Tales from today's commute....

[cyberknight]

getting sunnier this week, I finished last week in winter gear, if it keeps up like this Ill be full summer gear tomorrow

but the ride home was crazy, it went from 23 degrees sunny blue sky at lunchtime, to what felt like riding in storm force head winds and it was showering in spots too, cloudy overcast, but still quite warm, very confusing.

of course the forecast is now trending cold again so who knows, but might not even be able to ride my bike as I think Ive got a problem on it thats defying my attempts to fix it so far at least..

its hard to explain but the bike felt a bit odd on the way in, like Id got a bit of a slow rear puncture or something, or it just felt like the rear wheel was doing some odd things,wobbling abit maybe, but checked the pressures and everything and it seemed all ok

on the ride home it still felt a bit odd, but now Im dealing with this crazy head wind too, and it starts off ok but just the longer the ride, the worse the bike is getting,and the more it feels like Im riding through treacle, to the point near the end of the ride I was putting in so much effort to turn the pedals my knees were hurting with the strain, but I literally couldnt keep it moving much above 10mph and every strong gust of wind I was almost coming to a complete stop.

but just as I turn out of the wind and then suddenly the bikes way more responsive again, it still felt abit odd, but it was rideable again, and Im like that cant surely just have been that wind, there must be some mechanical thing going wrong here like the rear brake is kicking in, but Ive not solved it yet, it might be easier to just book into an LBS and get them to service it.

loose bearings in the hub causing play so the brakes are catching ?

 

[ianrauk]

Yep, who left the freezer door open this morning. 8° at 7am. But braved the shorts as there was no wind to bring the temps down further.
On the big boys very nice bestest bike Van Nicholas today as I'm cycling all the way home this afternoon and it's nice and dry on the roads.

 

[cyberknight]

Sounds like the HA are better than my council. I reported a shared path along the side of the A15 between Peterborough and Yaxley needed sweeped, it was full of glass and grit. The next day I got an email saying it was done. But the day after that it was just as bad as before (it had never been done). Now it's down to a narrow 0.5m gap between the glass on what is a relatively wide path and well used by walkers and joggers. No wonder most cyclists don't use it. If it was closer to the house I'd buy a broom and sweep it myself.

not much luck this time as they are saying the county council should deal with it and the council will say as its a major road its not their job if i remember from last time i tried .

 

[fossyant]

WFH, so did a lunchtime blast. About 4 minutes quicker than last week ! Sunny, but rather chilly in the wind - winter weight top on and I needed it.

MrsF wanted to go to the garden centre at lunch, but I said I was going for a ride. Good job really, as there was a bad car/van crash which would have meant being stuck in traffic both ways.

Still cordoned off when I came back. A car had gone straight into the front of a van, the road was wide, and the van was on the correct side of the road. Not near enough a junction either. Beggars belief.

 

[blackrat]

Sounds like the HA are better than my council. I reported a shared path along the side of the A15 between Peterborough and Yaxley needed sweeped, it was full of glass and grit. The next day I got an email saying it was done. But the day after that it was just as bad as before (it had never been done). Now it's down to a narrow 0.5m gap between the glass on what is a relatively wide path and well used by walkers and joggers. No wonder most cyclists don't use it. If it was closer to the house I'd buy a broom and sweep it myself.

"No wonder most cyclists don't use it."
Yup! So much for shared paths.

 

[blackrat]

Brrr, who turned off the heater and turned on the fan....?

May I say the temperature was 86F yesterday? 🌞

 

[blackrat]

getting sunnier this week, I finished last week in winter gear, if it keeps up like this Ill be full summer gear tomorrow

but the ride home was crazy, it went from 23 degrees sunny blue sky at lunchtime, to what felt like riding in storm force head winds and it was showering in spots too, cloudy overcast, but still quite warm, very confusing.

of course the forecast is now trending cold again so who knows, but might not even be able to ride my bike as I think Ive got a problem on it thats defying my attempts to fix it so far at least..

its hard to explain but the bike felt a bit odd on the way in, like Id got a bit of a slow rear puncture or something, or it just felt like the rear wheel was doing some odd things,wobbling abit maybe, but checked the pressures and everything and it seemed all ok

on the ride home it still felt a bit odd, but now Im dealing with this crazy head wind too, and it starts off ok but just the longer the ride, the worse the bike is getting,and the more it feels like Im riding through treacle, to the point near the end of the ride I was putting in so much effort to turn the pedals my knees were hurting with the strain, but I literally couldnt keep it moving much above 10mph and every strong gust of wind I was almost coming to a complete stop.

but just as I turn out of the wind and then suddenly the bikes way more responsive again, it still felt abit odd, but it was rideable again, and Im like that cant surely just have been that wind, there must be some mechanical thing going wrong here like the rear brake is kicking in, but Ive not solved it yet, it might be easier to just book into an LBS and get them to service it.

"..it might be easier to just book into an LBS and get them to service it."
It's what I do. I used to lay on the concrete squirming under my car to replace the brakes and the disc rotors and the plugs and adjust the timing and the exhaust system, etc. etc. I don't do any of that now, not on my cars nor on my bikes. There are experts who have the tools and the knowledge and the time who need the work more than I need the the hassle.

 

[HLaB]

Nothing much happened on my commute tonight. I doubled it from 4 miles to 8 and a bit miles but that's because I wanted to go by a route that mainly avoided traffic so I could chill.

 

[katiewlx]

loose bearings in the hub causing play so the brakes are catching ?

yes, and it would certainly fit with the way the bike felt to ride, as I was beginning to feel like the rear hub was just lunching itself, not that I could hear much grinding, but the road was so noisy and the wind I couldnt hear that much anyway, but it was just like it was running in glue that was setting hard, I need to get it on a stand this weekend see if I can sort it.