28th December, family lunch
commitment and, after breakfast, I reckon an hour's ride in the
sunshine. Schedule cleared by management, and all kitted up, I pluck
Pearson from his hook in the garage. “barring punctures or
mechanicals,
see you in under an hour” I say. Under half an hour later, I feel that dispiriting bump of rim and tyre crushing together to announce the exit of air from the inner tube (that achilles heel of all bicycles). A smidgen of atmosphere remaining I roll back home to effect the repair in the comfort of the garage. . . . . .
see you in under an hour” I say. Under half an hour later, I feel that dispiriting bump of rim and tyre crushing together to announce the exit of air from the inner tube (that achilles heel of all bicycles). A smidgen of atmosphere remaining I roll back home to effect the repair in the comfort of the garage. . . . . .
When changing the inner tube in the
rear wheel of a fixed wheel bike, it is best (I find) to place the
machine upside down. Like a novice cyclist. The reason for this
(there had to be one) is the difficulty of replacing the wheel so
that it is in line with the frame – and that the chain has the
correct tension. If you have to do this on your own, you soon run out
of hands.
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| The Bottle Cage flopped . . . |
Before turning the bike onto its saddle
and 'bars you have to remove the bidon and (in my case) the container
for spare tubes, tyre levers &c. The bottle cage flopped in half.
Next job, pull the mudguard stays from their fixing. The rear
mudguard came apart about a foot to the rear of the brake caliper.
The morning wasn't improving – but at least opening the brake
calipers produced no further surprises.Rear wheel off, check the tyre
for an obvious cause of deflation. I find three flints and a 3mm
thorn.
Now, I realise that the sharper brains
amongst you will want to take issue with my muddled measures ('about
a foot' and '3mm'), but I'm not the only one. Newspapers are
constantly confusing themselves and their readers with “police are
seeking a 6ft (1.80m) white male” and we all mix up tonnes, tons
and kilos and that's before you get to hectares, acres and fuel
that's £s per litre and miles per gallon. And how come America uses
Imperial measures but with slightly differing scales? And yet, and
yet – I'm entirely comfortable with this confused state of things
weighty, lengthy, voluminous and temperate. In my picture framing, I
find metric is perfect (provided one ignores centimetres) – but the
height of a person feels best in feet and inches. Kilometres are fun
for cycling, because you get through more of them in an hour – but
only when the signposts are playing to the same rules. The idea that
we should change all our signposts is shocking. So much of our
culture is bound up with distances, and our place names would lose
their meaning. Or would you prefer 10k Bottom or 16k Bank?
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| . . . Then the rear Mudguard came apart |
Where was I? I was prising flints from
the rear tyre – and then spending longer than expected to remove
the thorn. Now, at this point any reasonable person, being in
possession of another bike (with the added advantage of being in good working order)
would stop wasting time. I wasn't in that state of mind at that
moment – but my wife took the initiative and burst on the scene
“why don't you get on another bike or you'll run out of time!”
she barked. Thank goodness for that intervention. Grab Mercian from
its hook, swift check on tyres etc, and away. 13 Miles later, and
last ride of 2013 completed. Bright winter sunshine, rich dark
shadows - perfection. I have ordered some inner tubes, and a pair of mudguards - plus a rear light to replace the one that my bike 'shed' a week or so ago.
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| All spruced-up and hanging with friends |
SJH
