Category Archives: Travel

To derrailleur

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-1 to 3°C.
Surprised: I was expecting a struggle when I decided to remove the broken off thread from a bolt-hole. especially when it’s been in there for a few years, and used through a winter. Amazing when it came out easily with a gentle twist of the pliars. Conditioning has let me not to expect that.
Anyway, I have so far fitted a Campagnolo AND a Shimano rear derrailleur to each of my bikes. The Campag one works perfectly, but the shimano is…typical shimano.
 
Both bikes have acquired shininess.
Talking of shine- I’m beginning to think that it’s a myth that magpies like shiney things. They are supposed to collect metal-foil, but in my 40+ years I have never seen this happen.
 
throat: why is it sore? There is no associated ill feeling, my mother says she has the same thing, it’s just there, sore but stable. Better keep a cap in the cycing tomorrow…

On exercise addiction

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-1 to 7°C,, some ice
Someone suggested last week that I’m addicted to exercise. This is why I think I am not:
  • exercise is a physical need like drinking water or breathing, those who don’t get it tend to develop long chronic phyisical illnesses. 
  • Exercise is natural, we are evolved to do it
  • I exercise less than people who have physical jobs, farm labourers, builders etc. No-one accuses them of being addicated to work.
  • Lack of physical exercise is a health risk, it has to be balanced with the risk of injury,
  • Talking of balance, it’s an aspect of life that should be in balance with the rest,
  • It seems that only sedentary people would suggest such a thing
  • when I am out cycling: I see fields of blokes playing footaball; wind surfers; canoists; runners;
  • exercise makes everyone feel better

-4 and still cycling

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-4 to 6°C +
Very cold, compared to what we’ve got used to. The temperature has dropped 20° in the last month. However there is no ice about because it’s so dry, there’s no water to freeze. I decided to cycle the 10 miles to work as usual, with a little trepidation, today. Tomorrow may be worse- the fog will be freezing, leaving a glassy layer of invisible ice on the road. On two wheels that is a bad thing, sometimes the wheels decide to try going in different directions. When they do that- I get dumped onto the road.
So, therefore, I will drive tomorrow. I don’t want to be dropping on the road in front of some driver who’s on their mobile, or like I saw this morning- peering through frosted windows unable to see. Mobile phone drivers are the biggest killers on the road today, worse than drunk drivers, maybe worse than teenage boy-racers even. They don’t seem to value their own lives.
 
It’s been a beautiful day though.
Important stuff in the news: Uzbekistan and; Andijon. It’s that forgotten massacre I talked of some time back. a worryingly underreported story.

Oily hands

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9°C:; light N.
56 miles. Clear fresh and bright. Was there was a rally on, I was crossed by numbered 1970s sports cars, Alphas, Triumphs, Volvos and even a Mk1 Cortina. All of them muddy, and souped up the way they did back in the ’70s.
A spectator warned me of the risks in cycling, he’d broken his back when hit by a minibus.
Pauses to think and eat another jaffa cake.
It took another 2 hours to finally finish fixing that bike. BrakesbearingstyreschaincleangreaseAndSoOn…
 
Ice due tonight @ -1°C

Spokes and truth

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10°C + all day…
Are people who true bicycle wheels just failed piano tuners?
It only takes a slight variation in tension on the spokes to cause an evantual breakage, especially with my 93Kg mass on the bike. My solution? Tap the spokes with a spanner and listen to changes in pitch, a higher pitch means a tighter spoke, lower= looser. If a spoke needs adjusting to make the wheel true, then make sure the ones either side are turned slightly as well to spread the stress. that way Wheels stay true, and breakages happen less often.
Looser spokes can be surprisingly troublesome, it’s as if the movement leads to metal fatigue, then failure. It’s the ones that are beyond the norm that are risky, either tight or loose.
Is this a metaphor for life?
 
 
 
 
er…no.
 
~

Split rim

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16°C, windy & warm

The rear wheel is split on the rim – along the braking surface. That made for a nervous ride home. It could conceivably, burst open so that the rear tyre would explode. It’s not unsafe unless it happens in front of a big lorry or something. Oh well.

Now I’m home all safe.

…that Yamantaka Eye record is fantastic! I need ot hear it a few more times before I can say anything meaningful about it, but it makes you listen.

Bristol

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19°C
Today is a day to remind oneself what an adorable city Bristol is. Imy wanted to see the university since it’s on her list top apply for.
Ten years must have passed since the last time I was in Clifton Triangle/village or Park Row. As the day wore on it all came back to me- bit by bit, there was no sudden revelation as I got out of the car. We went without a map. Things did click into place throughout the day. Finding my way around got easier and easier.
The traffic is still horrendous, but there is such a great atmosphere. We didn’t make it to Montpelier, so therefore saw no dogpoo.
Before we left, we (accidentally) found a cafe that I used to frequent for a final snack for the road. Everyone else in there was either reading  or writing, each one was alone. That is a rare sight in Cafes here.
 
We played onthe limestone slide near the Suspension biridge, shopped in Habitat. And best of all, I bought the new Arabstrap LP from one of the many record shops.  It was just like old times ( except I wasn’t on my bike).
Aand, there are still loads of cycle shops, at least 4 were visible.

Complain

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Part two:
here is the place to complain:
http://www.walsall.gov.uk/transport/default.asp
I’ve pasted parts of my previous entry to that page- with a few changes in grammar.  Maybe if they reply- I will post the answer here at some time.
As for "Me", I’ve cleared out your double post so it looks ok now.
OIL:Changed some pictures around. The new (finished again) fractured eye painting is in the Completed Oils photo section. You may have to open the little picture below to see how it was modified

Walsall Council

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Walsall council are incompetent. It’s a well known feature in the Education department- they failed their Ofstead 2 years ago. But it now seems to be the case in the Transport department too. There is nothing anyone could have done about inadequate drainage in Shelfield, Walsall; it needs  majour engineering work on the storm drains.
but…
The road was starting to flood yesterday at 17.00, then it continued to rain heavily for another 7 hours.
So why with the road flooded knee deep, did they leave the road open. Cars had flooded their engines in the lake that formed to add further to the blockage. There were no "Road Closed" signs, no diversions, traffic was just allowed to get on with it. Someone from the coucil will have travelled that way home yesterday, therefore seeing the flood- so the coucil DID know the road would be impassable. But they decided to leave it open!
Why?

Broken Derailleur

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16°C, light Westerlies

Cycle home with one gear 61.6 miles, broken derailleur in pocket- why?…

Well, it just broke off going up a hill in Ashby De-La-Zouch. The bolt had sheared dropping it into the rear spokes.

At first I was really puzzled- (hmm what to do?  is there a phone box nearby, do I need a lift home…can I fix it or make it ridable?) . Thanks goes out to the woman who offered to let me use her phone on Moira hill. She directed me to a shop in the town where I could buy bike bits. after getting a chain tool, I shortened the chain, took out the rear mech and rode home with one gear in use- 42 x 19. That’s a very low gear…

Home is 21 miles away.

The gear ratio was very low, but with rapid spinning I could get it up to 21 mph. and hills were no problem.

Fixing this is going to take some time.

Notice the autumnal colours! I couldn’t help wondering while out- are we going to get a blaze of autumn colours like we did the year before last.

Dinosaur- here’s the photo!