Repair and ride

Posted on 9th Dec 2012 by essiep

7°C. Some rain, sun too.
A mending weekend: TV, laptop, bike, smoke detector, hair, shelves
TV makes a short high buzz with a few minutes of changing channel or starting a video. One web forum sort said unplug it for at least 4 hours to reset it. So far, no better, possibly getting worse.
Bike: has a new tyre to replace the one that gave trouble on Friday. It’s all shiny and clean now.
Laptop: frequently drops the internet connection. The router is okay, the desktop pc, phone and DVD player all work properly. Again, the web forums say install new network card drivers. Done, and it’s better but still cuts sometimes.
Not the best way to spend a December weekend. Cycling is the best but I have a cough and listless.
So, housemaking it is.

Twist, hiss and thump.

Posted on 7th Dec 2012 by essiep

4°C, NNW. brisk.
Twist: I set off 15 mins to make up for the strong wind. Not ten minutes into my ride to work, the bike grinds to a halt. The bunge cord had wrapped itself round the cogs. It took ages to pull the shredded fibres out.
Hiss: once back on the road I set a pace to pull back the lost time. Six miles later the front Tyre started to feel soft. Great, a puncture. Only a few miles from work, I decided to blow up the tyre and ride on before it goes back down.
Thump: fixed the tube at break and set off at 5. The tyre wasn’t seated properly, or so it seems. Each turn made a thump, it’s got a sort of flat spot, not the rim, the tyre.
Odd, nervous miles. Please don’t blowout.

Brave it later.

Posted on 2nd Dec 2012 by essiep

0°C, hoary frost.
Brave it on two wheels later. It’s slippery out there this morning. Apparently, hospital food isn’t too bad, I’m told.

I rode. only a mere 28 miles but it was so cold and I wove gingerly past numerous ice patches.

England is dirty

Posted on 2nd Dec 2012 by essiep

0°C, ice again.
weekend at home- too much marking to go away on adventures. This time of year uncovers what’s been hiding beneath lush grass all summer. English roads and lanes are bordered with unbroken lines of MacDonald’s packaging and mineral water bottles. Some of those water bottles have their sides pierced.

They are always carefully pierced in the same way. Sometimes, a plastic tube remains inserted in the side. It’s a sort of bong left by local druggies. They use this to stupify themselves and then leave with their piles of litter behind.
A bit of detective work could trace them. In the discarded shopping bags, there is often a receipt, which could track the buyer.
A few years ago, someone died in a festival tent in that field. Sometimes I find foil, but never needles. Drugs.
Such is modern life.

Hospital Food

Posted on 29th Nov 2012 by essiep

0~4°C, clear, calm.
First ice: just runoff from fields, so I walked a few short stretches this morning. As I rode in, the moon set in the north west. The self-same moon rose on the way home. I wondered about that, does the moon set at exactly sunrise when it’s full? I bet it’s not that simple.
The ride home was colourful- I got shouted at after weaving through stationary traffic. It sounded like the guy had prepared his piece in advance:

“DO YOU LIKE HOSPITAL FOOD” He yelled on stopping at the lights. I admit to being rather puzzled by this. He shouted some more, stuff about cyclists’ reputations. No wonder…

Sounded like a prejudice affirmed. I suspect a Daily Mail reader on a rant. I had maneuvered round his car while it was boxed in by another turning right. Was I then, a scapegoat for his frustration at that sticking point on the road. Certainly I did nothing that affected his journey, there was no risk to me- both cars were stationary.

Give way

Posted on 28th Nov 2012 by essiep

7°C, light cloud. Chilly.
If you have time, when you get to work, let off steam about annoying drivers who got in your way. I did that this morning and a flood gate opens for others to relate their stories. In this area, many drivers who want to turn across a more majour road will pull out in front of on-coming traffic. I braked for one today in amazement. I have then a long emotional horn sound to “indicate my presence “. She reacted with an expression of her own, one finger plus a glare. It was almost as though she thought I had done something wrong.

Bad mood.

Posted on 26th Nov 2012 by essiep

7°C, rain.
Arrived at work in quite a bad mood. The bike felt like it was falling apart, the rear axle didn’t grip the drop-out properly so it wobbled. The wheel is quite new and it seems that the axle needs a spacer.
The result was that the bike felt quite unstable, and then consequently I felt unsafe. I get stressed by that feeling. I stopped half a dozen times on that ride trying to fix it, but after any uphill pull, the axel lost the grip on the dropout again.

A film for my birthday.

Posted on 25th Nov 2012 by essiep

7°C, sun became rain later. Heavy.
From now, get used to the idea that I’m forty-eight years old.

I’m 48 too.

Film: Amour. Not everybody’s choice of film on a thoroughly middle-aged birthday, a film about old age and death. It is rightly much written about in the press, since it won big prizes at Cannes. Ties are plenty of links to read up on so I won’t add much here.
I found myself thinking while the film was on, an easy thing to do in such a measured film were a major theme was time. I thought about the rather slow section mid-film and whether it was deliberately slow because the character’s lives were slow while trapped in their situation.
Spoiler alert:
Continue reading →

Poaching

Posted on 23rd Nov 2012 by essiep

10C, light rain.
Pulled in on Cannock Chase on the way up north. Rosie needs a run and I rather like walking in forests in the dark. While getting my stuff ready with my head-torch on, a black car pulled up and the police got out. They wanted my details and checked my car. View stood there in all their gear and phone one of those large torches into the car. They soon softened though. View were on an operation to catch poachers, it’s quite s problem this time of year- deer poaching. Credit to Rosie, they shone the torch into the boot and saw a poodle wearing a fleece jumper. Presumably poachers don’t use poodles.
Finally the officers have me a phone number to use if I see poachers. How exciting!

But, what do I look for? I didn’t think to ask at the time.

Dark road.

Posted on 22nd Nov 2012 by essiep

10°C, mild and SW getting stronger.
Drive today, much to my frustration. The Met-office have issued a rain warning for this afternoon. I dread riding on the dark, wet A-roads in poor visibility. Every winter hosts these pent up frustrations. The coming storm is no monster, but its timing is poor tonight.
I just don’t feel safe, but I’m always resentful when I have to drive a car.

Dawn

So I set off for work feeling a bit put out. Nearing work, I followed an old Ford Fiesta. The brake light clusters were half full of water which sloped one way then the other as the car drove round corners. Each time the car stopped, the water would rock back & forth, damping away. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a floating object in there that looks like a fish.

Micycle

Mike thinks b/hikes