The Spanner Bites Back

Welcome to the Pedal Spanner, a space dedicated to all things biking and inspired by the epic Only Forward. With Kelv’s 3,500 mile trip coming to an end so did the shared contributions to his tour weblog. It seemed a shame for the trip to end there, when it really was starting a new chapter in many different ways. And so the Pedal Spanner came to life to continue the journal…

Completing my small part of Kelv’s trip across the USA massively inspired me to ride my bike more. It totally changed my perception of long distance riding, introduced me to single speeds, to touring, to the dangers of being unprepared, to American waitresses and to feeling fit and living healthily. Since coming back from the USA I’ve done something I should have done years ago – joined a cycling club and got my racing license.

This first post isn’t quite what I imagined. I was supposed to be pondering the next phase in my cycling life, my first competitive race and the whole new bizarre world of shaven legs. Instead I won’t be doing either. Instead of racing tonight and struggling with my razor I’ll be sat at home staring at my bike and my bandaged thumb. Within a few hours of this blogs creation, the Pedal Spanner name had already jinxed me.

I hate removing pedals. Every time I do it I think, this could really work out bad if the spanner slips like that again. So last night helping Chet fit his nice new Speedplay X2 pedals it happened. Spanner slipped off the pedal, Thumb met front Derailleur, track glove started seeping blood out of the 5mm deep gash. A couple hours later I was leaving Casualty with strict instructions to keep the thumb straight and the dressing dry. So no racing tonight! Hopefully it should have knitted itself back together by the time I roll up at the registration for the Devil Ride on Sunday.

The Devil Ride looks like about the hardest ride a lot of us will have ever attempted, 100 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing in deepest Wales. The last few months has seen a flurry of training activity from those of us entering the ride, along with some serious component upgrades and a few brand new bike purchases! I’ve used it as an excuse for new wheels, new 10 speed drivetrain, new pedals, new shoes… I’ll have to wait and see whether they make the Devils Staircase anymore bearable...