Sometimes it's worth to stop at the local pastry shop

A miserable bike ride is still better than no bike ride at all...

Yeah... let this be the message of the day. And I think this little wisdom can be applied on today's spin quite well. 

There are days when the weather is so bad that you know the whole spin will be as miserable as it possible can be, but you're still heading out. You're heading out and do your thing because when you get back home and seat down on the sofa with the feet up the rewarding feeling of satisfaction will be there. That sort of feeling that comes only when you work for it... 

... and no, it doesn't always feel nice to be out in lashing rain and going against headwind with your soaked shoes & clothes and freezing cold toes & fingers. But you are out on the bike anyway. Because that's who you are. Because this is how you live your life. Because you are a cyclist and you know it by now: riding your bike only in stone splitting sun is simply impossible...would be nice but simply impossible. So, you take it as it comes and still love the whole thing! Right?!

  

Have I learned a lesson from living in Ireland for almost 10 years? Damn sure I did! I learned how to like being out in crap weather and still able to appreciate every minute that I spend on the bike. This is a lesson that I'm thankful for and will never forget as long as I push those pedals!! :) 

Nice mid-week MTB session // Smells like spring!

Savage Sunday Spin

Snail Oval Chainring // Short term review

Ok, I think it's about time to get this short term review together and share some thoughts on this Snail Oval chainring. I got this ring fitted on the bike a little while ago and done about 150 km on it at this stage. 

Now, about the first impressions you can read here. But lets see how things are after a couple of decent bike ride. 

First of all it's important to know that I'm running single speed. So, there's no need to talk about the narrow-wide profile of the ring as the tensioner keep things in order for me. On the other hand the oval shape and it's benefit definitely the new thing to me. I freakin' love it! 

The ring seems to me durable, but of course there's no point to talk about durability at this point. We will see abou that in the long term review. The system works very well with this ring, after I got the chain line sorted it's nice & smooth.

I've tested the ring in many different conditions and terrain also and long story short: it works perfectly. Do I recommend it to give the "Oval Hype" a go? Hell yeah! Absolutely!!  

Yep, spring is here!!

We are after an absolutely savage weekend on the bike with proper spring weather: bright skies, mild temperature and dry trail conditions!

No mud bath to be seen here, move along...

This time I have teamed up with my training buddies and the 4 of us turned the bikes toward one of the highest most freakin' brutal local climb. After we have finished fighting our own battle on the mega steep (27% at places) hill, we finally got to the top at 600m above sea level and enjoyed the stunning view. 

The dudes: Gyuszi, Józsi, myself and Ricsi

The ride ended up pretty well, I finished with 48 km just under 2 hours and 44 minutes time and 875 m of total elevation gain on the way. It wasn't a too long spin but it was hard indeed. And the atmosphere was superb also!

And if this wasn't we also pulled a good bye burger party off at The Shed. My mate Gyuszi is heading back to Ireland soon and this was our last chance to get a proper Shed Burger going! :) 

Get those burgers flowing! :) 

The well deserved reward after a hard spin #yumm-yumm

So, was it a good weekend? It wasn't good... it was bloody awesome! Thanks lads, you're all Legends!! :D 

YAWYD // Bit of a personal touch!