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

[myglaren]

Is it the one marker "R" - for rallying?

I was happily driving the Civic on the 5 gears when my son pointed out that it has six

[Skull]

Glad to hear the adventure went well Jim

That's about the only negative of those 2 litre AX's ..they've only got room for a 4 speed box

I still pine for another AX, my favourite so far was my 1.4D 3 door Echo, super cheap motoring for 5 years which had the desirable 5 speed box four speeds are fine for around town but just a little buzzy @ 65 mph + on motorways.

[NewcastleFalcon]

I presume that's the rising sun on your early morning run picture Jim doing a reasonable impression of a sodium street light

Gold in the morning sun...

I get the impression you enjoyed your trip and also strangely enjoyed the little bit of car fettling too

I did notice that Daffodil has one of those things I try to avoid....a winter MOT. Alright winters recently aren't what they used to be, but even for the most enthusiastic car-fettler, fettling a car at the end of January is more likely to be a PITA than not. I imagine for you it would be a take-it-in-your-stride thing, but me I would be putting it in for an early one pronto.

REgards Neil

[Peter.N.]

Well done on your adventure Jim, I'm sure it,s done you the power of good.

Peter

[CitroJim]

That's about the only negative of those 2 litre AX's ..they've only got room for a 4 speed box

Love it It's very acceptable at 60 and playing a nice tune at that speed

I presume that's the rising sun on your early morning run picture Jim doing a reasonable impression of a sodium street light

No, that's a sodium street light Neil I'm busy collecting them photographically now before they go extinct

Here's another view of it from the opposite direction showing the light on a telegraph pole... Both photos taken around 6:30 AM..

All Hallows Church

I certainly did enjoy a bit of fettling We did a lot on Alasdair's Xantias too At one point I ended up with a lovely Douche Vert Been a log time since I've had a shower of LHM on me but it did my hair a world of good... LHM is a fantastic hair conditioner

I agree about the Winter MoT... I may see about moving that to the spring... I did the same with Sally as she originally had a winter MoT too.

I've just ran a 5K race around the Daytona kart racing track in MK... I ran my fastest 5K in a long, long time... I think it was 2018 I last managed a low 8 mins/mile pace Running on a motor racing circuit is awesome

As I started my race 'The Chain' by Fleetwood Mac started playing in my headphones from my Garmin music running playlist! Somehow it seemed very appropriate... I have my playlist on a random shuffle... What were the chances?

Redway Runners Daytona 5000 Strava

On cloud 9

[myglaren]

Wit regard to the sodium lights, I mentioned that I would look when the ones in the street lit up to see the colour progression.

Unfortunately they have turned them all off, presumably from a central location as none are working now - there were al least three working last week. They did start of very red and got progressively brighter and more yellow over about three~five minutes.

[NewcastleFalcon]

No, that's a sodium street light Neil I'm busy collecting them photographically now before they go extinct

Apologies everyone, but if you are tired of watching paint dry try this. It does appear that low pressure sodium street lamps could well be extinct "on the street" now, but I guess this "slower" and more red at the start sequence was what I remember from the street lamps of my youth The red glow is apparently neon gas, before the sodium vaporises.

Spoiler: show

This is a much better explanation, or it sounds like that to me (even though its recorded in "American"


The follow on video to that on High Pressure Sodium Lamps may result in a different colour sequence depending on the gas used eg Xenon/and whether mercury/sodium is part of the mix. Mercury has a blue light/Sodium Yellow so the HPS could be less yellow on full warm up, and Blue will appear in the warm up sequence.

I'm sure you know much more about it than me Jim but I take away that not all sodium lamps are the same! Am I right in thinking that any sodium lights still on the streets of the UK will be HPS of one form or another, and may not, unless they have Neon Gas in their composition glow red on start up like the old LPS lamps did.


Regards Neil

[Michel]

The only sad bit was the news I lost an old friend to the Big C on Friday

Now to start clearing the garage so she can live inside

My condolences on the loss of your friend Jim, however I feel a traditional funeral and burial/cremation would be more appropriate

[CitroJim]

The only sad bit was the news I lost an old friend to the Big C on Friday

Now to start clearing the garage so she can live inside

My condolences on the loss of your friend Jim, however I feel a traditional funeral and burial/cremation would be more appropriate

Oh how one has to be so careful how one phrases such things

[CitroJim]

It does appear that low pressure sodium street lamps could well be extinct "on the street" now

All the ones I'm recording for posterity are, I believe, the few remaining low pressure sodium (LPS) ones still extant in the wild Neil They are an endangered species

This is a much better explanation, or it sounds like that to me (even though its recorded in "American"

That's a great find Neil

I'm sure you know much more about it than me Jim but I take away that not all sodium lamps are the same! Am I right in thinking that any sodium lights still on the streets of the UK will be HPS of one form or another, and may not, unless they have Neon Gas in their composition glow red on start up like the old LPS lamps did.

I'm still learning Neil As far as I understand, LPS are the very yellow ones with the red 'Penning' glow when they initially start and the HPS lamps tend to be brighter and have a wider spectrum with some ability to render colour as well as start faster. Their light tends to be a light, bright bronze in colour and they don't noticeably glow red when initially starting... That's my belief and I may not be accurate... For the definitive answer we need our resident specialist in these matters to tell us... That's our very own Zel... He's a walking encyclopaedia on all things streetlight and incredibly interesting to talk to on the subject

[Peter.N.]

You can come and photograph mine Jim if you like.

Peter

[CitroJim]

You can come and photograph mine Jim if you like.

Next time I'm down your way I will Peter I have a great desire to go to the seaside soon... It could all work out

[Hell Razor5543]

I wonder if BBCs' "Top Gear" pinched your fifth gear so Channel 5 can no longer compete?

[CitroJim]

I wonder if BBCs' "Top Gear" pinched your fifth gear so Channel 5 can no longer compete?

That made me giggle James

The operation to make room in the garage to accommodate Daffodil is soon to commence... Skip to be hired

[Chris570]

Surely a skip isn't needed! There can't be much left in there? Pleased you're back in an ax, I do miss mine.

Stupid question but being a 3dr do you know if you can open the door with the car in the garage?