I like my house in one piece. That must be nearing the power of an atom bomb
What's made you smile today?
- Thread starter angel
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What's made you smile today?
That second booster was nothing...at first. Slept well Monday night, felt great yesterday until I bumped my shoulder. That hurt all day after that. Got hit with a bad case of 'Assus Draggus' around four in the afternoon and went to bed early while feeling like I was having a blood sugar crash and chills. I threw on extra blankets and passed out. I woke up around 2 and felt fine. Kicked off all the extra blankets and slept for four more hours.
Today was like it never happened. Got the Chevy fixed this morning and found I didn't need a new pump.
Picked up a 125 cu ft bottle of C25 for the MIG welder, then Mrs. Cheest and I had a couple each of the worlds greatest hot dogs for lunch. When we started going to this place in 1975, four hot dogs and two drinks could be had for $3.00. Today, that same meal is $21.25. At least the post hot dog burps are still the same.
Today was like it never happened. Got the Chevy fixed this morning and found I didn't need a new pump.
Picked up a 125 cu ft bottle of C25 for the MIG welder, then Mrs. Cheest and I had a couple each of the worlds greatest hot dogs for lunch. When we started going to this place in 1975, four hot dogs and two drinks could be had for $3.00. Today, that same meal is $21.25. At least the post hot dog burps are still the same.
We returned Monday past from one of our "mega" trips down south. I was notified just shortly before we departed that my 2nd booster - so 4th jag in all - was booked for the 2nd day after our departure. I tried to change the appointment but "computer says NO!" and the system wouldn't let me rebook for a date far enough ahead to schedule it in after our return 3+ weeks later. So, having driven back up on the Sunday I was too washed out on the Monday to do anything about it and then Tuesday is childminding all day. So on Wednesday morning I was ready to book another appointment. However Mrs J remembered that there's a drop in centre at Ocean Terminal, so, on with the coat and about a 45 minute walk saw me at their door - 1st floor in the Ocean Terminal shopping mall. Easier to just walk with all the disruption of the tram works taking place. The clinic looked like the Marie Celeste with no queue and only 2 other people being seen. They almost bit my hand off in their eagerness to get me booked in and I was documented, injected, monitored for 5 minutes and back out again inside 20 minutes. Wonderful!
They gave me the Moderna again - first two were Pfizer then a Moderna and now another Moderna. The Pfizers gave me very little trouble, just a bit of the shivers and a disturbed night. The first Moderna booster really knocked me on my ear. didn't put me in bed though but caused shortness of breath, headache, shivers, etc. I was pretty poorly for a good 2 days and took about 5 before I was firing on all cylinders again. Now, a day after the 2nd Moderna booster I've got a bit of a headache and intermittent chilly shivers but nothing like the first Moderna. Expecting to feel well again tomorrow.
They gave me the Moderna again - first two were Pfizer then a Moderna and now another Moderna. The Pfizers gave me very little trouble, just a bit of the shivers and a disturbed night. The first Moderna booster really knocked me on my ear. didn't put me in bed though but caused shortness of breath, headache, shivers, etc. I was pretty poorly for a good 2 days and took about 5 before I was firing on all cylinders again. Now, a day after the 2nd Moderna booster I've got a bit of a headache and intermittent chilly shivers but nothing like the first Moderna. Expecting to feel well again tomorrow.
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hope you are a1 to-morrow had my booster 2 days ago slow yesterday been designing garden today feel fine chin up us older ones must keep going . mowermender
Having written about my Booster shot above and mentioning that we've just returned from one of our big trips down to the "deep south" I am reflecting on what a mixed bag of fortune it was. On the good side was that we stayed with my daughter and her family for several days which meant we got to be with our grandchildren who are now teenagers. They are the two oldest of our five grandchildren and we don't see so much of them because they are based at the other end of the country from us so time spent with them is always precious. Then we had a reunion with the BOAC crowd which was as lively as ever - We do this every year (although not recently due to covid) and it used to be riotous in years past. Now, with all of us much older, and taking into account pacemakers etc, it's better described as "lively". Then we were off easterly to see more old friends (we lived in west London and then Hampshire when we were younger) and finally drove over to North Devon to spend about 10 days with my wife's sister again, as we do every year. Lovely and quiet out in the country on the edge of Exmoor. My older boy and his family moved into our house while we were away so they could partake of some "big city" life. This has the advantage of the house being occupied but leaves Mrs J always anxious about what state the house will be in on our return. She worries too much though, my boy and his wife are nearly 50 and his boy is almost a teenager. The house, of course, was immaculate!
Of course we were in the Ibiza - I'm sure Becky would have made it but the Ibiza is so much better for this sort of thing, and has cruise control. A few weeks before this I'd commissioned AVW to do a cam belt kit on the Ibiza (Twinkle) which seems to have been done well as I notice absolutely no difference in performance compared to before it was changed. I'd also, of course, had 4 new tyres fitted - the Falkens I've written about elsewhere.
I always keep a fuel consumption record on these longer journeys. I do this by zeroing the trip immediately after filling the tank and I fill the tank in the same way every time. I make a point of filling up on a completely flat forecourt and filling to the second automatic cut off "click". Then, next time I fill up I do exactly the same - flat forecourt and fill to the second "click". I note the mileage showing on the trip and record the amount of fuel to fill. We've done this journey on average 2 times a year since I bought the car new in early 2016 - but not, of course, during the covid restrictions. So probably 6 or seven trips before the covid and now this one post covid. On the pre covid trips she's come out at almost exactly 60 mpg every single time - with hardly even half an MPG difference. This time she did 58.7 MPG on the way down - and it was a good trip with no holdups at all so I was expecting the 60 mpg again. The trip back up was awful with two really big traffic jams in the midlands standing still and 1st gear only for several miles each time and even when you got rolling the traffic was so heavy you were continually speeding up and slowing down to maintain position with surrounding traffic. Fuel consumption? 53.88 mpg and I'm surprised it wasn't worse! Obviously the figure for the journey back north is meaningless due to the conditions but the difference in the figure for the southerly journey is interesting. Could be due to a very slight difference in timing - both the cam sprockets (twin OHC engine) and the crank sprocket are of the "free", unkeyed type so a very slight difference in positioning is entirely possible. Then again the new tyres may not be as free running as the original Bridgestone Ecos - but I couldn't care less as the new tyres feel Sooo much better. Bags more grip in the corners on the very wet and twisty A702 on the way down through the borders to the M74 and even on the motorway they felt considerably more "sure footed". Of course this is the first long journey we've done on E10 petrol so maybe it's just that? I'll never know for sure as too many things were changed before the trip, and actually if I'm coming out at 58.7 instead of 60 mpg I couldn't care less!
The really big downside was that I decided to go with the old battery in place. I'd been aware that the old battery has been giving moderately low standing voltage readings for some months. Around 12.3/12.4 around Christmas time dropping to 12.0 to 12.1 a couple of days before we went. In years gone by I would have just seen one of my friends or bought a new one from the likes of Tayna but the problem with this one is it's not only a stop/start but also does "intelligent" charging - all controlled by an ECU. When you renew the battery, and of course it's not just a simple and cheap old type flooded cell battery, Oh no, it's an Enhanced Flooded jobbie isn't it! The ECU has to be "informed" (they call it coding) that a new battery has been fitted so that it resets all it's controlling parameters. If you don't do this the charging rate will be incorrect and can damage the new battery whilst at the same time stuff like stop/start may not work. I'd discovered that my VCDS (VAG-COM) can do this but I don't actually know how to use it to do this. or you need the main agent with the dealer tool. Of course the codes you need (BEM codes) to enter are only included in a sticker on a new VAG supplied battery so you have to buy a genuine VAG product. £255 in this case but that does include fitting and coding and then checking for any stored codes. They were also kind enough to check, FOC, for any software updates which might not be loaded due to me doing my own servicing so it's not been near an agent's Computer in over 3 years now. In the event she was actually fully up to date. Most expensive battery I've ever bought by a long way, but, ah well, it's done now so I should have another 6 or more years to find out how to use my VCDS to do it and to investigate if there are ways round it - and apparently there are. Not surprisingly the dealer, Croyde Motors, strongly advised against this saying they've rescued a number of people who have tried to do this coding procedure themselves - but then I suppose they would wouldn't they? In their defence I have to say they were very helpful and friendly. Attended to my emergency the very next day and let me into the workshop to speak with the mechanic who did the job. Definitely good people if you've got a SEAT or SKODA in trouble on your holidays in North Devon. Thank goodness I decided to take my CTEK charger which managed to wake up enough "Go" in the old battery to get her started for the trip to the dealer. Close examination of the new battery reveals that although strongly branded as a Volkswagen product it's actually a Varta. I'm happy with that as Varta seems to be one of the better battery makers?
Of course we were in the Ibiza - I'm sure Becky would have made it but the Ibiza is so much better for this sort of thing, and has cruise control. A few weeks before this I'd commissioned AVW to do a cam belt kit on the Ibiza (Twinkle) which seems to have been done well as I notice absolutely no difference in performance compared to before it was changed. I'd also, of course, had 4 new tyres fitted - the Falkens I've written about elsewhere.
I always keep a fuel consumption record on these longer journeys. I do this by zeroing the trip immediately after filling the tank and I fill the tank in the same way every time. I make a point of filling up on a completely flat forecourt and filling to the second automatic cut off "click". Then, next time I fill up I do exactly the same - flat forecourt and fill to the second "click". I note the mileage showing on the trip and record the amount of fuel to fill. We've done this journey on average 2 times a year since I bought the car new in early 2016 - but not, of course, during the covid restrictions. So probably 6 or seven trips before the covid and now this one post covid. On the pre covid trips she's come out at almost exactly 60 mpg every single time - with hardly even half an MPG difference. This time she did 58.7 MPG on the way down - and it was a good trip with no holdups at all so I was expecting the 60 mpg again. The trip back up was awful with two really big traffic jams in the midlands standing still and 1st gear only for several miles each time and even when you got rolling the traffic was so heavy you were continually speeding up and slowing down to maintain position with surrounding traffic. Fuel consumption? 53.88 mpg and I'm surprised it wasn't worse! Obviously the figure for the journey back north is meaningless due to the conditions but the difference in the figure for the southerly journey is interesting. Could be due to a very slight difference in timing - both the cam sprockets (twin OHC engine) and the crank sprocket are of the "free", unkeyed type so a very slight difference in positioning is entirely possible. Then again the new tyres may not be as free running as the original Bridgestone Ecos - but I couldn't care less as the new tyres feel Sooo much better. Bags more grip in the corners on the very wet and twisty A702 on the way down through the borders to the M74 and even on the motorway they felt considerably more "sure footed". Of course this is the first long journey we've done on E10 petrol so maybe it's just that? I'll never know for sure as too many things were changed before the trip, and actually if I'm coming out at 58.7 instead of 60 mpg I couldn't care less!
The really big downside was that I decided to go with the old battery in place. I'd been aware that the old battery has been giving moderately low standing voltage readings for some months. Around 12.3/12.4 around Christmas time dropping to 12.0 to 12.1 a couple of days before we went. In years gone by I would have just seen one of my friends or bought a new one from the likes of Tayna but the problem with this one is it's not only a stop/start but also does "intelligent" charging - all controlled by an ECU. When you renew the battery, and of course it's not just a simple and cheap old type flooded cell battery, Oh no, it's an Enhanced Flooded jobbie isn't it! The ECU has to be "informed" (they call it coding) that a new battery has been fitted so that it resets all it's controlling parameters. If you don't do this the charging rate will be incorrect and can damage the new battery whilst at the same time stuff like stop/start may not work. I'd discovered that my VCDS (VAG-COM) can do this but I don't actually know how to use it to do this. or you need the main agent with the dealer tool. Of course the codes you need (BEM codes) to enter are only included in a sticker on a new VAG supplied battery so you have to buy a genuine VAG product. £255 in this case but that does include fitting and coding and then checking for any stored codes. They were also kind enough to check, FOC, for any software updates which might not be loaded due to me doing my own servicing so it's not been near an agent's Computer in over 3 years now. In the event she was actually fully up to date. Most expensive battery I've ever bought by a long way, but, ah well, it's done now so I should have another 6 or more years to find out how to use my VCDS to do it and to investigate if there are ways round it - and apparently there are. Not surprisingly the dealer, Croyde Motors, strongly advised against this saying they've rescued a number of people who have tried to do this coding procedure themselves - but then I suppose they would wouldn't they? In their defence I have to say they were very helpful and friendly. Attended to my emergency the very next day and let me into the workshop to speak with the mechanic who did the job. Definitely good people if you've got a SEAT or SKODA in trouble on your holidays in North Devon. Thank goodness I decided to take my CTEK charger which managed to wake up enough "Go" in the old battery to get her started for the trip to the dealer. Close examination of the new battery reveals that although strongly branded as a Volkswagen product it's actually a Varta. I'm happy with that as Varta seems to be one of the better battery makers?
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Absolutely. Us old ones must keep going! I've seen too many of my older workmates, when they've retired, spending their lives at the golf club or bowling club and propping up the bar with a pint in their hand. Then, before you know it, we're all up at the crematorium, saying good bye to them. Not for me. I can't drink alcohol because of a big tummy op I had some years ago so I feel awkward at these clubs because I'm on the orange juice - and anyway I'm not a Golf or Bowls man so don't really fit in to their conversations. So instead, on most days, I walk. Today I went over the park, up through the new houses on the other side, round by the old school and back to the other side of the park. Then took a right after the wooden bridge to walk down by the Water Of Leith and past the weir then into the other park at the top of Newhaven, right round the outside of the park and back up the road to home. A leisurely hour and a half, or a little less if I stride out. I'm very lucky in that there are several different walks I can do around here - one going through the Edinburgh Royal Botanical Gardens which is just lovely and one, through another park and then down to the wee fishing village of Newhaven - which today doesn't have so many fishing boats anymore but is still a nice walk. I absolutely love my walks, listening to the birds, the water in the river and sea, the changing seasons - all the cherry trees are in bloom just now. I've often thought if I just "drop" whilst on one of my walks it wouldn't be a bad way to go! Hopefully not for a wee while yet though!
It's fine...just make sure the microwave is pre-installed in the boot of the car ready to go to the tip.
Well, Moderna did it to me again! Got the injection mid to late morning on the Wednesday. Sore upper arm but not much else and felt fine for most of Thursday. Early evening suddenly, over the period of about half an hour, realized I'd got a "serious headache and about an hour later I was feeling shivery and quite "peely wally". Took some meds and went to bed in the spare room, fell asleep almost immediately. Woke around 1.30 am in a muck sweat, absolutely dripping but the headache seemed to have gone. Threw all the covers off and went back to sleep. Woke again at around 5.00 am absolutely frozen because I was on top of all the covers (we don't run the central heating through the night). Realized I was feeling very much better though so just pulled all the covers back over me and went back to sleep. Finally woke properly at about 8.45 am this morning, had a shower and now feeling fine if a little tired still. We've done a big Lidl shop in Becky and walked to the library and back and I'm completely back to normal now.
Strange isn't it - 2 Pfizer jags for our originals which didn't give Mrs J any reaction at all and only a very slight discomfort for a few hours to me. Then Mrs J got the Pfizer again for her booster and had, again, no measurable reaction. I was given the Moderna for my first booster because I had to go to a different centre, and it really knocked me over. This latest 2nd booster was also a Moderna and again I had a bad reaction, but not really as bad as the first Moderna. Mrs J is not yet 75 so they won't give her a second booster yet - I did ask even if it meant me paying for it, but "computer says NO"!
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Going to the King's Lynn Adrian Flux Arena with a good mate for the 1st time in nearly 3 years. A damn good banger meet! 
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Panda passed its mot. Garage announced this as if it would be a surprise. As a car thats had 3 services in 12000 miles and has been so little used it barely needs its 3rd wash I have to say I hope they didnt want me to jump about with glee. Its clearly an amzing thing this TA. It burns petrol but has 0.00% Carbon Monoxide emissions. must all be CO2! How convenient for the government. Or perhaps this scientific marvel is the result of Euro 6..... or may be its just black magic.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
my computer is oin the blink. I saw a local firm today and the chap inspired me with his straight talking. He reckons 90£ plus laf an hour to fix it. Shame its going to be 250 to repair the wifes one with a cracked touch screen. But a replacement for mine would have been nearly 700 with vouchers and offers so overall a smile.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
rain! i think the first since march. I ve been moving water from the back of the house to the front where the water butts fill slower. its astonishing how the crops around us have grown in just 24 hours. this is the driest spell we hae had at this time of year in the 33 years we have lived here.
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My sister-in-law's late 80s Uno had to be crushed under the Italian scrappage scheme where cars older than a certain date were all deemed too dirty to use. Yet, every roadworthy (revisione) test on that car found the exhaust so clean the tester could not get a reading. He had to use his own (much newer) car exhaust as the test would not proceed without a numeric value.
First trip up to Scotland (just) in a 2.5 years cracking day for it.
Not been up the road for a long time...A1 was exactly like I remember so annoying above Alnwick but spectacular for fuel consumption travelling along at 50 ish in a slow moving queue.
Had to behave on the way back though...deeply tempted to swing towards Bamburgh on the way back and then travel down the coast via Craster, Alnmouth, Amble etc but was already getting on and toddler..Next time I suppose.
Not been up the road for a long time...A1 was exactly like I remember so annoying above Alnwick but spectacular for fuel consumption travelling along at 50 ish in a slow moving queue.
Had to behave on the way back though...deeply tempted to swing towards Bamburgh on the way back and then travel down the coast via Craster, Alnmouth, Amble etc but was already getting on and toddler..Next time I suppose.
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While most of the country was watching Eurovision, me and a friend were watching... A banger racing DVD, lol! 
Started watching the song contest with great enthusiasm but lost interest by around 10pm and went to bed. Very pleased to see Ukraine won not so much because I liked the song but because of the solidarity it demonstrates for them enduring such an appalling situation. Pleased also to see Britain came runner up. I do so hope this has some effect on the dismal image of our country on the continent post brexit.
I didn't watch the contest but do hope you saw Norways entry.
I've seen this by virtue of it being so ridiculous it was vaguely famous in it's own right.
If not..
So awful it's amazing.
Not today but two days ago and still smugly smiling about it! So what am I talking about? Well, as I think I've mentioned before, my younger boy has his own wee signwriting business and, although he specializes in vehicles - vans etc, he does a wide range of other "stuff" too. When doing this he's in and out of commercial premises and industrial estates quite a lot and seems to pick up punctures with depressing regularity, in fact I've never known anyone who gets more punctures than him! Many of these punctures are slow punctures so some years ago I gave him one of those electric tyre inflators which has let him pump the tyre up so he can get easily to the nearest tyre store without the hassle of clearing most of his gear out of the back so he can access his spare, change it with the punctured one and then put everything back in the boot (Astra Estate). This inflator has seen a lot of use and is now not working due to the adaptor plug not working - I can probably fit a new plug but how much longer it may last for is anyone's guess.
However I noticed last week Aldi were advertising a Ring tyre inflator for £19.99. Hmm, Ring, big name in auto electricals no? probably a good buy then? I'm sure it would do him just fine. So off I went last Thursday - the day they were advertised to be on sale - but no! Sorry sir, we haven't received any stock of that item. As I was talking to the member of staff another staff member overheard us and said "There's a box of them under the No1 till". So off we went, and there was a whole box of tyre inflators there. Unfortunately they were not the current offer (stock left unsold from a previous promotion) and they weren't branded Ring but Auto XS:
So, feeling rather disappointed I said "no thanks" and went home (all of 15 minutes away in the car). Then I rang up Aldi's free helpline to try to find out if any of the other 4 of their stores in the Edinburgh area had stock, but they (the helpline) don't hold stock records and can't ring individual stores for you (Aldi don't list store phone numbers). Feeling a little deflated (pun intended, ha ha) I decided to look up the Auto XS inflator on line to try to find who makes it as I'd noticed that the buttons and digi display looks very similar to the Ring item. I couldn't really find anything about who makes it but, found they had been selling it at the same £19.99 price point. Then, looking at it I came across an Aldi add showing it at £14.99! I think they must have reduced it towards the end of the offer. Hmm? I thought, probably worth it at that price even if it's of a slightly inferior quality?
Decided to take a walk to their store as part of my daily exercise and bumped into the same staff member who originally helped me. "Could I take a better look at one of those pumps you found for me"? It looked as good as you would expect:
so I asked if it would still be the original £19.99 or the later £14.99 I'd seen on the internet. "Let's scan it and see" she said. Came up £12.99! Wow! Yes please I'll take it. Went to the tills thinking "I bet this comes up at £19.99" but no, it came up £12.99 - I was ever so pleased!
Got home and thought "I'd better try it out just to be sure it's working" so connected it up to Becky's tyre valve and learned how to do the pressure presetting etc - all working fine. Then, as I was putting it back in it's box I noticed the warranty sheet and guess where you have to send it for a warranty claim/service? Yes, you guessed it, RING!
What a result, I'm feeling quite disproportionately pleased with this purchase and grinning from ear to ear! The only criticism I could level at it is the valve connector design which is of the screw on type:
which is not so easy to use as the more traditional lever type as it tends to lose a little air as you slacken it so it's slightly more difficult to exactly "hit" a particular pressure. I see most of these devices at the cheaper end of the range are tending to use this design of connector though - probably a few pence cheaper to make? I'm sure my boy will quickly come to terms with it.
However I noticed last week Aldi were advertising a Ring tyre inflator for £19.99. Hmm, Ring, big name in auto electricals no? probably a good buy then? I'm sure it would do him just fine. So off I went last Thursday - the day they were advertised to be on sale - but no! Sorry sir, we haven't received any stock of that item. As I was talking to the member of staff another staff member overheard us and said "There's a box of them under the No1 till". So off we went, and there was a whole box of tyre inflators there. Unfortunately they were not the current offer (stock left unsold from a previous promotion) and they weren't branded Ring but Auto XS:
So, feeling rather disappointed I said "no thanks" and went home (all of 15 minutes away in the car). Then I rang up Aldi's free helpline to try to find out if any of the other 4 of their stores in the Edinburgh area had stock, but they (the helpline) don't hold stock records and can't ring individual stores for you (Aldi don't list store phone numbers). Feeling a little deflated (pun intended, ha ha) I decided to look up the Auto XS inflator on line to try to find who makes it as I'd noticed that the buttons and digi display looks very similar to the Ring item. I couldn't really find anything about who makes it but, found they had been selling it at the same £19.99 price point. Then, looking at it I came across an Aldi add showing it at £14.99! I think they must have reduced it towards the end of the offer. Hmm? I thought, probably worth it at that price even if it's of a slightly inferior quality?
Decided to take a walk to their store as part of my daily exercise and bumped into the same staff member who originally helped me. "Could I take a better look at one of those pumps you found for me"? It looked as good as you would expect:
so I asked if it would still be the original £19.99 or the later £14.99 I'd seen on the internet. "Let's scan it and see" she said. Came up £12.99! Wow! Yes please I'll take it. Went to the tills thinking "I bet this comes up at £19.99" but no, it came up £12.99 - I was ever so pleased!
Got home and thought "I'd better try it out just to be sure it's working" so connected it up to Becky's tyre valve and learned how to do the pressure presetting etc - all working fine. Then, as I was putting it back in it's box I noticed the warranty sheet and guess where you have to send it for a warranty claim/service? Yes, you guessed it, RING!
What a result, I'm feeling quite disproportionately pleased with this purchase and grinning from ear to ear! The only criticism I could level at it is the valve connector design which is of the screw on type:
which is not so easy to use as the more traditional lever type as it tends to lose a little air as you slacken it so it's slightly more difficult to exactly "hit" a particular pressure. I see most of these devices at the cheaper end of the range are tending to use this design of connector though - probably a few pence cheaper to make? I'm sure my boy will quickly come to terms with it.
Yup, the Scandinavians have interesting tastes in music. I never knew they were so heavily into Heavy Metal until my oldest boy's band "Sons of Slaughter" after being a very "niche interest" here in Britain actually made it quite big over there. Search "Sons of Slaughter" on you tube if you want to be deafened and depressed!
Did you see Rasmus effort?:
A bit more tuneful?
I found out that I can still ride a bicycle yesterday, and not too badly, either. A bunch of like minded idi..er, nutt...er... individuals met up in Oak Park, Illannoy, a Chicago suburb. Oak Park was more or less the stomping grounds of American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, and there are many homes designed by him in this locale.
The ride is advertised as a 'Tweed Ride', kind of a British themed affair, though there was a great mixture of Sheffield Steel and American Iron. And it was also hot and humid, so cotton was a much better choice than tweed.
.
My highly modified 1954 Robin Hood on the back of the Russian Mini-Tractor.
700c Alesa rims, 2-speed fixed gear hub, Tange fork, Fulgar front drum brake. Rides and handles sooooo much better than some of my old Raleigh Sports.
Some of the nutters in front of one of Frankie's homes.
One of the stops was at Barnard's Schwinn, one of the oldest bike shops in the Chicago area. That's my rig in front.
I participated as a favor to a friend who set this ride up. I'm not a fan of group rides or city riding but I survived. Truth be told, the ride back home on the Ural was rougher. It took me an hour to ride 13 miles because of traffic. And I've spent so much time in the sun these past two weeks that, intead of looking like a pasty white Norwegian, I'm looking more like my Native American cousins.
The ride is advertised as a 'Tweed Ride', kind of a British themed affair, though there was a great mixture of Sheffield Steel and American Iron. And it was also hot and humid, so cotton was a much better choice than tweed.
.
My highly modified 1954 Robin Hood on the back of the Russian Mini-Tractor.
700c Alesa rims, 2-speed fixed gear hub, Tange fork, Fulgar front drum brake. Rides and handles sooooo much better than some of my old Raleigh Sports.
Some of the nutters in front of one of Frankie's homes.
One of the stops was at Barnard's Schwinn, one of the oldest bike shops in the Chicago area. That's my rig in front.
I participated as a favor to a friend who set this ride up. I'm not a fan of group rides or city riding but I survived. Truth be told, the ride back home on the Ural was rougher. It took me an hour to ride 13 miles because of traffic. And I've spent so much time in the sun these past two weeks that, intead of looking like a pasty white Norwegian, I'm looking more like my Native American cousins.
