I’ve cycled to work each day this week, after a 3 week layoff, and to say I’m tired might be an understatement. You know that burning sensation you get when the lactic acid has built up in your muscles after exercising hard? Well this afternoon I felt that after the enormous physical effort of standing up.

I’ve been having problems with my front derailleur over the last few days, and last night I spent 10 minutes by the side of the road making adjustments. Unfortunately I’ve never quite got round to buying a multi-tool, so instead I was using the back cover of a Motorola Razr (surprisingly effective). Once I got home I overhauled the system (so expect bits to start dropping off within 2 days), and a tool will be ordered today.

A Caganer is a model of a person taking a dump that is a traditional part of Catalan nativity scenes.

Who knew? I mean seriously, who would even have thought of it?

I picked up my new trike last night, and will be building it back up (doesn’t quite fit in the back of my saloon) tonight. I may even squeeze in a little test drive, without using my right knee of course. Here’s a pic:

and here’s a link to the page of a similar machine (spec is a little different I’d guess, but it’s made by the same people in China).

The chief advantage of such a machine is comfort – no strain on shoulders and back, and most of all your arse – and the downside is slightly reduced speed compared to a normal two-wheeler (also known as a DF – diamond frame – or wedgie). Given that I’m not that fast anyway I don’t mind the slowdown, and the point at which it’s most noticeable, uphill, is compensated for by the fact that you can stop when you want without falling over! The guy who sold it to me (at a service station late last night, but it’s legit, honest) said that it’s very easy to go slowly, because it’s so comfy you start daydreaming and taking it easy without noticing. So basically a wheeled couch then; I’ll see if I can rig up a mount for our portable DVD player.

There’s an annual bike ‘race’ in LA each year, riding up the area’s steepest street. Here’s a page recounting the 2007 event. The idea is to get up the hill as many times as you can in a day, with records pushing 100. I can’t imagine the coast back down is that much fun, given how steep it is. The reason I’m posting this is because of this picture:

Checkout the front chainring on that thing. I doubt I could stay upright on that – it would be hard work to keep up with someone walking alongside you without your legs disappearing in a blur.