, so I headed off to the Cotswolds to do some filming:

March 2024 Stats

| Richard Morris

March 2024 was a slower month than usual, with real life and work getting in the way: some shows and weekends away, plus a week in Riyadh with a ‘tired’ gym, 12 hour working days and a team dinner meaning I didn’t get much gym time.

I’m not entirely sure what those “naps” recorded last month were, unless I’m totally relaxed whilst ‘making good progress’ in the Abarth…

Anyway, here are March’s stats:

March 2024 Stats

March 2024 Stats

 

Activities: 25 Distance: 380.45 kmTime: 17:23:27 Calories:  15,297

Turning to my weight, at the end of February I was 84.4kg, and at the end of March I weighed 84.3kg, so down 0.1kg, which means I’m maintaining rather than gaining or losing weight.  I still have a very loose target of 80kg in mind.

February 2024 Stats

| Richard

Well February 2024 turned out to be quite the month for events and exercise.

I did a couple of runs on the treadmill, a few outdoor walks up around Virginia Water, but mainly it was more time attached to the Schwinn and FulGaz, first with the completion of their “FulGaz Grand Tour” which started on January 1st.  21 stages in Italy, France and Spain over 6 weeks.

I completed that in mid-February finishing in 12th place overall in 1108 hrs, 27 mins having covered 487.94km.

We then went off for a weekend in Tenerife and La Gomera riding motorcycles with the Bike Shed and Canary Ride.

The following weekend I had planned my next mad event: to take part in the Death Ride Challenge running during February:

“The Death Ride, also known as the Tour of the California Alps, is the toughest ride on FulGaz. It covers 163 kilometres and 3992 metres of ascent, with six epic climbs over Monitor Pass, Ebbetts Pass, and Carson Pass.”

I did that in under 6½ hours, finishing the challenge in 5th place overall.  I’ve very chuffed with that!

Anyway, here are February’s stats:

February 2024 Stats

February 2024 Stats

Activities: 34 Distance: 594.25 kmTime: 30:50:26 Calories: 24,222

Turning to my weight, at the end of January I was 85.9kg, and at the end of February I weighed 84.4kg, so down 1.5kg, which I’m pleased with.

FulGaz Death Ride Challenge Completed!

| Richard Morris

Yes, I know that sounds a wee bit melodramatic, but this is a very challenging 100 mile/163 kilometre ride with six highly categorised climbs.

FulGaz say:

“The Death Ride, also known as the Tour of the California Alps, is the toughest ride on FulGaz. It covers 163 kilometres and 3992 metres of ascent, with six epic climbs over Monitor Pass, Ebbetts Pass, and Carson Pass.

“You’ll experience breathtaking views, thrilling descents, and steep gradients that will push you to your limits. This is not a ride for the faint-hearted. You’ll need to complete as much of the full ride as you can in one single go, with no pausing or saving for later. The clock doesn’t stop, just like in real life. But don’t worry, you can take as many breaks as you need for food, water, or rest. Just keep FulGaz running and enjoy the ride.”

“Enjoy”? What sort of maniacs are they?

So the Challenge was taking place during February 2024.  That coincided with the second half of the FulGaz Grand Tour  (I had finished 12th out of 160 participants) and then a long weekend in Tenerife and La Gomera riding motorbikes with the Bike Shed and Canary Ride.

Which only really left last weekend. The plan was to ride it on the Saturday but some family coming up and iffy weather forecasts meant a leisurely 8.5km walk around Virginia Water instead. But Sunday was free…

I decided to eat some breakfast and then wander out to the Pain Cave. Our WiFi was acting up despite all the repeaters dotted around the house – probably due to the weather and the vast number of devices all trying to connect at the same time – so I ended up having to play music from my iPad rather than the Apple TV and HomePods in there.  That was the same iPad I was running the FulGaz app on, so it was plugged in to the Schwinn to ensure it didn’t suddenly die on me.

A quick Torq Energy Gel – without artificial sweeteners, but more expensive than my usual Science in Sports ones – which was to be the first of many, a few minutes warming up on the Schwinn trying to get my Garmin f?nix 7S and the the 800IC linked up to the iPad/FulGaz, and then I was away.

Fuelling with the gels every 20 minutes and getting through a couple of litres of water and a few espressos and I eventually finished in time for an early dinner with the departing visitors. I’d done it in 6 hours, 31 minutes and 40 seconds, even quicker than the original actual ride time and an hour ahead of my target time:

 

One thought that kept coming to the fore during the ride was that unlike doing it in real life, you can’t coast down the descents because if you stop pedalling the ride stops too!

At the time of writing, I’m currently 5th of all the finishers and the fastest in the 60-69 year old category.  And I have some significant chafing despite my Giro “Baboon Pants”…

So now the only question is “what’s next?”

Total Recall

| Richard

With the RT booked in for its initial service in a couple of weeks’ time, I was surprised to receive a call the other day from Bahnstormer, telling me that there were a couple of additional recall items that need to be sorted in addition to the heated seat not being very warm (they’ll check it) and the SOS system not working (it’s apparently a known issue and is being looked into by BMW).

So what’s required in addition to those bits?

Total Recall

Total Recall

Well apparently they need it in to check on the build dates for the front and rear suspension units and if – as they suspect – they’re from a particular batch they’ll need to be replaced completely under a BMW Motorrad recall.

The other recall is for some footrest circlips which appears to be a long-standing issue, so I’m surprised my RT left the Berlin factory with dodgy ones.

January 2024

| Richard Morris

Welcome to 2024! Another year older; another year more knackered!

Back in the UK full time now so it’s time on the treadmill, a few outdoor walks up on Ash Ranges and popping to the Co-op, but mainly it’s the Schwinn and FulGaz who are now running their “FulGaz Grand Tour” which started on January 1st.  21 stages in Italy, France and Spain over 6 weeks.

Here are January’s stats:

January 2024 Stats

January 2024 Stats

Activities: 38 Distance: 434.25 kmTime: 29:40:18 Calories: 25,381

Turning to my weight, at the end of Deember I was 85.8kg, and at the end of January I weighed 85.9kg, up 0.1kg, so maintaining a fairly constant weight whilst eating healthily and not drinking too much with a few minor changes to my meals.

Deep Pan, Crisp and Even

| Richard

Another ride out on Saturday to try to get some running-in done, check some more possible shoot locations, get some footage, and visit a couple of potential clients.

So I charged up the helmets and cameras and headed off … at 2-3ºC! I was wearing a base layer, a long-sleeved T-shirt, a short-sleeved T-shirt, the Keis heated vest and my Klim Latitude jacket over the top. I hadn’t been able to find my base layer Long Johns (which have probably been tidied away safely somewhere…) so I made do with a pair of Capri-length Nike running tights under my Levis.

Just over 100 miles down the M3 and A303 in an hour and three quarters as the traffic was fairly light.  I’d not bothered with the GoPro after all and regretted it as I rode up past Stonehenge as the first view from the top of the hill heading West is excellent.

With it being crisp and bright, the winter views with that muted brightness were wonderful.  Just a pity I didn’t catch any shots…

A quick sandwich in Street and then back in less than two hours stopping for petrol just before the M3 to make sure the nagging fuel warning wouldn’t come on.  Despite getting up to 11ºC at one point, it did take a few hours once I was off the bike to properly warm up again.

So the RT is now showing 603 miles and the app says it’s just 19 miles short of its initial service mileage (1,000km).  Perfect for the trip from here to Bahnstormer at Alton.