Another week

Sunday 17th March 2007

Fathers' Day. Georgina presents me with a nice Toblerone. Clearly symbolic of the Big Hill. If only hill-climbing could be made as enjoyable. We do a training run, on a new 9 mile course which Georgina has worked out earlier in the week. There is quite a lot of uphill work, and some fast A road. We take the GPS just because we can. It's a pleasant hour’s outing. I on the Moulton, Georgina on her Univega. The GPS is set up in km, which misleads us into thinking we’re travelling fast. Funny little grey trail on the GPS screen tells us where we’ve been. By sneaking round to the A629 by the back roads, we’ve confused the poor thing, as it thinks all our cycling has been off-road.

Spend the rest of the day tinkering with Lead Balloon. Clean and lubricate the chain, then decide to measure it. Oh, it’s worn and needs replacing. I replace it. And so to bed.

Monday 18th June 2007

Set off on the Lead Balloon and get no more than 200 yards into the journey to find that the new chain doesn’t actually mesh with the rear sprocket. It keep’s jumping under load. New sprocket required. A quick decision to take Jacky’s bike. A few hasty adjustments, including transferring the handle-bar mount for the Garmin to my new steed.

As I get to the top of the Big Hill, a strange sight greets me. Someone has painted a placard "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" This makes me chuckle. So there is someone else out there who knows Rapunzel. What a coincidence. Of course, it could just be one of a handful of suspects.

Nice to have the Garmin eTrex Legend for company. Altitude of the highest point along the moor road is 434m. Little arrow on the screen like the ones at the start of Dad's Army apparently aimlessly wending across a wide open space. None of these roads are on its base map.

Recently Twoc'd and burnt out car on tops. They’ve left the doors wide open, how inconsiderate (a fast cyclist with his head down might come to grief on such an obstruction. Lucky I’m no fast cyclist).

Eventually reach Halifax, and park bike against the Dean Clough G Mill. Satellite reception is lost before I even get in the building. It's surrounded by an impenetrable aura of oldness, which modern technology cannot, er, penetrate.

Time out 0:56.

Coming back, Jacky's bike making a slight "grinkling" from rear derailleur, and it's obvious the shifting isn't as good as it should be. Looking down between my legs, I detect that the derailleur looks slightly out of line.
I put the GPS onto the map display, to take my mind off the duff gears. Watch the little arrow, which I suppose is me, proceed like a drunk finding his way home. What a hoot! This is the sort of thing which causes accidents - too busy fiddling with your in-car stereo / air conditioning / mobile phone, and don't notice the danger ahead.

return 0:58 (despite gear probs)

Tuesday 19th

Sorted Jacky's bike last night. Achieved this by taking the back wheel and derailleur off and tactfully persuading the errant hanger that it had better go straight, or else face a long stretch in the chokey. No wonder she had a bad time last year in Scotland with it. Clearly impossible to get a decent gear without that noise. Now it runs sweet as a nut. More importantly, changes are more positive.

This morning decided to adjust bar-ends before setting of for work and stripped the thread on one of ‘em. Dang! Hastily fitted a spare set I had to hand.

Finally set off. Decided to post an ink cartridge for recycling. Wouldn't fit in the post box. So went to Post Office to post it in the box there. Detour caused me to take short cut through fields, much lifting of bike over styles etc. By the time I got to the bottom of the Big Hill I was in a lather. Stopped to adjust new bar-ends, which I'd fitted at an uncomfortable angle.

Up the Big Hill, everything now running smoothly. Rapunzel placard, nay banner, nay hoarding gone. Did I just imagine it?

Much bird activity on the tops. Tootling along happily when suddenly gears go hay-wire, rear jumps out of gear, I change down at front and I get chain stuck, and grind to a halt. Huge yellow crane (not of the bird variety) coming along the road, presumably to do some lifting of wind turbine blades. I'm pre-occupied by what's gone wrong with bike. Well, twirl my turbines! The rear gear cable has slipped right through its clamping bolt. Not properly tightened at some stage in the past. Sack the mechanic!

Get out the allen keys and re-locate everything and we're on our way. Resolve to just take it easy for the rest of the journey and try to de-stress.

The Half Way House pub has a large "Sky Sports" banner - Quidditch must be very popular in these parts (have I cracked that one before?)

Free bacon sandwich as this is ‘Bike to Work Week’ (what about the other weeks since the end of January?).

The pear I brought to work for lunch looked like it had gone 15 rounds with Mike Tyson.

Time out 1:07

Coming back I switched the GPS on whilst still in the dungeon, this had the effect of making it rather difficult to acquire satellites. I then set off up the road with the unit desperately displaying “acquiring satellites, please wait”! To add insult to injury, I went up the lane on the east side of the Clough, parallel to the A629. This attempt at bamboozling it meant that when I finally got onto the A629, the unit took about a mile to synch me up to its base map. It kept making quick westward adjustments with its little arrow when it thought I wasn’t looking. As soon as I looked down, it would quickly turn the arrow northwards to give some semblance of knowing where we were going!

I imagine too much of this sort of thing will give it a deep inferiority complex. All those extra calculations must have given it a headache, and I should have offered it some paracetamol. On second thoughts, suspect paracetamol would have added to its woe, as it does not spell-check, so is probably an alien concept to the world of computers.

Return 0:56 (gears meshing smoothly, tail wind up Long Causeway)


Wednesday 20th

Car needs to go in for a service in Halifax, so no cycling.

Decide to go up the Big Hill and along the moor road to look see if the Rapunzel sign has indeed gone. Yes it has.

Start off listening to Wogan, then decide to switch him off, wind down the windows and listen for curlews. Don't here any, but what's this over to the right? Attention, Bird of prey alert! Owl!

Fabulous markings on its back and wings. I drop speed to a cycling pace to observe. Then as it wheels off a couple of hundred yards away, another one overtakes me, s/he's just in front and working the hilly banking at the road side. Swooping and hovering, using the wind, never more than a few feet off the ground. I follow at a about 10 mph for maybe half a mile. What luck!

Then I realise I've got a Range Rover up me bum, so have to break off and be on my way. Well that's something you don't see every day. Wish I was a bit more up on recognising which kind of owl they were. Will have to look it up when I get home.

Take car to garage, then, as I get near to work I realise I've left my card keys in the bum bag at home. Luckily a colleague lets me in to the building.

The latest

Sunday 10th June 2007

Georgina has got wrist trouble, which flares up from time to time, and we're worried that it's going to spoil her chances of completing the challenge. In fact one of the doctors she's seen at University has advised against doing the ride.

The idea was floated of doing the ride on our tandem, which we've had for 5 years now. In that time it's done no more than 200 miles, ridden by myself and Jacky. It is significant to note that Georgina has always flatly refused to try the thing out. But she's finally come round to giving it a whirl, so after tea we wheeled it out and mounted up.

Being stoker on a tandem is probably not for the faint-hearted, or for control-freaks for that matter, as you have no control over the machine (except for a single brake lever in this instance).

Anyway, the tandem proceeds along Hebden Road as stately as a galleon (she's no Cutty Sark, this one). She can take on a gentle sway. There are intermittent shrieks coming from behind me. Perhaps it could be seagulls following in our wake. Georgina then complains of sea-sickness. We return home, striking that option off our list (although it wasn’t an absolute disaster).


Monday 11th June 2007

What's this piece of roadkill, with the motley brown skin? Oh it's a banana. Not very streetwise, your average banana.

Dog roses and elderflower are blooming in the hedgerows on the Big Hill. But the day is misty in the village, with full blown fog on tops. Can't see a thing, and the sweat does not evaporate when the humidity is so high. Have to ride slowly as my glasses have condensation inside and out, which refuses to be wiped away. Sensory deprivation.

Time out 1:00 (guide dog required)

Jacky rang me at work to say they've had the call today - Ofsted are coming on Thursday and Friday, so it's panic stations for her and colleagues. This means she cannot accompany Georgina to a doctor’s appointment at 4.20 p.m., so I’ll have to leave work early and go with G.

Journey back home is a bit of a rush to make the doctor’s appointment.

Time return 0:49 (possibly some sort of record – lucky with the wind direction)


Tuesday 12th June 2007

Lots of gastropods on the road today after overnight rain, 'fraid I squished a few.

Curlews on either side of the road up the hillockplex - playing call and response. One plainly visible on a mound. The other takes off and flies towards its mate, in a curlicue trajectory which makes me try to do that owl trick with my head. Don't try this at home. I suddenly get a strong urge to throw myself from the bike, and lie down on my back in the damp vegetation, listening to all this birdsong. This idea doesn’t last very long.

Further on, one biiiig bird, gotta be larger than a curlew, takes off - has a long curved down beak (now that's what I call a bill), and a light patch on its back.

A later check on t'Internet says it IS a curlew. Well I just don't get this perspective thing.

Time out 0:55 (wind has gone round to NW)

Return 1:03 (via Flappit pub: still NW)


Wednesday 13th June 2007

Looking at the weather forecast last night, I was convinced I was in for a soaking this morning. Not raining yet as I leave the house, but threatening to. This makes me try a bit harder at first, but then, what with the headwind up the Big Hill, I realise that is a futile gesture. Just take it steady.

Dead vole on the road today. I imagine that will soon get scavenged. Some bog cotton has come into bloom, and there's a solitary yellow gorse bush lighting the misty way along the tops. Quite a billowy blowy wind up here.

Song for this morning is "Elusive Butterfly": one that Georgina wouldn't like, as she has a phobia for lepidoptera.

When I get to work, I notice I've left the zip on my bum-bag open, on the compartment which holds my wallet, but fortunately it appears nothing is missing. Feels like it might be the start of one of those days.

Time out 1:00 (wind has gone round to SW)

Rapunzel 2 playfully took me to 7 when I wanted to go to 5. Could have sworn I pressed 5. When we reached 7 there was no-one there. Curious. Back down to 5 for shower. What about 8? There’s an 8 you know. She won't take me to 8. If you get in on 7, she just says "Going down", as though she doesn’t want you to go up there. What is up there on the top floor, and why does she not acknowledge there's anything higher than 7? I picture them both up there at the end of the day, swapping stories (you’ll never guess who I had in my cabin) and giggling girlishly.

Resolve to investigate 8 when I have the time. Higher baby, take me higher!

Ordered a handlebar mount for the Garmin GPS from e-Bay trader.

God's testing his celestial sprinkler system this afternoon. I don’t mind. It’s rain. Live with it. Yesterday I had a lovely cool shower after getting off the bike. Today, I’m combining the shower with the cycling.

Return 0:59 (very soggy)

Computer reset

DST 155 miles
TIME 15 hr 21 min
AVG 10.0 mph
MAX 41.5 mph
TTM 124 hr. 06 min
ODO 1167.6 miles

the latest

Monday 4th June 2007

Walking round in a Monday morning daze, I clamber in the shower, before realising that I don't get showered until I get to work. Well, now I'm here I may as well freshen up.

Been raining heavily yesterday evening and overnight. I'm cycling through a steam bath / stream bed. Few dead frogs on the road. Can't see a thing around me for the frog, I mean fog.

Suddenly another cyclist looms out of the mist. "Mornin'" "awright" and he's gone in t'other direction.

Paranoid about Punctures

Now that I have enjoyed over 1000 puncture-free miles on the Lead Balloon, I'm beginning to think a puncture can't be far off. It's only a matter of time. In fact paranoia is starting to creep in. So much so that last night I dreamed I got a puncture.

At work another fire alarm, just after I finish my second shower of the morning.

This old building appears to be resisting attempts at modernisation / gentrification, like a patient’s body rejecting a transplant. Beneath a thin veneer of 21st century civilisation lurks a primordial force. It wouldn't surprise me if there were some low-level paranomal activity going on.

Chipboard tables in meeting rooms have been known to crack spontaneously.
New soap dispensers voiding their contents onto the floor. Air-conditioning units going faulty. Temperamental security card-swipes. Inexplicable areas of intense cold in certain areas of the room.

I suspect what we have here is ECTOPLASM! (Who ya gonna call?

Finally got my eyes tested last Friday;
hope a new pair of glasses will help with the identification of some of these birds. The lady optician looked deeply into my eyes and said "ooh, these are big floaters!" What a chat-up line.

I have now got a fetish for titanium. Have been buying various titanium bolts for the bikes on e-bay. No surprise then that I should opt for titanium frame for my glasses. Zapristi! You could buy a whole bike for the price of those frames!

Choon for today "Finchley Central" by the New Vaudeville Band. This mutated into "Jim'll Fix It" theme tune. Brain-dead or what?

Time out 0:58

In the evening, Dave and Karen called round with the GPS unit they said we could borrow for the trip. It's a Garmin Etrex Legend. Comes with basic A roads pre-loaded. Think we may need some more detail for parts of the route, unless we...
(a) are going for the record
(b) get an adrenalin rush from mixing it with the heavies
(c) can rapidly evolve to breathe Carbon Monoxide
(d) enjoy hospital food
(delete as applicable).

Return 0:56 (estimated - forgot to start watch and fit cycle computer until about a mile. Doh!)

Tuesday 5th June 2007

Aggregate lorries x 3 coming over the Big Hill, had to pull off the road to avoid becoming part of the road surface. With 3 more on top waiting to be filled and a big Tonka toy shovel doing the filling from some piles of aggregate that have been - er- aggregating up here over the past few weeks.

Yes the highways people also use this moor road as a dumping ground for their materials. At least they clear up when they're finished.

Further on, I get a clear sighting of some of those grazing birds. They ARE starlings. (Not small, just far away). Probably up here for the June Bugfest. "Two pints of Larvae and a packet of thrips, please!"

"Davy's on the Road Again" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Almost appropriate.

Time out 0:57

Office move today. The whole building is 2 inches further away from Rejkyavik.

Return 1:02 (clinkered fire-bars)

Wednesday 6th June 2007.

Steel grey sky, and Wind from the North-East (again). Quite cold on tops. But nice to cool off after the climb.

Startled a small pipit as I passed by. Nice dark tail markings as it flew away. Must look that one up.

The road resurfacers are busy putting a surface dressing on Pellon Lane (presumably from the aggregate mountain on the moor road). What's the point of that? It's still lumpy underneath.

Song this morning "The Witch of the Westmoreland" as sung by Gracenotes - you know the sort of finger in the ear stuff (to which I'm very partial) "and it's Course well, my brindled hound, and fetch me the jet black mare " etc. Sounds traditional, but it was written by Stan Rogers. Well it plays games with the hairs on the back of the neck, that one.

Why are there no folk-songs about bikes and cycling? I am going to compose one now. Watch this space. Check out http://bicycleuniverse.info/stuff/music.html for pop songs about bikes. There seems to be precious little in that genre as well.

Time out 0:56 (that's more like it)

Coming home, I fancied a change to my normal route, but thought I’d avoid Pellon Lane because the tarmac guys are surface dressing for the next three days. So I went round Straight Lane and Narrow Lane, and when I got to the top of the bank, was annoyed to find the tarmac guys were here. Cycling along on freshly laid stuff, the tyre soon picked up loads of chippings. It reminded my of one of the earliest stories I read as a child, where Noddy puts glue on the wheels of his little yellow car, and is able to drive up the vertical side of a building. Somehow, at the age of four, or whatever, I suspected that wasn’t possible, but what a cool idea. Left a lasting impression: I watched Tomorrow’s World avidly for 30 years waiting for technology to catch up with Enid Blyton.

Anyway, I can’t say this tar on the tyres helped with any hill-climbing.

As I'm descending towards the Dog and Gun, at 35 mph on the lead balloon, a car which I suspect is going to pull out from the Leeming Wells Hotel does just that, causing me to brake. I take a split second decision not to flash past him, which turns out to be a good call, as he immediately turns right into Trough Lane, which again causes a bit of annoyance on my part, but I'm glad he's out of the way. I feel he’s oblivious to all this drama that he has stirred up, like a butterfly up the Amazon.

return 0:58 (despite sticky tyres)

This week the winds ‘ave mostly bin from the Nor'East. Cool.

From Scotland with love!

Monday 28th May 2007
Bank Holiday. All quiet on the training front.

Tuesday 29th May 2007
Early morning rain, abated before I set out. Watery domain up on tops, the perfect setting for the gurgling curlew calls. White van passes me in opposite direction. "Vestas" - they're the wind turbine people (Danish firm). Should have a word with the driver about the wind direction, ask if he can arrange for a tailwind on my way home. Perhaps he might throw the turbines into reverse this evening if I bung him 5 Kroner, get the air currents flowing south to north?
Must be quite an interesting job going from site to site maintaining wind turbines (if you happen to like cold wet windy outdoors environments). Wonder if they had itinerant windmill engineers in the olden days (listed in ye low pages, of course), or whether it was the local blacksmith and carpenter who sorted problems out? Or was Mr Dusty the Miller up to a little d-i-y bodging?
Flock of starlings "grazing" on the upper roughlands, near to Fly Flats reservoir. That's unusual. They're quite noisy.
Well I stayed dry on this journey, which was a pleasant surprise.
Rapunzel (3) - Rapunzel 2 (0) Am I back in favour with Rapunzel?
Blimey, someone's in the shower! Take my stuff upstairs and return 5 minutes later to find it's now vacant.
Time out 0:54 (tail wind)
Far from throwing the wind turbines into reverse, the Vestas man has pushed the turbo boost button, and put them on the fast spin cycle, fanning bitterly cold Northern wysiwyg whirligig windygusts in my general direction.
Return 1:00 dead (not quite literally)

Wednesday 30th May 2007
A brilliant morning, with high cirrus clouds, and a cold wind from the North West. Springwatch (not to be confused with watchspring) is on the telly at the moment (well not precisely this moment, but at 8 p.m. to be accurate).
I do like that program.
Don't seem to be seeing any Wheatears at the moment, how strange. That flock of birds on the moor tops are there again - they're not starlings at all, but something a bit smaller. Maybe they’re fieldfairs. Wish my eyesight was a bit more reliable. Booked in for an eyetest this Friday - new specs should make a difference.
Music for my ride is "Take me Out" by Franz Ferdinand. Good value as it's two tunes for the price of one (and two meanings for that matter).
Time out 0:58 (surprisingly, slower than yesterday)
Rapunzel (3) - Rapunzel 2 (0) Conclude I’m back in Rap’s good books.
As I take my new short cut past the dumpit site, a wren explodes into rapid-fire squeaky-singer-sewing-maching-gun bursts, piercing the air of the wooded Clough.
Return 0:58 (Mr. Vestas came good today)

A catch up!

Sunday 20th May 2007

Back to drawing board on the Moulton – this means fitting conventional derailleur gears. I already had a 20” wheel built for another project, so this seemed like a good candidate for fitting to the Moulton. So I fitted it with a tyre and inner tube, and pumped it up to pressure. But then came the first problem; I couldn't get the tyre to seat properly on the rim. Spent ages trying.
Always getting a 'flat spot'.

At first, I thought it was a fault with the tyre carcass. Then maybe a duff inner tube? Eventually sussed it's the rim, which is oversize, meaning part of the tyre is forever stuck in the central well of the rim, and even when pumped up to high pressure, won't expand to fit on the bead of the rim.

I once had a tyre which was the opposite: so slack that when I pumped it up to pressure, it suddenly unseated itself, and the inner tube suffered an explosive prolapse.

But this 'ere rim is has too big a bead.

So I ordered some better quality Alex rims from those nice people at Inspired Cycle Engineering, and some new spokes from Allans BMX. With everything arriving by Saturday morning, I was itching to try a little wheel-building all day.

Wheel skip over the details of the wheel building (see Sheldon Brown again if you want instructions on how to lace the spokes and tension them up). Anyway, after several hours of careful truing I decided it was true enough for me. So I set about putting a tyre on. This time the tyre was tight just to get on to the rim. I was provoked to employ increasingly heavy handed persuasion, gentle thumb pressure, plastic tyre levers, metal tyre levers, torn inner tubes (merde!). Finally, threats of cattle prods and extraordinary rendition were used, and the tyre complied. Well we can just tear up the Geneva Convention now. Main thing is, it does sit on the bead correctly. What a palaver.

Monday 21st May 2007

Car has mysteriously developed an Engine Management system warning light which refuses to go out. So, had to take it to garage in Halifax. Hence no cycling. Shame, 'cos the weather is beautiful this morning. Used the stairs on the south side of the building, so no illicit lift liaisons with the sisters.

Tuesday 22nd May 2007

Grey skies, cool wind. Lambs and sheep making a lot of noise. At the moment, the lambs are still cuddly creatures, with high-pitched plaintive bleats.

Feel crap after a day off the bike, nevertheless the Big Hill takes a mere 29 minutes to overcome.

Turbines swishing a bit today, they're usually inaudible.

Time out: 0:56 (Westerly, with a bit of North in it)

Rap (1) - Rap 2 (2)

Return A629. Car after car after car after car after car after car after don't cut me up, misses (she's a too-near misses) after car after car. God, what a dredgy journey. Tomorrow it's the moor road for me, deffo.

Headwind, bright, dry, some sharp knee twinges in my right knee (oo-er!)

return 1:06 (via Flappit)

Evening, spend some time in garage fettling the Moulton. Start by fitting new twist-grip for derailleur gears, then routing the cable, and replacing the handlebar grip with a slightly longer one.

The rear derailleur mech (a snazzy new Sun TOur model) hangs worryingly low when it's on the biggest sprocket, so I decide to swap it for a differrent mech (Shimano Alivio). This seems just as low-slung, so now I've got to decide between the two. I think we're going to have to live with this as a consequence of having 20" wheels.

Wednesday 23rd May 2007

Feel no better than yesterday. Worried about knees. Lambs and sheep vociferous again. When do these lambs undergo transformation from cutesy to klutz? Is it overnight?

Saw some Bluebells, only these were white (albino?). Stereo larks.

Vintage motorcycle UTF 113 goes past. Sounds like it's got one cylinder, and that's firing twice a second. Powered by ork blacksmiths from the depths of Isengard by the sounds of it.

Seem to be not concentrating on the riding, have hit every pot-hole on route today, consequently very stiff around shoulders and neck when I arrive at work.

Rap (1) Rap 2 (2)

Time out: 1:00

Not much to say about the return journey, but it was slightly preferable to go the moor road, and avoid some of the traffic. Only problem is the long drag out of Halifax, and the exposure to the wind, although that was only a full on headwind some of the time.

Return 1:06 (via moor road)

Computer reset:
DST 140.26
TIME 13:59:16
AVG 10.0mph
MAX 41.2mph
ODO 1012.6

Yey, the magic 1,000 miles since I fitted this cycle computer, way back in January (I think). So, I’ve done the equivalent distance of Land’s End to John o’Groats in about 4 months. Impressive or what? (not!)