CitroJim's AX, C3 Picasso, Cycling and Running Tales

[CitroJim]

You never know - what lies beyond that Number 42 might hold the answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything.

.....now there's a thought. It's all beginning to make sense now

You mean its all a load of b******s?

Can't stop giggling

I just had this flagged up Jim, I don't know if its anything you may want to put in stock while its available?

It arrived via DHL late last evening Great service! it's a good 'un and happily complete with an intact remote adjustment lever Bluebell's lever is broken so this is just the job...

Thanks so much for alerting me to it Mick

When I have the door card off to swap it I can also fix the central locking in that door at the same time... Excellent!

[CitroJim]

Massive fun last evening running the second in a series of three Head Torch 10K races around Salcey Forest

They start at 7PM (late in the day for me) and run through a very dark forest... Last evening was perfect - cold, clear and dry. It was so dry that all the mud from Sunday had frozen solid and was like running on concrete!

I made a schoolboy error in wearing my trail shoes rather than my road shoes...

I was delighted to see several deer in the forest, their eyes lit up from the light of my head torch, during the run...

On Sunday I'm off to Mallory Park for the first Duathlon of the season Really looking forward to that one...

[CitroJim]

One from Thursday evening taken by the event photographer...

I love the atmosphere of this one

It is an incredibly difficult job to photograph runners in the dark whilst moving and shining a bright light directly at the camera... It's all done by strategically placing a pair of floodlights and keeping the shutter speed high. The skill comes from not making it obvious there's floodlights on the subject...

On the previous run in this series I assisted the photographer in setting up. It took a lot of tweaking to get it just right.

[CitroJim]

Enjoyed an awesome day at Mallory Park yesterday racing my first duathlon of 2023

It's a great circuit to race a bike around and in a car it really must be quite magical and exciting, especially at the sharp hairpin at the top of the hill!

I got up a fair bit of speed on the straight on the bike and loved throwing it around the chicane...

And the surface Like a billiard table Some of the finest tarmac I've seen in a long while!

It was bloody cold and frosty but once racing, and wearing appropriate winter kit, I was just a little too warm whilst running and just a little cool on the bike... I made a big error in Transition 2 - I came in on my bike, threw off my gloves to enable me to remove my helmet and change shoes and so keen was I to get out for the second run I forgot to put my gloves back on My poor hands let me know in no uncertain terms!

Against that, it was a good, fast transition - as both were - and happy to complete the whole event in 1 hour and 31 minutes... Less than a minute off my Sprint PB Not bad given the weather conditions...

Huge fun and a great opener to the 2023 season There's more scheduled for Mallory Park and I'll be there for them There's also a few triathlons scheduled too... The lake on the edge of the motor racing circuit looks perfect for it but yesterday it would been more suited to an ice skating competition

I do love a good duathlon Mallory Park is bloody awkward to get to from Paggers but well worth it

[Dormouse]

Just to show that things can go wrong.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... d-64371848

[CitroJim]

Just to show that things can go wrong.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... d-64371848

Not good... Sadly, it is not an isolated happening...

Happier stuff, a good one of me crossing the finish line on Sunday

(c) ATW

Those flying feet are in evidence again!

And on the bike...

(c) ATW

Sadly, only one of me tearing up the track...

[Dormouse]

Just goes to show how well organised the Event Medics were though, in that they got the two runners and organised their recovery.
Glad you enjoyed yourself - looks cold though.

[CitroJim]

Glad you enjoyed yourself - looks cold though.

It was! and finishing the race with no gloves on was an error I won't make again

Coldest one I've done so far and very happy in general how both me and my kit coped

[CitroJim]

A good day playing with rthe cars today

First up, give Sally a good wash after her long trip this week. She was filthy and covered in salt...

After a good bath and a de-salting underneath...

She scrubs up very well Pix got a quick wash too

And then to Bluebell... I started her up to reverse her out of the garage and could both see and smell oil smoke... It almost immediately cleared and once warm, not a sign of any smoke of any sort at all under any conditions... A half-cold start after I'd worked on her showed no smoke. Something I'll keep an eye on but hopefully not a harbinger of a problem...

Today I fixed her broken passenger door mirror adjuster...

The spare mirror I bought from the 'bay via Mick's spotting of it donated its lever - it is screwed on and easy to separate...

And the finished job

The next job was to install the passenger side lower parcel shelf. When I first got Bluebell, a lot of dash and boot trim, including the parcel shelves, had been removed for reasons that are not clear...

The driver's side one was easy to reinstall but on the passenger side there's a piece of trim missing that covers the side of the heater box and provides a mount for that side of the parcel shelf...

Whilst I go on a (likely long) search for the correct trim I made up a temporary mounting bracket and brace from a couple of bits of aluminium and a few screws...

And the finished job... At a quick glance, the missing heater box cover is barely noticeable now... If I don't ever find one I'm sure I could make up something to cover my bracketry... It looks OK at 20 paces

It's been a good day. Tomorrow I'll be trail running in Salcey Forest... Cold and muddy - which means I'm looking forward to it immensely, especially the coffee in the café afterwards

[mickthemaverick]

Glad that mirror proved useful Jim, and a nice bit of improvisation on the shelf bracket. Maybe a quick squirt of satin black will give it the appearance of 'meant to be there?'

[CitroJim]

Glad that mirror proved useful Jim, and a nice bit of improvisation on the shelf bracket. Maybe a quick squirt of satin black will give it the appearance of 'meant to be there?'

That's a good thought Mick Excellent! I'll have to get myself a little aerosol of black paint next time I'm in Halfrauds or similar...

[Stickyfinger]

A black sharpie pen would do a decent job as well....

[myglaren]

[CitroJim]

Steve, loved that use for a Sharpie Marker Not sure it would do a good job on my bracketry Alasdair... I'll get you to paint it next time I see you

A big day today... I got home from running and cycling to see the latest Citroenian magazine sitting on my doormat...

Inside was my very first 'From A to Z' column

(c) Citroen Car Club

(c) Citroen Car Club

My next column is already submitted...

[xantia_v6]

Nicely written column (as usual). You can see Daffodil in flower-power guise here viewtopic.php?t=57442