Back in Bla''....um, White, actually

Commuters

And I thought I’d lost the charm of the A32 for ever!

We’re back; Shadowfax and I are commuting again only this time it’s further, longer, and harder than ever before. But don’t worry, I have new M&S second-skin trunks to assure bottom comfort and a snatty new pair of Hein Gereke mesh strides and mesh gloves.

There are a couple of drawbacks to the new kit, mind. But this requires a recap of the past few days; it’s not a long story but, well. You know me!

New Summer Kit

The mesh strides I imagined would stop my waterproof Behring strides filling up with my body fluids (sweat, mostly) and give me some degree of comfort in these balmy heat-wave temperatures we all knew were coming. The thing is, if you think logically about why I survived Winter commuting with Shadowfax it’s the fact he’s got such great rider protection that comes out as a major contributory factor in our success. So, if you sit on him with waterproofed strides you’ll not feel much air; unfortunately, even with mesh strides there’s still very little air for ventilation, at all.

In fact, wearing these is great for not holding in the sweat, and excellent once alighted and walking about at letting the air circulate the nether regions for instant cooling but make sitting astride our Beast like shoving 3x hair-dryers up your trousers on full heat. I tried wearing the summer boots (former Dessies) but these made me even hotter for the same reason the mesh strides seem to as the hot air is no longer stopped by the waterproofing but allowed to permeate as hot air.

I can ride with my legs apart like a cheap but persistent whore and get some air to m’bits and pieces, of course, but it’s not comfortable and it’s certainly not elegant.

Flat Out

The issue was made worse on Day 1 of this weeks premier commute when Shadowfax picked up a screw in his Best rear Michellin RoadPilot2, which cost me £180 to get fixed (including rear pads and a loan bike, to be fair) and I had to ride the Shop’s GPZ500 from just North Basingstoke home; and then up to Reading next day and back to B’stoke.

The "GPZ500 Courtesy Bike"

The air flow through the mesh kit was much better and the helmet noise was far less than I get sat on Shadowfax, too. I put the former down to the fact the little thing had barely any fairing (despite the guy’s promise of “fully faired”) and the latter to it’s top speed of 70mph (at 7K) and safe-feeling cruise of 60mph putting less wind noise past my lugs.

We had some fun, though. But my back was in pieces after crouching over the bars like that. Traffic filtering was a doddle but a trite fraught in that the braking was half as effective as Shadowfax's. I had a pasty smile fixed on my grid, just the same; a change, and all that.

On Lugs

While attending interview and route recce I used my posh-looking new ear plugs and over-inserted the one in my right ear; it being all lubed up with half a day’s riding sweat, and all. This impacted every last drop of ear wax in Europe right up the lug hole and turned me deaf in the ear over night.

Drops, exotic sea water, and the expert direction of a nurse’s squirts with an automatic syringe have failed to budge it and I’m still challenged to hear anyone speak from my right side and, well, my left’s performance has long been under par anyway.

It’s been difficult at the new job; whether in the large open-plan office or Pizza environment any background chatter drowns out those giving me important information verbally. That’s a pretty significant deficit in Week 1 of a new employment where clearly I have NO IDEA what the job entails!

However

However, Shadowfax and I are back on the commute. We’re still offered the choice of M3 or A32 in the morning and the time between each – on Shadowfax at least isn’t all that remarkable once commuter traffic is accounted for.

The bind has to be the A33; it’s a 50mph zone with a commuter train of small cars pootling along at 40mph and there’re not many places to overtake without either risk or nugatory progress. Then there’s road works on the Reading approaches. In all, my average so far is about 1hr and 20mins; I don’t anticipate much quicker times unless travelling outside the Rush Morning / Evening. It’s a bit of a haul, to be honest.

By Motorway it’s 65miles; by A32 it’s 55-ish miles. I prefer the A32. I still know the bit to the A31 at Alton, and the A339 to B’Stoke has its attractions. These combined with the A33 make for a long but relaxing meander through the best of Hampshire’s countryside before exploding into Berks.

We’re back.