A day off work today. I’d booked it in anticipation of cycling weather. However it was rainy this morning so I used the spare time on wrestling with the SRAM shifter on my Planet X. I had to unscrew a side plate to get the old cable out, but once I’d done that it was fairly easy. I did however split the shroud (unless it was already split) but I’ve ordered another one from Wiggle.
The tiny screws holding the side plate on are a bit cheap and I slightly distressed one of them trying to unscrew it, but I put a touch of grease on it when I fitted it again and made sure not to overtighten. Next time I need to change the rear cable I may just tape the plate in place, it should be secure enough under the shroud.
Got the new cable fitted nicely, clamped down and crimped. I haven’t thoroughly adjusted the tension but I’ll do that some other time. One nice thing is that there’s absolutely loads of range to loosen and tighten in the thumb adjuster at the back, and – given that it was working fine when I took the old cable off – that should be all I need to tinker with to get it working perfectly.
I noticed actually that, on the maintenance stand anyway, before taking the old cable off, I couldn’t actually shift the rear Disraeli into the smallest cog. It must have been set up like that by the mechanics at Planet X and I certainly haven’t ever found myself wishing for an unattainable higher gear so I will just leave it.
So, flush with success at fixing the X, I came back in the house and glanced at the weather forecast. I decided it was good enough for the February Fondo, even though I’d be setting off well after midday and coming back in the dark. After a bit of preparation, I set off on the Tricross at about 12:50.
Pleasantly mild out there and I wore lighter clothing than of late. And a helmet – I decided it was warm enough to go without a woolly hat, although I did regret that when the temperature dropped after sunset. I headed down Heather Lane initially, thinking to do 30 or so miles of the old route westward through Clifton Campville, Coton in the Elms et al – I hadn’t done that one for quite a while. But after half a mile or so I decided that the roads on that route might be a bit muddy following the recent wet weather, so I turned round and decided to do the eastbound route instead. Fortunately the wind was very light so the direction didn’t much matter.
If conditions had allowed me to set off earlier in the morning I might have gone as far as the Lincolnshire border or perhaps further, but since I didn’t know how much juice I had left in my head torch and didn’t want to return home too late, I turned for home a mile or two short of Eastwell. I detoured through Diseworth (where I took this pic) and down Top Brand over the last few miles. Came down through Swannington again, something I’ve only done a couple of times over the last few years because it involves a long slog of a climb.
One really annoying thing was that I’d only recently changed the cleat in my left Shimano shoe, and it was a bastard to get out of the left pedal. The pedals on the Tricross are a bit tight. More than once I had a moment of panic when couldn’t get my foot out immediately and thought I was going to topple.
I could adjust them but I’ll settle for using the Muddyfox shoes, which have more worn-in cleats.
I listened to The World At One on R4, then the Big Finish production from 2002 Spare Parts, in which Peter Davison reprises his role as the Fifth Doctor in a story about the genesis of the Cybermen. Quite chilling, and sad. Then I listened to coverage of the PM describing the ‘road map’ to ease the lockdown restrictions in the House of Commons.
I noticed after a couple of miles that my Casio GPS watch was lagging behind my bike computer on the distance count by 0.7 miles. They were still different by the same amount at the end of the ride, and the watch claimed 64.03 miles. However once uploaded, Strava reports 64.73 miles, which agrees with the bike computer to within 30 metres or so. Odd.
So: back on 64.73 miles.
https://www.strava.com/activities/4832031014
249 miles this month, only 14 short of target for February.
Very satisfying day all round; happy to have got the February Fondo in and even happier to have sorted out the X gear cable, despite the collateral damage. But a new pair of shrouds wasn’t expensive.