Category Archives: bikes

around home, bikes, shoulder, UK

More left-handed typing

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Well, I managed to get two rides in before incapacitating myself. One just a little road ride out to a charming little village, Eynsford, in a strong wind & the other yesterday in a small wood behind Ray & Jill’s place that has some singletrack. Yes, I know – singletrack! Nearby too. It’s not really marked out, so I just spent a while exploring a myriad of trails, going around in many small circles & reappearing at familiar looking junctions. Good fun & even a little archaeology too – a big ditch that the Saxon farmers had dug to help defend their land after the Romano-British colony fell apart 1500-odd years ago. Plus, the heather is still out.

Yes, I know – but I haven’t been taking many pictures recently

Job-hunting has been rather tedious with only a few nibbles.  There seem to be jobs out there, maybe I’m just a little too picky as to what I think I can & want to do.

Trish & I have been working towards clearing the middle room out so we can decorate it. We took a full car load down to the dump (mostly a recycling centre really) this morning & since there was access to the window, I set out to clean the conservatory roof. Somehow, while getting the hose up on the roof, I managed to pop my shoulder out again. For the first time I was off to the hospital to get it sorted – one of the advantages of not being in the middle of nowhere. Although, being buried in snow does help to numb the pain a bit. Of course, it was proper hurting again – this time perhaps more than the previous times. But I got X-Rays this time, for a change, before they attempted to put it back in. And quite an attempt it was.

For some reason it would not get back in – I hope the audience I’d collected enjoyed the show. Trish was fantastic, her nursing/mid-wifery training kicking with constant reminders/commands for me to breathe in – that Entonox was something else. I have no concept of how long it took to end the ordeal. The Nurse-Practitioner had a good couple of attempts before the doctor came & it was another two or three goes before it was back in – after all sorts of wrenching & pulling. The joint sure was stubborn this time & even through the gas, it was a whole new level of pain. I’m just glad I’ll never have to give birth. After the gas wore off quickly I think I made some uncharitable comment about going back to Kenya for the next time – not sure that went down well. I got to look at the before & after (out & in) X-Rays – the bone sure was a long way out. So, I sit on the couch for the next few days – should be thrilling.

bikes, MTB

Bike part arrived finally

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Well, if you’re ever looking for spare GT i-Drive mountain bike parts – don’t bother with trying to get them in the USA, Canada or the UK.  Just order them from the other side of the world – New Zealand, that is.  After trying to find a replacement dogbone/wishbone/flexbone (I’ve heard it called many things) for my 2007 i-Drive 4 in many stores in Washington state & Vancouver (BC), waiting for over three weeks for it not to turn up at my local bike-store in Canmore & then being told in London that the UK distributor had the part but wouldn’t ship it (some lame excuse that they weren’t very good – I didn’t care, I just wanted to ride my bike) I finally called home.  Will at 239BIKE in Pukekohe was ever so helpful, had the part in the shop & Ruth, his wife, shipped it to me that afternoon.  For the princely sum of $NZ30 I had the elusive part in my hands this morning – two working days after I placed the order.  Absolutely fantastic service – especially compared to all the previous hassle I’ve had. So it’s on the bike now & I’m looking forward to the weather being more conducive to a ride tomorrow.

On a less bike-oriented front, the job-hunt is progressing slowly (although it is nice to talk to enthusiastic & friendly recruitment consultants every so often) & is being interspersed with reading, catching up with extended family, helping out clearing stuff in the garden and loft & spending a lot of time on the phone back to NZ catching up with various friends. When friends announce in conversation that they’ve got some news, I’m a little wary of asking if they’re pregnant or getting married (friend’s situation dependent, of course). But this time I should have had more faith – it’s been a long time since I’ve been so excited to hear of an upcoming birth (even better to hear someone tell me, rather than read it). Pity it’s a little difficult to hug someone down a phone line.

bikes, Canada, MTB

29er testing over

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So now that I’m leaving Canada & the house of 29-inch wheels behind I’ll give my final thoughts riding those big wheels.  I don’t think much has changed since my initial impressions.  With the larger diameter wheels & a set-up tending towards the XC side of things – those bikes just climb & climb oh so well.  I’m usually a handy climber, but could get up so many more things than I remember last summer.  It makes it seem easier, but I think you end up going a little faster & therefore don’t save much energy (also the gearing was a little different – larger granny-ring & smaller big-ring.

On the undulating/flat terrain & going downhill I never felt that I was enjoying the trail as much as I should have been. I still think that’s because the bike feels disconnected from the trail & it’s more difficult to move the bike around & get a little bit of air. I never got used to less grip on the downhills – still don’t know why the rear tire never gripped as a Crossmark should; this led to less confidence for me.

So I’m looking forward to getting back on my bike sometime – it may be old & scratched up, but it’s been a lot of places with me & is still a good steed. On that note, I still haven’t got the dogbone for my bike from GT Canada. While they make good bikes, if you’re considering buying a GT bike in Canada or the USA – don’t bother, the service from the distributor is truly awful. I could have had such a simple part shipped from New Zealand in the time it’s taken for my part not to turn up (three weeks for a 10cm strip of steel with a hole in each end – would have got a homemade one if I had have known). Well, it looks like boarding is starting two hours late, so that can be the end of my little rant.

*A big thanks to Megan & Alex for letting me use/try out their bikes while mine was out of action during my brief return to Canmore.

bikes, Canada, friends, MTB, national park

Being Lake touristy

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Exhausted from Sunday’s big ride, we had a late start before I took Brent & Emma up to see Lake Louise & Moraine Lake. We blew past the park gates at the busiest I’ve seen them for a long time (twas Monday too) & of course when we got to the lake it was insanely busy. But never mind, we found a sneaky parking spot & went to gaze at the beautiful lake for a while, feeling wonderfully lazy. There was considerably less ice than early May in the lake – in fact, there was actually water in the liquid phase, brilliant.

If we hadn’t have been so sore & tired, I would have been pushing for the nice little ride to Moraine Lake – you actually earn the view, instead of just driving there. As it was, we drove & there were less people there than at Lake Louise. The lake was a lot higher than last time I visited in the fall – all the logs at the outlet were floating. Brent tried valiantly for quite a while to cross them, but in the end he was too big to not sink. Emma managed to get a very wet foot trapped under a log or two for a while. The frivolity over we wandered up the lookout point.

A cruisy drive back down the parkway home – we saw a couple of huge-antlered elk.

Tuesday morning we were in a fit state to ride, but as Emma & Brent had to hit the road south I opted to show them the rocky & rooty technatality of the Nordic Center. With a bit of the Yellow Loop, a little bit of “Brendan getting slightly lost” & then some of the Orange Loop across the meadows & down we came to the Coal Chutes intersection. Brent persuaded us to go down the black run. I’d forgotten just how much fun it is – a little steep, but on the smooth & non-grippy coal surface I was just on the right side of the edge of control & it was a blast. With the nice Georgetown climb, a bit more of the Orange Loop (Orchid) & a little more toiling up hill we were back at the day-lodge after watching little kids with guns (not something you want to come across on your MTB ride) at the biathlon range. The usual fun down the berms, table-tops & doubles on Soft Yoghurt & then down Devonian Drop & along the loose gravel beside the hydro facility & our nice little jaunt was over. Sad to see my Kiwi accented visitors leave, but I’m sure I’ll hear some Kiwis in whatever is left of London next week.