As ever, work gets in the way – and I felt lousy through last weekend so decided that sanity dictated some rest. A pub ride this week dispelled some lingering paranoia that all fitness might have disappeared.

Time has been spent puttering with stuff on the bike – so the wheels have now been swapped out for the dynamo/regular spokes set, for a start. To my complete surprise, they’re glorious wheels – fast and smooth rolling. I wasn’t really expecting them to be as good as the light fast wheels I was replacing them with, although they are still a lightweight set etc. Any concerns that the wheels would mean I was a bit slower have been dispelled.

The dynamo works, yay! But I’m not happy with the barbag/lights underneath set up – and don’t really like having a massive barbag in front of me, nor the effect on handling. So I’m working my way back to the Apidura stuff and experimenting with seeing if I can strap the bags up in a way that means the accessory pack doesn’t bump the wheel on rough roads. The light has been moved to the handlebars – as the Apidura stuff is level with the bars, that should work ok – and so should be a steadier light output as well (attached to the bag, it bounced. A lot).

Windblock jerseys have arrived; one was promptly tested on the pub ride in 24C weather, and passed – I didn’t swelter, so that part works. No reason to believe the wind block bit won’t. The brevet mitts are lovely – no hand numbness! I usually lose some sensation in my hands for a while on rides, within the first 10 miles or so, then get it back and all is ok once my hands get used to it. 26 miles, no numbness, tingling or anything. This is good – so I’ll test them on a longer ride this weekend. If they continue to pass, then I’ll get a second pair (and may never use other gloves again …). Expensive as f**k but not-numb hands are worth it.

Bike fit tomorrow, to check all is ok – the power figures show a left/right balance that’s a little too right-focussed; it’s probably related to the hip issues that continue, but I thought it might be useful to get the general set-up reviewed (a mirror doesn’t quite cut it …) and see if there’s anything that can be altered to improve things.