I know how to live it up.

Posted on 23rd Jul 2014 by essiep

20C,not a cloud, light sea breeze.
Never done this before in the 11 years I have had this car. I have wax polished it.

It’s a little tricky, the instructions on the bottle make it sound easy. The car does need to be spotlessly clean. The polish is a milky liquid that should be left to dry. Then within a big soft cloth, you buff it off. Easy, but the dry chalky stuff really sticks to any flaws or bits of dirt to show how bad you are at washing.

Shall I try it on my bike?

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Service race-8

Posted on 21st Jul 2014 by essiep

24°C sunny, no breeze.
Yesterday’s ride was no twithout problems. At 45 miles, the gear change became heavier and sticky. Up-shift was unreliable but I knew what it was. Out of sight, inside the cable the wire was frayed. It snags and forced me to double-shift and back for the rest of the day. With experience, I knew the fault immediately.
Once opened up, it was clear. A single strand of wire in the cable had coiled up inside the sheath.
Today, I fixed it and changed the cable route too.

I have been looking at new bikes too. There are two complete bikes that fit my needs and size. A Kona Jake and a Raleigh Revenio. Both are cyclo-cross bikes with disc brakes. I want more reliable braking in rain. Normal brakes are poor when the rims are wet. Discs should solve that. These two makes are suitable because the top-tube length is right for me (22.5″ or 60.5cm).
I hate short frames. In the 1990s, top tubes were mostly 21.5 inches for all frame sizes. That is mad, the size should be in proportion to the frame size; not fixed to suit the brazing jig.
In the mid 90s, I had both my made-to-measure frames built with 23″ top-tubes. At the time that was the only way to get a frame that fits me. These days, there is another choice: off-the-peg.

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Posted from a mobile.

15.3

Posted on 12th Jul 2014 by essiep

22C, milky close, rain to come.
The most annoying punctures, more annoying than the other annoying punctures happen at home. This one hissed itself flat when I pulled the pump head off the value. The effort of flicking that lever and pulling it off after blowing up to pressure has split the tube at the value base.

And on the ether hand, my weight is coming down. Cycling is more fun when I weigh less than 14st.7. For the last month or two, I have been over 15st. I topped 15st.7 which is way too much.
I blame snacking and no twice daily dog walk.
Parti-poodles look like a good choice. I may even get a lad next time.
Cycling-

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Tin Wifi booster.

Posted on 21st Jun 2014 by essiep

22C, soft breeze, sun.
Mid-summer’s day: a day of rest and fixing stuff about the house. Take time out with a cup of tea and watch YouTube. Found by chance, a video claiming to cleverly fix Wifi reception problems.
I certainly do have patchy signal reception in this house. The idea is to partly cut open a drink tin and shape it round the aerial to focus the emitted signal from the router.

I used a Wifi app on my phone to measure the result. The theory sounds likely, but I saw no change in any way.
There was a more measurable result when the phone is put inside the tin. Gain was about 6Db, and turning the tin changed the result too. Perhaps the signal from the router is polarized. The tin is curved in only one direction, it’s not like a satellite dish. This could be useful, if it worked, to get the best out of a mains powered booster, a repeater. That device relies on reception from the router, then re-transmit it at higher power. Trouble is, the connection between the devices does fail sometimes. So, repeater does not offer much reliability.
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Not the same this year.

Posted on 13th May 2014 by essiep

15C, sunny, wind has dropped.
Rode: 36 miles today. Things have changed this year. I ride more on work nights, but the usual surge of energy and enthusiasm has not taken over this time. Something has changed and I am feeling for what it may be.
Rosie leaving still seems the most likely reason. Annoyingly, I can’t be sure. The house feels wrong without a dog. There is no curious wet nose pressing at the gap as I open the door to come in. No-one to think of as I potter about the house, no daily visit to the local field. I don’t know how the juvenile oak tree getting on in the spring light.

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Got it back.

Posted on 2nd May 2014 by essiep

Unexpected frost.2C
It’s home- after a service. After many years, the record deck did not need that much work during the service. It had the usual replacement springs and grommits, but not much else was necessary. I have always looked after it.
Sound Cynergy in Aldridge did a nice job, I’m listening as I write.

In Hifi terms, the sound is sharper, more vivid and focussed. Perhaps I will feel encouraged to play more LPs in future instead of CDs. A lot of modern releases are on heavy, good quality vinyl. But view cost more, often £20 for a single album.

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Wind down.

Posted on 6th Apr 2014 by essiep

14C,westerly, few showers.
No ride today. A listless latent cold kept me off the bike, this last few days. Some bike fixing done- cables and new bar tape.
I have piles of marking like slag-heaps. It’s not going to do itself you know.

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Posted from a mobile.

No Sunday ride.

Posted on 23rd Mar 2014 by essiep

9C,hail, sun and showers.
No ride today- so I filled in a job application, chopped wood and fixed up the summer racing bike.
It’s not right though, the local bike shop put new bearings and free-hub, but it feels wrong. The axle is this enough but there is free play in the wheel when fitted into the drop-outs. I suspect that the free-hub is not the right one. The gear change seems okay, though I have wet to ride it.

The garden is coming to life. After this coming week of frosts, I can plant all the bulbs. Tomorrow is said to be the coldest this year- and we’re out of winter now.

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Hazel.

Posted on 1st Mar 2014 by essiep

7°C, no wind, clear.
Spring is just starting, ontime for the first of March. The garden is coming alive, and I have over 100 bulbs for a more colourful summer.

After a decade, I cleared the lockup (where I keep the bikes) in three corners was evidence of mouse nest building, they must have collected seeds from the bird feeder. To make themselves comfey, they made beds of dry moss.

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50 things.

Posted on 2nd Feb 2014 by essiep

A break from the rain, 5C, SSW strong wind.
50 things I’d like to do. I am 50 later this year, so my thoughts have turned to a list of stuff I ought to do and want to do:
Cycle more than 6,000 miles this year,
Ride a carbon bike,
Gliding,
Hot air balloon,
Gocart,
Velodrome,
Scuba diving,
Climb Trifan,
Climb Suilivan,
Meet a whale,
Quad-bike?
Whiskey tasting,
Traditional Italian barber,
British Museum- see that rembrandt picture I have liked for so long.
Learn to cook Japanese food,
Oil painting, return to,

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Micycle

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Category Archives: Home

I know how to live it up.

Service race-8

15.3

Tin Wifi booster.

Not the same this year.

Got it back.

Wind down.

No Sunday ride.

Hazel.

50 things.