Shushy

Posted on 27th Dec 2010 by essiep

+2C, rain & sleet. Melting.

I have a new place to put videos- Vimeo. It’s like YouTube, but rather more grown up. That’s most obvious in the comments columns; so far I have not seen any of the Tourettes comments that is the norm on YouTube. Have a look here

Kona do a single-speed that may be just right. I only found it today, supplied by Evans. The frame is square- meaning the toptube & seat tubes are the same length. With a change of stem, this could do the job with its 23.5″ top tube. It even has mud-guard ‘eyes’. I’m trying it out next week; in the meantime, think over where I’m going to store it.

Kona Paddy wagon

White liverpool

Posted on 26th Dec 2010 by essiep

-3°C still damned cold.

No convincing end in sight, though only -3°C, this could easily go on for 3 months. But it won’t!
I’ve missed 1,000 miles of cycling because of ice. the end is nigh.

Minus what?

Posted on 7th Dec 2010 by essiep

-12 to-10°C

For part of the journey, we dipped into -12C air. Yeah, it’s colder than last winter. It’s like a scene from “let the right one in”, or maybe Narnia out there.
This is a jolly album, it has folk overtones with complex overlapping rhythms & percussion. Beginning to think that I like it.

Beirut

But is it any good?

Posted on 5th Dec 2010 by essiep

0°C, fog & black ice.

Black ice: rain all day yesterday, then the sky cleared at night. The resulting black ice was scary to say the least. On the footpath, you could stand still, and look down to see yourself slowly moving even on a shallow slope.

It’s not brilliant this car. The engine is starting to misfire occasionally, oddly enough near the end of a long drive. The boot doesn’t always close properly, there is the whirring of an electric motor that pulls it shut, but a rear light cluster seems to stop it- maybe the car is not that well put together. Also, I miss the fuel consumption gauge; it’s nerdy I know, by it would help you get used to gear changes on a 6 speed diesel car that you don’t know.
It’s got curvey door mirrors, so what? Well, with the mirror mount with stylish curves the wide view is actually blocked by the mirror bezel. What’s worse is that unnecessary blind spot is also a view blocked by the door post when looking rear-right. How stupid. the other irritation is that the seat is too small. The boot doesn’t always close, it seems to snag on a mis-aligned light cluster. Oh dear.

Ripped & pulled

Posted on 28th Oct 2010 by essiep

14°C,Wet warm & windy

camped in the lee of woods, winds gusting above 30mph

Poor attempt at a few day’s hiking this week. All I have is some very wet kit and a torn ligament. The ligament ripped in a motorway service station not somewhere heroic like a mountain side. If I’d been on a mountain, I would not have been wearing my smooth-soled driving shoes. If I’d been on a mountain, I would have needed rescuing, that state it’s in.
Then what? I was pulled over by the police for suspected no-insurance. She phoned my insurance company and they confirmed that I’m covered. Good outcome; but how many times will I get pulled before the Police database is updated?

Arrow: like new

Posted on 24th Oct 2010 by essiep

3°C, clear & the sun’s coming up.

freshly unwrapped.

New bike: well, it cost as much as a new one, it looks new and I’ve got to put it together today. That latest cold is guilty of stopping my cycling for over two weeks now.

I’m starting to get annoyed at the poor WordPress service, this morning I have made 3 attempts to complete a post started yesterday which resulted in no response from WordPress’s servers.

Single speed, two wheels

Posted on 11th Oct 2010 by essiep

12°C, clearing, ENE winds:

Should I order a new bike when I get that winter bike back? I’m considering a frame with track drop-outs which mean it would have a hub-gear (like a modernised sturmey-archer) or even a single speed rear wheel. With such a frame it’s easy to swap wheels to get a change of gearing- it’s even possible to use a fixed wheel. the big advantage is reliability and a large saving in weight. Dérailleur gears are over a kilogramme heavier and less reliable. So, it’s fairly easy to think up reasons to get one. The next problem is where to get one- mine needs a 59cm top-tube. Otherwise my knees hit the handlebars or toes catch the front wheel.

Single speed bike

Fixed wheel bikes are dead trendy right now-especially in London ( but it is flat there- so a natural choice). All this machine needs is a change of bars, add a rack/guards & it’s ready to go.
Shopping round it’s priced at £350, if it fits, I’ll have one.

Torn.

Posted on 6th Oct 2010 by essiep

15°C, clearing, light Westerly

How to use next weekend. I am badly torn; at one end are the Welsh mountains plus a good weather forecast. I hate this feeling.

Where is it?

Posted on 3rd Oct 2010 by essiep

13°C, heavy rain

It’s about time Mercian Cycles finished that re-spray. I really miss that bike, we’re getting into darker days, there is lots of rain so a summer race bike is really unsuitable for the daily commute.

Stink

Posted on 1st Oct 2010 by essiep