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

[CitroJim]

Oi, I'm currently driving around in a Vauxhall Nova, and I resembled that remark earlier!

I am STILL not laughing (but I will admit to a grin!)!

Whilst I'm crying for you Mike... How dreadful

On the plus-side it sounds like you've found a good garage in M3 Motors; a rare thing these days... Treasure them...

That gives me some ideas

[xantia_v6]

That gives me some ideas

Bike rack mounted on the exhausts?

[CitroJim]

That gives me some ideas

Bike rack mounted on the exhausts?

Now that's a good idea and a perfect use for them Mike I like it

[CitroJim]

Despite illness this past week, which has seriously hampered Activa work, today has been good...

I left it right until the last minute before deciding I was indeed just well enough to ride the Wiggle Hawker Hurricane cycle sportive today... It was a ride over 55 miles of the best countryside Northamptonshire has to offer... Never did I know Northamptonshire harboured such treasures; today was an education

This was the route according to my Garmin

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2218024533

The total time recorded includes a few stops at feed stations, now blissfully serving hot drinks , and several protracted waits at temporary traffic lights... The real moving time was just under 3h45m at an average speed of 15mph

The ride was utterly awesome and thoroughly enjoyed despite the early morning biting cold which never really went away It got a bit windy later and that was cold too

We rode quite close to the Silverstone circuit and judging by the noise of engines there was an event going on...

Sally the Saxo did a fantastic job of transporting bike and I to the event and here she is showing off her fully loaded cargo Note the security arrangements for the contents

Own Work

I'm so happy with Sally the Saxo I really do love her to bits - it was instant and it's just getting deeper and deeper... Poor old 207 is not getting a look-in at the moment - every trip out I need to make is done in Sally! She is one very fine motor car indeed

The end of the ride saw each finisher presented with a medal, a protein bar and a couple of freebies that were very welcome - a pair of winter socks and a neck warmer

Own Work

My medal wall - which some of you have seen - is now rapidly running out of space to display them all...

This was the penultimate sportive of 2017 for me. I have one more next Sunday - the Nottinghamshire Wheeler... I shall miss them and will be just itching to start all over again in 2018...

Tomorrow is a clear day now and I plan to get stuck into the Activa and get as much done as possible... I did intend to do a bit yesterday afternoon but a most enjoyable visit from Zel rather put paid to that... When we two get chatting the time just disappears in an instant!

[CitroJim]

The window tinting film has arrived I reckon Sally will look good with black rear windows

No sign of the replacement audio output chip for the wireless. Hopefully on Monday...

One thing I forgot to get for her was a new auxiliary belt... Her present one is a little past its best and for reliability I want a decent one...

I'm now just about to order one...

[NewcastleFalcon]

It was a ride over 55 miles of the best countryside Northamptonshire has to offer... Never did I know Northamptonshire harboured such treasures; today was an education

This was the route according to my Garmin

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2218024533

Now this is one of Northamptonshire's treasures, just crying out to be visited, photographed and put up on POTD!


Broughton spire, Northants [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], by Dr Steven Plunkett (Own work), from Wikimedia Commons

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

That's a lovely church Neil

Sadly, my ride took us nowhere near that locality yesterday but I did spot a lot of fine churches during the ride and I'm still always on the lookout for red clock faces...

It's hard to stop and take pictures when riding in a sportive peloton but these rides do give me a lot of inspiration for future solo touring rides...

One outstandingly lovely place we cycled through was Canons Ashby



Most of the village seems to be National Trust...

Well worth a look...

[Michel]

Oi, I'm currently driving around in a Vauxhall Nova, and I resembled that remark earlier!

I am STILL not laughing (but I will admit to a grin!)!

One has to dress the part for a Corsa...

[Hell Razor5543]

OK, NOW I AM laughing, but what do you expect when you act like a C.H.A.V.?

C.H.A.V. =

Spoiler: show

Clown Having Aggressive Variances (you try coming up with a decent word beginning with V!!!)

[CitroJim]

Oi, I'm currently driving around in a Vauxhall Nova, and I resembled that remark earlier!

I am STILL not laughing (but I will admit to a grin!)!

One has to dress the part for a Corsa...

Another bloody laptop keyboard covered in spilt tea!!! But Mike, that is so funny... A classic picture One to keep for ever

In future though, can you please warm me so that I'm not drinking a well-deserved cup of tea when I'm reading my blog

Whilst I did not get as much done on the Activa today as I wished due to the lovely weather calling for other jobs to be done - such as the garden - I did get one major one done

It was the job I was dreading the most - the inner CV Boot replacement

In the event it was not as bad as I feared and the boot fitted a treat...

CV Boot replacement is still, in my opinion, the most hateful, messy and horrid job ever on any car... The grease is just downright evil... I now remember why I normally farm this job out to a garage!

Own Work - outer knocked off and inner boot removed.

Own Work - New inner boot fitted.

Own Work - Job done. Yay!!!

Now it's just the new wheel bearings to press into the hubs and a reassembly - a walk in the park after the CV boot

And then we'll go for an MOT

And the garden is, hopefully, now put to bed for the winter... I hope today saw the last lawn mow of 2017

Now I can concentrate on playing cars

[myglaren]

Oi, I'm currently driving around in a Vauxhall Nova, and I resembled that remark earlier!

I am STILL not laughing (but I will admit to a grin!)!

One has to dress the part for a Corsa...

I rescued a lad in a broken down Corsa a couple of weeks ago.
Hardly your stereotypical Corsa driver. Well spoken, nicely dressed, no tats, no baseball cap, very polite and overwhelmed that someone had bothered to stop and give a hand to a stranger.
Couldn't understand why I wouldn't accept any cash from him for helping either.

[wurlycorner]

CV Boot replacement is still, in my opinion, the most hateful, messy and horrid job ever on any car... The grease is just downright evil... I now remember why I normally farm this job out to a garage!

It's also particularly bad on a Xantia because the assembly quality (the outer ones) is so absolutely (-expletive removed-) awful!

I never worry about doing this job on a CX - it's a breeze - have done it twice on my Xantia and both times found it absolutely horrendous and unnatural feeling (it's just not right to have to whack the joint THAT hard to get past the bloody awful quality formed splines)

[Zelandeth]

Just give me a shout Jim if you don't want to deal with actually taking it in for the test and the resulting stress.

My usual approach is that anything involving taking suspension apart gets farmed out to a garage. If bolts shear, round off etc it's their problem then not mine! Though you do at least have a press...a tool I have always lacked.

The fact that I was usually working on the only wheels available to me, and was a 30 mile round trip from the nearest garage probably played a part too...if something went awry it made life rather more of a pain back then.

[Skull]

CitroJim

Whilst we have conversed over the years mainly on my 2.1 TD on a budget thread,

somehow I seem to have missed your 406 page blog Hope to have a browse through soon ....

[CitroJim]

have done it twice on my Xantia and both times found it absolutely horrendous and unnatural feeling (it's just not right to have to whack the joint THAT hard to get past the bloody awful quality formed splines)

Yes, especially on reassembly

Just give me a shout Jim if you don't want to deal with actually taking it in for the test and the resulting stress.

Thanks Zel, appreciated greatly

My usual approach is that anything involving taking suspension apart gets farmed out to a garage. If bolts shear, round off etc it's their problem then not mine! Though you do at least have a press...a tool I have always lacked.

The fact that I was usually working on the only wheels available to me, and was a 30 mile round trip from the nearest garage probably played a part too...if something went awry it made life rather more of a pain back then.

One reason why I always feel naked if I don't have a spare car available to me... Even though I could manage a few days without one easily enough...

There's always a spare here you can borrow if needed. Another reason I have two roadworthy cars at any one time is so my girls always have a spare to call upon if necessary...