lulubel
Über Member
- Location
- Malaga, Spain
Improved fitness, presumably, which happens when you exercise regardless of age.
Will I get anywhere?
- Thread starter enitharmon
- Start date
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Improved fitness, presumably, which happens when you exercise regardless of age.
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
^^ What Lulubel said.
- Location
- Glasgow
Haven't you heard? Life starts at 50!
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enitharmon
Regular
- Location
- Lancashire-over-the-Sands
That's fine, I'm not afraid of taking a bike apart, used to do it a lot in my teens.
Did I mention that in those days I had dreams of being a track cyclist? Didn't need quite the highly-specialist kit in those days and the local track was a banked tarmac strip around the edge of a cinder running track but I was saddled with risk-averse, over-protective parents who adamantly refused to have a bike with so much as drop bars. I got my thrills instead by taking my four-gear donkey bike to the highest point in town and pedalling furiously into the valley below. No helmet of course. Oops! But I got away with it, time after time.
Ah! I meant to ask you about that! Forgive me not knowing the right terminology but when changing up the sprockets on the crank it generally takes a bit of jiggling the lever to get the chain to shift. Changing down isn't a problem. The sprockets on the back wheel seem to be ok.
A customised jalopy! I like the idea.
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enitharmon
Regular
- Location
- Lancashire-over-the-Sands
Oi, watch it chuck, I'm not decrepit you know!
[FX: vigourously slaps RideLikeTheStig]
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Excellent! Really the main thing you'll find has changed fairly recently is that current bikes need more special tools. If removing the cranks to service a bottom bracket you'll need a crank extractor and if you decide to fit a cartridge bottom bracket you'll need a bottom bracket tool. They don't have to be from Halfords - just examples.
For this, if it is happening changing up to the middle and big rings I'd suspect the cable is just out of adjustment. There is a barrel adjuster on the left shifter which will need to be turned anti-clockwise (looking from the cable side) until it shifts properly.
If it is just happening changing up to the big chain ring I'd suspect the high limit screw on the front derailleur needs adjusting. If this is the case, there are two screws which are marked L & H on the front derailleur. Tweak the "H" one so that the derailleur can move further away from the frame (anti-clockwise again I think). Be aware not to over-adjust it as the chain may shift too far, which is irritating.
I don't feel like a bike really belongs to me until I've modified it to my own taste.
Haven't you heard? Life starts at 50!
Thats what they say, but in reality it ends at 50 for most
Well neither was I until you done that
.
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enitharmon
Regular
- Location
- Lancashire-over-the-Sands
He's a glutton for punishments isn't he!Thats what they say, but in reality it ends at 50 for most
[FX: vigorously slaps RideLikeThe Stig]
- Location
- Glasgow
yes, me too, batter him on the head, even though I'm only 49 and a halfHe's a glutton for punishments isn't he!
[FX: vigorously slaps RideLikeThe Stig]
: RideLikeTheStig: 
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enitharmon
Regular
- Location
- Lancashire-over-the-Sands
Well, one week on and I DID IT!
It wasn't part of my plan. My plan was to have a short run out to Roa Island, which is pretty flat for most of the way and mainly on off-road paths (the one called "The Greenway" shortly to be renamed "The Overgrown Way"). When I ran out of cycle path at the Concle in Rampside it was sunny and warm and still and I had a rush of blood to the head, not turning right for the causeway to Roa (which isn't terribly exciting unless you like a preponderance of sailing folk) but turning left and before long I was bowling along the Coast Road. By the time I was tacking the nasty little hills either side of Baycliff if it was hardly worth turning back (and of course where there's a long upwards gradient there's liable to be a long downward gradient on the other side. Which I made the most of, although it's a bit deflating when you are pedalling furiously in the highest gear you have down the hill only to see someone barely breaking sweat as he sails by on a road bike. (FX: Jumps up and down excitedly shouting "Snot Fair, I wanna do that!").
My thighs were weary by the time I reached central Ulverston so I stopped for a breather and refreshment before contemplating why Ulverston sucks big-time as a destination for an out-and-back ride; it's set in a bowl in the hills and all its sides not bordering Morecambe Bay are accessed in a severely upward manner. Once up there on the spine of Low Furness the lanes make good cycling and nobody is looking if I get off and push up the hills and freewheel down them. Returning to Barrow this way is a delight (or would be a delight if it weren't for all the traffic lights and the idiots who park in the cycle lane) being 5km almost all down hill.
There has to be a snag, doesn't there? I had a flat rear tyre; especially annoying as this is the new inner-tube I bought last weekend. So I had to push for the last 10km. Bugger, it would have been a grand day out with 40km of cycling in warm sunshine. At last this summer I am burnt on the legs and have a nice lycra line,
Did I overdo it? I think maybe not. I was very tired on the homeward leg and yes, perhaps I did overreach myself but that is cancelled out by the sense of achievement. Tomorrow is a rest day, maybe Sunday should be too – what do you think?
- Location
- Glasgow
Well done, Enith! You already reached your first target!
It took me a month of Google maps before I had the courage to set out for my first target, a mere 10 miles up the road
Yes, you should rest tomorrow. On Sunday, you should practice inner tube replacing on the go or, even better, search for "slime" for your tyres.
I had a puncture today about 5 miles from home, it self sealed, pumped it up a couple of times, got home no probs.
It took me a month of Google maps before I had the courage to set out for my first target, a mere 10 miles up the road
Yes, you should rest tomorrow. On Sunday, you should practice inner tube replacing on the go
or, even better, search for "slime" for your tyres.I had a puncture today about 5 miles from home, it self sealed, pumped it up a couple of times, got home no probs.
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Well done on getting to Ulverston.
Shame about the puncture though.
Getting somewhere for the first time under your own power is a great feeling and one that I can relate to as I never thought I'd end up here by bike:
(I took the picture, My brother Doug is on the left and Gavgav of this parish is on the right. We did a circular tour to Lakeside from Bowmanstead, near Coniston - possibly their biggest ride so far.)
Shame about the puncture though.Getting somewhere for the first time under your own power is a great feeling and one that I can relate to as I never thought I'd end up here by bike:
(I took the picture, My brother Doug is on the left and Gavgav of this parish is on the right. We did a circular tour to Lakeside from Bowmanstead, near Coniston - possibly their biggest ride so far.)
Pedal pusher
Veteran
- Location
- Alloa
Can I just say how much I have enjoyed reading this thread go enitharmon and big up the over 50s
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enitharmon
Regular
- Location
- Lancashire-over-the-Sands
May I point out that this rather portly over-50 is hoping to small down.
dslippy
Member
- Location
- Brighouse, West Yorkshire
Ii do not know about the cycling, but beautifully written.
