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

[Michel]

Thankfully, the message is getting through. It's rare now to see anyone riding a bit without one...

There's a bloke in Twyford who usually rides without one.

Is he called Mike by any chance?

I never ride without... And I'm so sad I have matching helmets for each of my bikes...

I have 3 helmets, I wear them when it's raining - to keep me dry, and because there's a little more chance of me falling off, and when I'm out with Sammy so he gets into the habit. I dislike them, but then I've ridden for decades without, so it's still a new thing to me. I have to admit to wearing one yesterday when I was out in the mud on the MTB for ages, because it was *very* muddy - This is after a 2 mile road ride from the mud to the house.

and it keeps the mud out my hair.

Odd that I can't even ride the motorsickle down the drive without one though!

[Hell Razor5543]

The other forum I am a member of had somebody talking about bicycles and cycle helmets. One of the contributors recited a tale when he (a teenager at the time) called around to see a friend (of similar age). When he arrived his friends' family were in a bad way. It turned out they had just made the decision to turn off the life support of his friend. Why? A couple of days earlier he had been out on his skateboard and came off (not at speed), cracking his head open when he hit the ground. He had not worn a helmet either.

[Michel]

The Rospa reports that 8 children were killed on bicycles in 2016, and 300 injured. This, as far as I'm concerned, sad as it is not a reason to enforce anyone to wear a helmet.

The report also states that 70% of cyclist fatalities in London had serious head injuries, and 84% of those on rural roads had serious head injuries. This seems to point towards the fact that a helmet doesn't make a huge amount of difference to your chances of survival. My cycling helmets are very insubstantial compared to my motorbike helmet. My BTwin cycling helmet weighs 310g. My new motorcycle helmet weighs 2.47kg. I can do much the same speed on both around town in heavy traffic. How the cycling helmet can provide anything other than the most rudimentary protection is beyond me. If you come off a bicycle at 20mph, unless you land on the top of your head, you're going to be messed up.

[CitroJim]

A Cannondale Jim, I shall look up the exact poncy name upon my return..

They're rubbish Mike.... I kept on dropping Cannondale rides today

I'll race you. Standing start, over 2 miles. You can even use your fancy bike.

You'd beat me without a doubt I'm a endurance rider and a climber whereas you'll be a sprinter... I'm not fast in any of my pursuits but I can go the distance...

Now, over 100 miles the result may be a little different...

[CitroJim]

I serviced Robyn's C1 today - in the rain I seem to have become something of a rain god recently as every time I go for a bike ride, even if I start out in the sunshine it ends up raining

I did better this afternoon - I brought on a hailstorm whilst out on the bike

Robyn's C1, I'm happy to report, is wearing exceedingly well indeed and today at 20K it only needed a routine service. The brake pads will need doing soon but still have a good 5mm of pad left...

Bloody good little cars are the C1/107/Aygo family and so easy to service too

One problem was that Robyn arrived with a flat tyre... A quick inspection showed it had a nail or screw in it... Luckily in an area that was amenable to repair

The tyre and exhaust place at the end of my road did the repair - for free

They also admired my Saxo - used to transport the C1 wheel

Discovered this lovely pothole on my bike ride this afternoon - before the rains came on...

It is perfectly placed to catch an unwary cyclist and although it's on a very quiet and rural lane it is a very popular cycling road...

Own Work

Robyn suggested the glove by the side of it was the last remains of someone who drowned in it It was certainly deep enough!

I put the glove there for scale...

As soon as I returned home I reported it to https://www.fillthathole.org.uk

I ride the road fairly often so it'll be interesting to see how quickly it's fixed... As it's on a minor road I doubt it'll get any great priority despite the great risk it poses to cyclists...

[Hell Razor5543]

So, Jim, we need to consider changing your name by deed pole to Rob McKenna, after the character from Douglas Adams' book "So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish";

"Rob McKenna is an ordinary lorry driver who can never get away from rain, and he has a log-book showing that it has rained on him every day, anywhere that he has ever been, to prove it. He is because of this rather grouchy and resigned to never seeing the sun; he notes it even rained when he went abroad. He was described by the scientific community as a "Quasi Supernormal Incremental Precipitation Inducer". In the novel "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish", Arthur suggests that he could show the diary to someone, which Rob does, making the media deem him a 'Rain God' (something which he actually is) for the clouds want "to be near him, to love him, to cherish him and to water him". This windfall gives him a lucrative career, taking money from resorts and similar places in exchange for not going there."

By the way, your hail storm has just had a flying visit to the Reading area.

[Michel]

Discovered this lovely pothole on my bike ride this afternoon - before the rains came on...

It is perfectly placed to catch an unwary cyclist and although it's on a very quiet and rural lane it is a very popular cycling road...

follylanepothole.jpg

I'm sorry, but anyone caught unawares by that trench should be going to specsavers and not on the road!

[CitroJim]

So, Jim, we need to consider changing your name by deed pole to Rob McKenna, after the character from Douglas Adams' book "So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish";

Yes!!! I shall now sign-off as Rob

I so miss Douglas Adams He really is a legend and "So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish" is possibly one of hios best works...

The bit where he describes Rob is utterly brilliant and utterly hilarious - anyone who has never read the book should - as soon as possible. You won't regret it


Rob McKenna

FCF Rain God and Founder Member of the Ka Preservation Society...

[Hell Razor5543]

While I agree that Douglas Adams was a good comedic author, I would have to say that Sir Terry Pratchett was (in my opinion) much better, and not just because he was writing for far longer.

[CitroJim]

I'm sorry, but anyone caught unawares by that trench should be going to specsavers and not on the road!

Thing is Mike, it's on a narrow road and if there's anything coming the other way you're not going to be able to avoid it...

Sadly, although it's only a minor road and generally very quiet it is, at certain times, used as a rat-run from the nearby university and gets busy....

James, I once tried to read a Terry Pratchett book and failed miserably - I totally failed to get into it

Maybe I chose the wrong one...

[Michel]

I'm sorry, but anyone caught unawares by that trench should be going to specsavers and not on the road!

Thing is Mike, it's on a narrow road and if there's anything coming the other way you're not going to be able to avoid it.

My vehicles have brakes Jim.

I'm with you on Terry Pratchet! Never got his books at all.

[Hell Razor5543]

I would say that, should the pothole be filled by a puddle, it looks like it could cause some major damage to the vehicle passing through it, and a cyclist probably would come off. I knew of a pothole (on a narrow country lane) that was hidden by a puddle (after a flash storm) that took out both nearside wheels (broke or buckled all of the rims) of three cars in the space of half an hour. It was not a long or wide pothole, but was very deep. It was up between Oxford and Watlington.

Jim, some of the Terry Pratchett books are hysterical, some are ok, and some are highly emotionally charged. In his book "Nation" (the first to be written after he found out he had the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease) there is, early in the book, a chapter where the lead character Mau has to bury everybody he ever knew (a tsunami had swept across the island they called home), and it moves me to tears every time I read that chapter. Forewarned, in this case, is NOT forearmed.

[bobins]

There's a whole series of holes joined by bits of tarmac near where I work. I'm so tempted to put up a sign saying 'Caution, Road Missing Ahead' I don't think they're going to get repaired any time soon as the county boundary goes down the middle of the road, so there'll no doubt be lots of squabbling about whose responsibility it is going on in both highways departments

[CitroJim]

There's a whole series of holes joined by bits of tarmac near where I work. I'm so tempted to put up a sign saying 'Caution, Road Missing Ahead'

Lots of areas like that up here Bobins... Almost to the extent that the remaining bits of tarmac knit the potholes together

The winter certainly has been hard on the roads and what's worrying is that minor roads given a surface dressing last year are getting holed too...

I thought at the time the surface dressing method used looked a bit cheap and cheerful and events are proving me right

[CitroJim]

I woke the Skoda up from hibernation today...

As the car had not moved since late last year - when I got the Ka - I thought the battery would be flat so I removed it (had to remember where it was!), carried it home and stuck it on charge... I thought my clever charger had died as the current meter was showing no current...

The charger was fine, it was just that the battery was still fully charged

I carried the battery back, refitted it and the car fired up (after a fuel prime) first turn of the key!!! Bloody remarkable...

She settled to a steady idle and after a few minutes running I brought her home... Handily my neighbours are a way for the long weekend so in exchange for feeding their cats I can keep the Skoda on their drive for a few days

I gave both her and Sally a wash as where she'd been sleeping there's a problem with pigeons and the poor old thing was covered in pigeon poo

I must say she drives beautifully and all is exactly as was just before she went to sleep for the winter

Here she is, after a wash and in the pouring rain - which sadly has stopped play for the day

Own Work

She's now for sale as I will not have any time for the foreseeable to either enjoy her or do any work on her so I've decided to send her on to someone else who can love her more than I can at present...

All proceeds from the sale will be donated to Willen Hospice as part of my fund-raising connected with my charity bike ride to Amsterdam in June...

Offer me in excess of a grand and not only will she be yours but a most worthy local charity very close to my heart will benefit greatly

I'll be doing a proper for sale ad in a while...