July 2015.

5th July: Did the extended 22 again this afternoon on the Dave Yates, it was breezy but warm and quite an enjoyable ride without too much knee twingery. One thing I definitely noticed that I didn't in Manchester is the weight! I think the Dave Yates weighs about twice what the Giant does and I really felt it on every incline; no longer will I scoff when I read things like "Of course, I really noticed the extra 7 ounces of bike A over bike B when going up the hills" in website bike reviews. 24.1 miles to start July off.

12th July: It was warm but incredibly windy so I went exploring again on the Dave Yates. It's fun but it takes about ten times more effort to get up to speed than the Giant does because it's so heavy. Still, I guess that makes it better for training on!

Anyhow, apart from getting lashed by a bramble on the cycle path that left blood running about six inches down my arm, it was quite a fun ride and my knee barely twinged at all. 24.1 more miles for July.

25th July: Well, after nearly two weeks off the bike, I dragged myself out of the house to do the extended 22. As has happened a lot recently, it was extremely windy so I went exploring again.

Aside from getting slightly lost near Skem at one point, it was a pretty fun ride, I took the Giant out and didn't even get a twinge in my knee which was awesome. On the advice of a comment I read on a cycling forum, I've been doing a lot of basic quad stretches (pictured. And no, that isn't me!) which definitely seem to be helping.

It was windy but the sun was quite hot so a good ride for topping up the tan and 25.2 more miles.

30th July: I did the extended 22 again tonight after work, I was knackered but a strong mug of Old Brown Java got me out of the house. It was incredibly windy but quite hot and sunny so quite enjoyable. I didn't get any knee pain again either, which was great, and I averaged 17.1 mph which was fantastic. Another 24.4 miles for July.

I was determined to get out for one more ride this month to at least match June but I've got a rotten sore throat and ended up spending the evening getting my website hosting sorted out  at last. Very frustrating overall but www.micrak12.com is finally back on the web! Only 97.8 miles to show for the month but I'm fairly sure my knee is sorted now so I'm going to try and have a mega-high-mileage August!

Review: Purple Extreme chain lube.

Being a complete sucker for a new chain lube, and always looking for the holy grail of a wet lube that doesn't pick up grit and rubbish from the road, I had to try Purple Extreme. It's produced by a Texan company that makes lubes for chains that operate mining and undersea equipment so they should know the ins and outs of making a decent lube; they claim it's extremely water resistant and should last upto 400 miles between applications!

Purple Extreme recommend starting with a perfectly degreased and clean drive train and chain before applying and, because it works by going on wet and drying, I applied it by drizzling it on whilst rotating the chain rather than putting a drip on each link. I expected this would be quite messy but it wasn't, after the recommended overnight drying period my chain still looked pretty clean which was promising. I then cleaned the outside of the chain by running it through a rag (the outer plates are plated so don't need lube and this helps reduce grit pick up) and did the Great Manchester Cycle on the Sunday. 26 miles is a long way short of 400, but I can report that the chain ran silently and shifted perfectly and still looked pretty spotless at the end of the ride so it's definitely a promising start!

Final verdict: Well, after the recent half hour cycle in filthy conditions and pouring rain I found the chain looking dry and with a few rust spots on it so it's time for a thorough clean and re-lube. The mileage? Exactly 342.0 miles! I can well imagine that if you live in a less rainy country then the UK, this stuff will easily do 400 miles between applications. My cassette and jockey wheels are Pretty darned clean as well so I'm pretty sure my holy grail search for the best chain lube is finally over!