Pages

Monday 25 June 2012

Swinging Swineshead

My shoulder felt a lot better today, the sun was shining, so it was out to complete the series I cut short when I fell into the ditch. I parked nicely, got the bike out and biked to where I'd abandoned the route last week; it was only about a mile, and all on the roads. Then off the roads and onto bridleways, and I finished the circuit, including the one that was missing last time I was there. Because it had been disabled, it wasn't on my database, but I remembered where it was, and had a look as I biked by, and there it was!

So, back to the car for a meagre lunch (my diet is going well) and then onto the second circuit; a total of 44 caches today.

As I was going round the second circuit, I got electric failure again. So I took the throttle apart again, and that seemed to fix it, but it soon failed again.

While I was huffing up the hills, I did some thinking. Maybe it isn't the throttle, because the wiring looks sound, and there's pretty much nothing in it to go wrong. Maybe the controller is overheating, and cutting out? I had cleverly wrapped the controller in bubblewrap to keep it dry, but that's also insulating it. I'm going to take off the insulation and see if that helps.

As I was getting towards the end of the second circuit, I happened to look at my back wheel, and noticed an ominous bulge in the tire. Closer inspection revealed that a part of the tire is actually worn away, and all that was stopping the inner tube from blowing out, was the anti-puncture tape I use. Thank you Dr Sludge (Weldtite). So I was *very* gentle with the bike for the last couple of caches, and I've ordered a new tire. While I was in a buying mood, I also bought a new rear carrier, new anti-puncture tape and two new thorn-resistant inner tubes. Why? Well, when I bought this bike, the Ebay seller was actually selling a pair of bikes, and I found myself with both - my idea was, hey, I'll have a spare bike. That worked very well last time I tried it; the second bike was eventually almost entirely cannibalised for spares. So, I'll put puncture-proofing on the spare bike, and a rear carrier, and it'll be a real alternative to the one I'm using.

Today has left me quite tired, but my hip still seems to be OK, and my shoulder is nearly better.

No comments:

Post a Comment