Team Grumpy to Regroup in March 2014

There's been something of a hiatus in this blog since Team Grumpy made their trip to Normandy for the 2013 Duo Normand. This has been occasioned partly by the pressures of daily life, but more excitingly by the fact that both members of Team Grumpy have seemingly survived the winter accident and illness free (touch wood!) and have been busily training. Grumpy Bob isn't particularly superstitious, but maybe February 1st is a bit early to make that claim...

Grumpy Bob and Grumpy Art have, for a change, managed to keep their training going fairly consistently through the winter so far. This is generating an alarming sense of optimism in the Team Grumpy international headquarters, which clearly must be quashed. And soon...

Team Grumpy is sad to have to announce they will be missing out on their usual season opener, the Port Talbot Wheelers 2-up '25'. This is because of Grumpy Bob's work commitments. Grumpy Bob's Baldrickian cunning plan was to arrange these work commitments to avoid the usual calendar slot for the 2-up, only to find the event being held a week or two later than expected.

Regular readers of this blog (if there are such) may recall that this event is usually characterised for Team Grumpy by lack-lustre performance. In 2013, an omnishambles was averted by Grumpy Bob's severe back pain which meant that getting out of an armchair was pretty nearly impossibly (let alone climbing on a Cervelo P3). This year Team Grumpy will regroup for a solo '10' the week before the Port Talbot Wheelers event. Watch this space.

Is your Time Trial bike UCI legal?

The UCI are notoriously luddite when it comes to bicycle technology. This has the potential to cause a problem if you're competing in an event where your bike's required to conform to UCI regulations. This has the potential to affect riders at the Duo Normand, where it is rumoured that the regulations may be strictly enforced in 2009. (But I don't think Team Grumpy really expect that)

Grumpy Bob's reviewed these regs, particularly as they apply to time trial bikes, and has outlined the significant sections (How to make your Time Trial bike conform to UCI regulations). Read, and feel free to leave comments...

Almost a Team Grumpy midweek outing

This week's North Bucks club '10' on the Astwood sporting course was overwhelmed with cyclists, and when Grumpy Bob arrived to sign on, the start sheet was filled (mostly with those pesky Team MK types, it seemed!). Amazing what the good weather can do, really (the start sheet was limited to 30 riders due to light). Not to be daunted, Grumpy Bob took advice from NBRC Time Trial Secretary Stubbsy and enquired whether apprentice Team Grumpy member Lindz Barral would be interested in riding 2-up. Happily, he agreed, so at least Grumpy Bob didn't have to return home for a turbo session.

Once again, Lindz revealed strong talents for 2-up time trialling (hopefully "Grumpy" Art won't be too envious), and we scorched round the course in a little over 23 minutes. You can read the full reports at Flies&Bikes and the NBRC website. The only problem is that Lindz doesn't appear to be particularly grumpy, which leaves the question as to what TG name we might give him...