Pic of the Day

Nicho

Captain Caption
Subscriber
Jan 4, 2020
1,048
1,923
Furness, South Cumbria.
goat bike.png
 

RustyMTB

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Jul 22, 2020
2,848
6,891
UK
I'm back! Three weeks after eye surgery, been gagging for a ride & bored stiff without riding. Anyhoo, this, believe it or not is the entrance to a cold war nuclear bunker. In the 2nd picture, it's by the radio masts you can just make out at the top of the picture. People have explored it & amazingly, the lights inside still work.
GSYIA84XEAA0B1r.jpg
GSYIBGaW0AAGK3e.jpg
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
9,004
9,423
Lincolnshire, UK
I broke two phones by keeping them in my trouser pocket. I started keeping my phone in my backpack. Nice and safe, but what a pain when it's photograph time or when I get a call. Now in my chest pocket, but this time I have a very tough extra case and an especially tough screen protector. It's been 4 months and so far...... (I don't want to jinx it!) :)
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
9,004
9,423
Lincolnshire, UK
I went out for a local ride today, no car involved. A very nice first 12 miles ensued along various bridleways. I stopped in a small village called Westborough. It is a cul-de-sac with no through traffic, so it's very quiet. Bearing in mind the problems I'd had with my mech clogging with vegetation I stopped at the old cross in the centre of the village to clear out the grass I'd picked up. I must have done something wrong, because as I set off, the chain, mech and cassette collided and bent the mech into the cassette. (How is that even possible?).

Mech1a.jpg


I unbolted the mech from the mech hanger, but the chain was jammed between it and the cassette, so the chain had to come off as well. I couldn't undo the magic link, so I had to break the chain. The mech was that bent that I couldn't unclamp the gear cable, so I had to cut the cable. Once the mech was off and in my hands I could see how badly it was bent.

Mech 1b.jpg


I coiled the chain and put it in my backpack along with the mech and then looked forward (not) to my 3.5 mile walk home.

The village cross made a useful workstand! The stone cross went missing many, many years ago, the base that you can see here was refurbished about 100 years ago, according to an elderly resident I chatted to last year. The steps were crawling with black ants, so my backpack was only put there for the photo.

Mech 2a.jpg


As for the trip home, I could stick to tarmac and it would be 4 miles, or I could do my planned route along the river bank, 3.5 miles, or take the direct route across the fields 2.5 miles. Ignoring the tarmac option, I hobby-horsed my way out of the village to the bridge over the river and made my final choice. The fields looked dry(ish), so I opted for the direct route, which was a public footpath across the farmed fields, with unplanted areas left for walkers. Unfortunately one of the fields along the way was flooded, so I made my way around the edge of the flooded bit. You should appreciate that this is Lincolnshire in England and it is known for its heavy clay soil! After about 200 yards, my boots each weighed a ton and my bike wheels stopped rotating. I had to carry the bike and the mud another 200 yards to get to the next field, access via a small bridge.

Mech 2b.jpg


You can see where various walkers had scraped their boots on the bridge railings. I had to scout around for a stick to scrape the mud from the wheels, but would you believe it there were none! So I had to break one off from the Hawthorne hedge nearby. Mud removal took quite a while, the clay was just like the sort of stuff that pots are made from, only thicker and stickier! It loves rubber tread!

It took me over 20 mins to get both wheels scraped clean enough to go under the mucky nutz with some extra space for contingecies. See below.

Mech 4a.jpg


It occurred to me at about this point that if I'd opted for the tarmac route, I would have been home by now! šŸ˜Š

In the pic below, you can see where I'm going. I'm heading to the left of the shiny rooves. Right where the field track stops there is a kissing gate that only walkers and uni-cycles will pass through. The fences to the side were low enough for me to heave the bike over, just.
Mech 3a.jpg


Eventually I got to the last kissing gate and it was just too high for me to get the bike over. If I was absolutrely desperate, I would have lifted the bike and climbed over the gate, but this was the village where I live. Somebody would give me a helping hand. The first two people I rang went to voicemail. Then another Steve came walking by with his dog. 40+ years younger and he just lifted the bike up above his head and handed it over the fence to me. Gosh! Thank you Steve!

Mech 4b.jpg


Now I just have to get the bike clean, fit a new mech and gear cable and then see if I can straighten the damaged XT mech. Probably, but will it ever be the same? :unsure::whistle:
 

The Hodge

Mystic Meg
Subscriber
Sep 9, 2020
3,955
8,436
North West Northumberland
I went out for a local ride today, no car involved. A very nice first 12 miles ensued along various bridleways. I stopped in a small village called Westborough. It is a cul-de-sac with no through traffic, so it's very quiet. Bearing in mind the problems I'd had with my mech clogging with vegetation I stopped at the old cross in the centre of the village to clear out the grass I'd picked up. I must have done something wrong, because as I set off, the chain, mech and cassette collided and bent the mech into the cassette. (How is that even possible?).

View attachment 143968

I unbolted the mech from the mech hanger, but the chain was jammed between it and the cassette, so the chain had to come off as well. I couldn't undo the magic link, so I had to break the chain. The mech was that bent that I couldn't unclamp the gear cable, so I had to cut the cable. Once the mech was off and in my hands I could see how badly it was bent.

View attachment 143967

I coiled the chain and put it in my backpack along with the mech and then looked forward (not) to my 3.5 mile walk home.

The village cross made a useful workstand! The stone cross went missing many, many years ago, the base that you can see here was refurbished about 100 years ago, according to an elderly resident I chatted to last year. The steps were crawling with black ants, so my backpack was only put there for the photo.

View attachment 143969

As for the trip home, I could stick to tarmac and it would be 4 miles, or I could do my planned route along the river bank, 3.5 miles, or take the direct route across the fields 2.5 miles. Ignoring the tarmac option, I hobby-horsed my way out of the village to the bridge over the river and made my final choice. The fields looked dry(ish), so I opted for the direct route, which was a public footpath across the farmed fields, with unplanted areas left for walkers. Unfortunately one of the fields along the way was flooded, so I made my way around the edge of the flooded bit. You should appreciate that this is Lincolnshire in England and it is known for its heavy clay soil! After about 200 yards, my boots each weighed a ton and my bike wheels stopped rotating. I had to carry the bike and the mud another 200 yards to get to the next field, access via a small bridge.

View attachment 143970

You can see where various walkers had scraped their boots on the bridge railings. I had to scout around for a stick to scrape the mud from the wheels, but would you believe it there were none! So I had to break one off from the Hawthorne hedge nearby. Mud removal took quite a while, the clay was just like the sort of stuff that pots are made from, only thicker and stickier! It loves rubber tread!

It took me over 20 mins to get both wheels scraped clean enough to go under the mucky nutz with some extra space for contingecies. See below.

View attachment 143974

It occurred to me at about this point that if I'd opted for the tarmac route, I would have been home by now! šŸ˜Š

In the pic below, you can see where I'm going. I'm heading to the left of the shiny rooves. Right where the field track stops there is a kissing gate that only walkers and uni-cycles will pass through. The fences to the side were low enough for me to heave the bike over, just.
View attachment 143972

Eventually I got to the last kissing gate and it was just too high for me to get the bike over. If I was absolutrely desperate, I would have lifted the bike and climbed over the gate, but this was the village where I live. Somebody would give me a helping hand. The first two people I rang went to voicemail. Then another Steve came walking by with his dog. 40+ years younger and he just lifted the bike up above his head and handed it over the fence to me. Gosh! Thank you Steve!

View attachment 143975

Now I just have to get the bike clean, fit a new mech and gear cable and then see if I can straighten the damaged XT mech. Probably, but will it ever be the same? :unsure::whistle:
No one ever said it would be easy ...šŸ˜‚
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
9,004
9,423
Lincolnshire, UK
Think how much fitter you are after today. šŸ‘
Fit for what though? It is embarrassing how much upper body strength I have lost in the last ten years, or have my bikes got heavier? .........Oh yes! :ROFLMAO:

I just Googled it and heavy clay soil is twice as heavy as water. ie 2kg per litre. or 124.8 pounds per cubic foot.
It felt heavier! :eek:

A few seconds on my calculator says that I weigh the same as 1.57 cubic feet of heavy clay soil! Yikes that is heavy!
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
9,004
9,423
Lincolnshire, UK
Something wasn't right before so replacing the XT mech would at least eliminate another problem area.
You are referring to the chain slipping under load on the 10t gear. Everything was checked and found to be OK. When the bike was reassembled everything WAS Ok. So I suspect that it had been a build-up of crushed vegetation in the mech that had been removed in cleaning. Even climbing uphill in Boost earlier today would not make it slip, so I reckon it was fixed! Until I broke it today. :giggle:
 

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