Sunny bank holiday

Posted on 6th May 2012 by essiep

11°C, sunny & light wind

This is not the way to spend a sunny but cool bank holiday weekend. I’m exhausted and am rumbled by ominous gurglings from my belly. Yes, I’m unwell. Confusingly, for a few days exhaustion has crept up; is it stress, lack of sleep or just the unwinding feeling from a lesson observation at work?

Sleep habits have evolved this year for me. Not in a good way though, no more is the solid sleep with a very early rise. I don’t get up before 5am these days. Now I lie a frustrating hour in bed wishing I could nod off at about 3am. Often, like tonight, I get up for a camomille tea in the hope that it will help.

Days, I look at the bike in the garage and lament its meagre 110 miles for the year so far. This time last year, I had clocked up over 300 and worn out the first chain.

Dual sleep

Posted on 3rd May 2012 by essiep

Deep sleep (Photo credit: smerikal)

8°C, light clouds & windy

It’s 02:00 in the morning & my late wake reminds me of a BBC feature on the Myth Of The Eight Hour Sleep. The idea is that in reality, we have phases of sleep- Deep Sleep, Watch & then a second 4 hours sleep.
This does fit my sleep habits that have appeared over the past few years. Tonight it’s early, but that’s work-stress that tore me up. There is a long weekend coming up I reassure myself.
My experience supports the suggestions in the articles. They have posted some good links worth following too. Perhaps sleep is another great British obsession after the weather.

Dark day

Posted on 1st May 2012 by essiep

9°C, rain, but less of it. CA20

That’s no metaphor, it really is dark. There are thick thick clouds overhead bearing rain that must be destined for somewhere else on this island. The news is full of floods and yet the drought still goes on. Here, everything is wet, roads are black with wet and the air- thick, rich scent. I suppose the plants are happy. Listen to Nils Frahm

…as what little light fades into gloaming. An oppressively ‘orrible day, but still the days go by too fast. Why do they have to do that?

Today I finally relented and issued (un-moderated) coursework grades to my Year 11 class. They are nervous, some refused to have the mark which I respected. There is nothing they can do about it anyway. Some insisted that I don’t read out the marks, that’s alright too, so I hold the printout with my thumb next to the relevant score on the sheet. The last kid can’t see where she’s supposed to be looking- it’s next to my right thumb. Still confused I clarify-the thumb that’s connected to my right hand. No better, so finally- the hand that’s furthest from the window. 68.

Elements

Posted on 29th Apr 2012 by essiep

5°C, wind rain & cold. Dammit.

Two years ago, the days reached 19°C with some consistency. Today, outside looks like one of those awful holidays in Wales- cold rain driven by winds that shake trees as if they think they’re at some sporting event.

There is a grim looking pile of marking that has to be done. What fun will today bring?

New wheels and the Hereafter

Posted on 28th Apr 2012 by essiep

8°C, drier but still chilly.

Film: Hereafter; Clint Eastwood directed with Matt Damon in the lead role.
It’s a Hollywood story which runs along nicely. The lead character has psychic powers which are “a curse not a gift”. That theme is the most interesting part. Lie most American films, there is love interest. This time, there are three character’s threads which eventually and inevitable come together in unlikely circumstances. The ending is, however, a cheap throwaway. It was as if they ran out of money and had to finish it in a hurry.

Bike repairs saga: Burton-upon-Trent has a decent bike shop. I took the wheel there with the STX hub from my spares box. For the interim, I decided to buy a pair of cheap R500 wheels. They only have 20 spokes front (& 24 rear)- I hope they can take my weight (14¾ stones).

Fitted: A tight fit on the tyres but otherwise not much to do. The wheel rim is true but spokes were not evenly tensioned. I like to adjust spokes by sound- I pluck the spokes and listen, some sounded flat, others sharp. To get the wheel well tuned, you need to make adjustments to spokes so they all make the same note, and the wheel is true. Only when you have both, can you be sure of a wheel that is true and will stay so.

It does look odd with only 20 spokes on the front and straight-lace pattern. That makes the rim more sensitive to spoke adjustments (I assume the spoke nipple thread is the same pitch though).

12-21 teeth

Posted on 27th Apr 2012 by essiep

9°C, rain

Drive to work in heavy rain. An opportunity to drop in the bike shop on the way home. Their stock wasn’t complete so I came away with a 12-21 teeth cassette instead of my preferred 13-23. Oh well, it works smoothly even though it’s the lowest few gears that will be used the most. I can change to a more suitable gear range in time for the autumn when the pace fall back a little and the hills feel steeper.

Next fail

Posted on 26th Apr 2012 by essiep

9°C, rain clearing.

Climbed on the bike to ride home, there is a short ramp to the gate. then, a loud crunch and the rear wheel locks tight. First though- a bungee cord has wrapped round the spokes. Get off and reverse the wheel only to find something more serious. the rim is severely pringled. the hub has failed on the gear-side flange. The flange itself has broken to release the spoke head.

I always carry spoke key and managed to adjust the other spokes enough to pull the rim into shape. I cautiously rode home. If another nearby spoke, stressed by the extra tension, breaks, then the bike could be unridable. the bike needs a new wheel. Perhaps I can re-use the rim and have it built onto an old hub I have in storage.

Oh grawlix!

Posted on 25th Apr 2012 by essiep

Alignment spline on freehub (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

10°C, rain threatened.

Rain didn’t spoil the ride home, something else did. Yesterday’s ride was crunchy, the new chain didn’t agree with the old sprockets. they’re too worn for the chain’s links to mate well on the lower gears (17 & 19). Interestingly, the last time this problem arose, it was the 16 & 17 tooth cogs that had worn out. The change, I suggest, came from my tendonitis. Over the last year, I have deliberately ridden a lower gear, especially in the winter when soreness in that ankle is worse. So, this year, the gear cluster has worn out differently.

Anyway, after all that work fitting a new freehub and bearing cones, the hub itself has failed. the spoke-hole flange has broken away releasing one spoke on the chainside. the annoying bike maintainance saga continues.

I will tell you (excited readers) what I have decided to do about it after a night’s sleep.

Stardrops

Posted on 22nd Apr 2012 by essiep

7°C, it’s clear out there for now

With all the to-ing & fro-ing I have walked some blobs of dirty oil paste onto the stair carpet. It’s best to get these things when they are fresh, before any drying happens. So, to soften the stuff, use some water-soluble de-greaser (like Jizer) then wash the carpet with Stardrops to get the de-greaser out. I’m delighted to announce that it worked. So thrilled was I that I attacked a similar stain in the back bedroom which must have been there for a year.
Now may carpets have ultra-clean patches. So another job unwittingly adds itself to the list. Clean the carpets in the summer once it gets hot. How satisfying, see…

It reminds me of a story from University where the house we rented had a carpet in the kitchen. Stupid place for a carpet, true, but we had to clean it to get our deposit back in the summer of 1985. With various scrubbing brushes, including a nail brush, we did it & got the money.

April showers and gear-change

Posted on 22nd Apr 2012 by essiep

8 spd record cassette (Photo credit: djneight)

9°C, heavy showers. CR:54 miles

Fizzy legs: I really could have ridden more, my legs want to but I have pressing work to do. the energy was there before dawn, or is it work thoughts that fill my head and jangle my legs at three in the morning.

The bloody gears still aren’t ideal. After all those hours working on the gear-shift, you hope that it’s going to be better. The first ten miles were, the bike whizzed along, barely a sound and gear shifts were similarly unnoticeable. The day wore on and the bike changed gears all by itself, or it would skip without warning.

Film: Melancholia, Lars Von Trier. Was it a disaster film, or a study into the mental health of the lead characters. Somehow I could relate to the lead woman’s discomfort in her own wedding reception. Not that I’ve ever been married, but I have certainly grown to detest those social obligations. I could see myself in the same sort of event, desperately longing for escape. In fact, I did just that a few years ago, when the reception seemed to be quietening down, I sneaked away in the car when no-one was looking. that was an evening of dread, I remember it well having just watched the film.

Svenska: Tjolöholms slott. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Anyway, I have work to do.

Micycle

Mike thinks b/hikes

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