14°C, light gry skies, no wind. CK:53 miles
Weekend up North. Saturday was I tired or was I harbouring some latent poorliness? After Sunday’s ride, it was obvious that all those debilitating feelings the day before were exhaustion. The ride went well- it felt so natural to be back in the fixed-gear. Muscles ached towards the end but nothing that would have been mended by a cafe stop.
15°C, SW winds, sunny
Rode to Rocester (pronounced Roaster) & wound through windy lanes between grassy fields. The grass picked up waves of wind that gave the surface an oceanic quality. A lovely day then. Just to dampen it a bit was my uncharacteristic lack of energy. It all felt like such an effort, and that wasn’t because the bike’s gears were still jumping about a bit. After some adjustment they were much better anyway. the last thing I will say about them is that the levers felt heavier than ideal- so perhaps a change of cable sheaths will finally fix the issue.
I have come home with that sticky throat (the bit in the back of my mouth anyway) that I get when hay-fever is bad and I react to dust on a dry day. However, that and the empty feeling in my legs is also characteristic of on-coming cold feeling. Time will tell.
11°C, sun
How often does a run of good weather break at the weekend? Okay, so we’ve had the wettest April on record. That only makes days like this seem more refreshing. The sun is out, fresh verdant emerald growth is illuminated in its semi-translucency.
See any weird silhouette hound in the picture?
I have a new sofa. Erm, no it’s only new to me via eBay for £30. It’s an Ikea design from a few years ago with a leather cover. It’s smaller than usual for a two seater but that’s a bonus.
My bike wheel is repaired and to celebrate I bought some pressies for the house (fleece throw, a duvet cover & stuff).
Back-ache is nearly over and work stress is a little diminished.
This day is going well. I’m going to snooze in the attic bedroom.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
A Shimano freehub hub (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
10°C, heavy showers & sun
Nearly four hours fixing the bike. Changed the rear wheel bearing cones (and balls); new chain and new freehub. The rear axle still runs with a sticky spot- perhaps the axle itself is bent slightly. It’s not visible, but it doesn’t have to be. I have ordered a new one, but for now it’s better than it was.
I’m waiting for a dark shower to pass so the dogs can have their day’s long walk.
Meanwhile, read this, it has no relevance to bikes: earthangel and TES.
5°C, clear.
Three days in the Lake District, so two nights under canvas. There is much to report: tales of long drives, snow, sunburn, ice and bulls. The finches were very tame too.
Scafel: Climbed the same route that we first used in the first attempt with the Three Peaks group from work all those years ago. The climb onto the Col was not difficult, though it looked as if it would be. The rocks were wet and a few snow patches remained.
Great Gable: We got off to a tricky start- there was a narrow field jut up from the Wast Head pub where a small herd of cattle decided it was time to go back to the farm. The field narrowed as at the point where we would cross. Rosie performed a dramatic act of heroism- I let her off the lead when it became apparent that the bullocks might charge. She roared & barked and ran at the. the cleared off towards the farm. Result.
Later that day, we made the top of Great Gable which was not a difficult climb from the Windy Valley approach. That valley was quite sheltered from the 3°C wind- the one part of the walk where a cooling wind would have helped. On the summit, ice patches suggested that temperatures were considerably below freezing, possibly -6°. This summit has some large boulders which gave good shelter, so we stopped for lunch.
The descent wasn’t so nice though. Firstly we tried the west route, but the fine scree was too difficult- it was too easy to slide without a way to stop. Digging heels in helped but no way to weigh anchor. I was not happy about it, so we went back to the top to find another route.
Micycle 