Simon Nurse works for Odoni Ltd, who are a company that manufacturer cycle storage solutions in the UK, he rides a Day 1 Singlespeed and regularly uses it to race cross on all through the winter. As well as riding, Simon enjoys writing about cycling and he has been published in Boneshaker magazine and also the Ride Journal.

He recently wrote this lovely little piece on his blog (http://cyclestuff.wordpress.com/ ) about a Sunday ride on his beloved Day 1 Cross. Turns out 42T chainring could be the answer to everything:

Escaping from the house, I headed off towards Cefn Mably (pronounced Kevin-Mab-Lee) and the lanes that encircle Cardiff. It only takes about 15 mins before getting into the countryside. In a jiffy, the city drops away. The gray sky was slowly lightening and fighting a stiff head wind, the bike bucked and rolled on the bumpy lanes. The countryside in this area is a hidden gem with timeless appeal; a patchwork quilt of small hills and fields with little to no traffic. I rode as hard as I could muster (given the difficult evening prior). If you’ve only two hours available and you want to make them count, there’s simply no alternative. This is is the beauty of a single-speed:  every second counts (and many of them hurt).

view from the top - Caerphilly mountain

The road bucks and rolls, rolls and bucks. Cefn Mably, then Draethen. Draethen, then Rudry. Fields give way to woodland, woodland hands over to hills – and big lumpy ones at that. There’s a sting in the end of this particular ride; the ‘Col de Caerphilly’ as the Tour of Britain organisers dub it (to me, it’s Caerphilly mountain, but then I’m quite old fashioned). As it’s bulk loomed, the gray sky became a golden yellow, the sun setting beautifully over distant West Wales. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was late spring rather than late winter. Climbing the mountain in a 42 x 18 is the anticipated hurty grind from beginning to end but then…… that’s the point.

It would be easy enough to circumvent the ‘Col’, but that would be wasting the small time available (besides, when you can whizz down the other side much quicker than the cars, why pass up an opportunity like that?) After two hours of high cadence and long grinds, I arrived back, tired, elated and happy. You can ask for little more on a Sunday afternoon in Jan.

As a final aside, I’m increasingly convinced that the path to true happiness (and a few stiff muscles) lies on a single-speed. Extensive research in this area with a sample size of one (me) seems to suggest that it does. I wonder if the 42 tooth chainring has anything to do with it? I’m sure Douglas Adams would insist that it does. The answer to life the universe and everything can be found in two wheels and one chainring:  a 42.

 the ultimate time machine - a 42 tooth chainring