Oscar Mendonça » Cycling

Stonhenge

Oscar Mendonça — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:20:29 +0000

This weekend I went finally to visit Stonhenge. It’s definitely an amazing place to visit, not only for the stones themselfs but also the place around it.

It started in the city of Salisbury, which on itself it has quite a few nice attractions. It’s a small town, but with very friendly people and a nice landscape.

Cycling up the roads to Stonhenge I went trough some forest and trees, and smelling that fresh air was very refreshing.

The way back was the most difficult as after cycling for almost 40 miles I was out of stamina and the up hills where tough :p but eventually I got home.

Overall is quite a nice place and it’s worth to visit it at some point

Protecting the bike

Oscar Mendonça — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:10:32 +0000

Last week, some lowlife worthless pointless useless retard piece of dog’s crap tried to cut the cable on my bike. Being a worthless retard, only managed to cut 1/3 of the cable. Nevertheless, I decided to upgrade the lock. The worst thing is this bike is not even worth that much. I know it (yes, it, because is a lowlife, not even human) saw the shining new rear wheel, but well, shit happens.

Anyway, here’s the bike with new lock in place.

Sunday workout

Oscar Mendonça — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:51:31 +0000

Finally this last Sunday was a bit sunny, so I tought it was a good oportunity to get the bike out of the back and go for a ride. A 18Km ride :p

http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/workoutdetail/index.do?id=1862340

New tires finally

Oscar Mendonça — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:47:22 +0000

Started the day today replacing the tires on my mountain bike. Almost ready for the rainy days, since I still need to get proper clothes and a new rear wheel. At lunch time, if time helps, is time to try the new tires.

Mountain bike update

Oscar Mendonça — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:20:35 +0000

Well, just got home from a test run on the mountain bike. I’ve put the pedals today, and thought of seeing how it feels.

The pedals are ok, they do their job properly. But, still have to sort some stuff. The handlebar is a little bit to the right (have to sort it tomorrow), and the front brakes don’t brake at all (have to check the cable, is too loose).

Once this is sorted, install some mudguards, and the seat gets dry, is ready to go to work with.

Seven Sisters to London Eye and back

Oscar Mendonça — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:19:10 +0000

I just did 15 miles (26km!).

Today in the evening I went for a ride to the London Eye and back. Passed trough London Bridge and Waterloo as well. Actually, I just got home from the ride.

I’ve also took some pictures from the nightlive around center London, but those will have to wait for tomorrow. Now is time for a bath and nice sleep.

View larger map

Gears fixed (sort of)

Oscar Mendonça — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:53:18 +0000

Yesterday I finished fixing the gears of the bike. I say sort of, because I kind of mess things up a little bit on the front derailleur. It works, the cable is secure, but I am not using the plastic protection on the cable, because the one I had was too big, and when I splitted it, well, let’s just say I did not use the correct wire cutter.

Fortunately I cut the protection a bit too long, so I will be able to amend things once I get a proper wire cutter and not those crappy £5 pound ones from B&Q.

Only missing the brakes now, but still waiting for a new brake for the rear. After that, will finally be able to ride it safely!

[Show as slideshow]

30 miles on a bike

Oscar Mendonça — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:55:14 +0000

This weekend I did roughly 30 miles (around 50KM) on bike. It was a good exercise, getting in shape a small step every day.

Now I just need to fix the mountain bike so I can do even more miles, since on a folding bike, because the top speed (around 20 mph if moving my feet really fast!), it is hard to go for a long time without getting tired soon.

Fixing a “new” bike

Oscar Mendonça — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:14:16 +0000

I’ve started working on a mountain bike that was ‘lost’ on the back yard from a previous owner. I wast thinking of just throwing it on the garbage, but instead, started fixing it.

The list of problems is kind of big: no rear brakes, no rear brake lever, the saddle is well damaged, the gear shift is for six gears, where the rear cassette has 7 gears, a lot of rust, damaged cables, missing crank and missing one pedal.

I’ve already managed to snap a crank, and also bought of eBay new brake shoes and brake cables (very important not to kill any pedestian) and a simple computer to track the miles.

I’m also thinking of grabing on eBay the Shimano ST-EF29, which puts the brake levers and gear shifting into one piece (as I need one lever and one shifter, might just get this pack while it goes cheap). Never really liked the revo gear shifters, as is very easy to downshift while riding the bike.

I also need to pop up to a bike shop to see if they can offer some old pedals, and maybe a handlebar :p

Some pictures will come later…

Edit 17.08.09

Almost ready. Discovered today that I’m missing a bolt and nut to hold the brake shoe to the brake. I’ve to go to the bike shop to find a replacement for it. Already have everything else I need, just need to assemble it. Got a new bar and bar holder today, but still have to check if it fits on the bike forks. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to ride it to work…

Ride

Oscar Mendonça — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:52:20 +0000

For the first time in a long time, I went for a ride on my new bike.

I tought I was going to be in bad shape, but it was actually very easy to go around the block. Tomorrow I’ll go to work on it, to see how it goes

Let’s see if I can burn some of the fat I’ve been acumulating…