Watching the tour de France.

Posted on September 6, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bike, Bike frame, Car, Cycling, Exercise, Life, Memory, Tour de FranceLeave a comment

As an ex cyclist (I fractured my skull in an accident), I have to say how much I admire the cyclists in the tour. In my healthy days I could ride forty or fifty miles. Now I can’t even get on a bike. I’m old and creaky. I wish I could go back to the old days. I never raced but I did Marshall bike races occasionally. My hubby came third in a tricycle time trial. We used to enjoy touring. After the accident I cycled for a year, then the bike collapsed one day underneath me. It came apart, its brazing below the handlebars had been damaged and suddenly the front wheel was stretching away from me and the pedals cluncked onto the road. I got a car. Big mistake.

Watching the tour brings back those memories. I wich I still cycled.

Posted!

Posted on August 28, 2020August 28, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bike, Bike box, Bike frame, Box, Cardboard, Fragile, Heavy, Photo, Post officeLeave a comment

We posted a full size bike (minus its wheels), today. It was a racing bike, but with mudguards so we had to unscrew the back mudguard and twist it tound because it made the bike too long for the box. Then we rotated the handlebars downwards so they didn’t stick out at the side too much (we had tied then at 90 degrees to how they are when you ride) ideally we should have taken off the pedals but we roughly bubble wrapped. So the box is bulging… We also had to take off the saddle. The saddle stem is sticking up a bit so its covered in tape. The whole thing is a bit ramshackle.

Finally we shoved it in the car and drove round into town. We unloaded it out of the and started to carry it 100 yards and round the corner to the post office – which was closed and shuttered!!!!

Grr…. So we drove a few miles to another post office which was open. Bit of a bonus really, the original post office had quoted £30 for next day delivery. But this one quoted £16.50 for second class, arriving next Wednesday. Why not, cheaper and there is no rush.

Box

Posted on August 27, 2020August 27, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bicycle, Bike, Bike frame, Box, Life, Package, Post, Postage, Sending bikeLeave a comment

We contacted our local bike shop because my hubby wants to send his old bike frame to his brother so that it can be tidied up and restored a bit. If we were not nervous about going to visit hir brother, and they were not under a local lockdown, we would have taken it in the car. But no, we can’t travel there as we would not be allowed back!

So this is a HUGE box to put the frame in. It’s about six foot by four? It’s sitting in the living room because it’s too wet to pack it up at the moment. No doubt the cats will try and get in… Sending cats to Lancashire? Not likely!

Old bike spanner

Posted on August 1, 2020August 1, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bicycle tube, Bike, Bike tyre, Cycling, Memories, Old tools, Photo, Random, Rusty, Spanner, Tyre leaver2 Comments

Funny what you find in the drawer when you are looking for something else. Hubbies bike spanner for tightening up his nuts. It’s a little rusty but still useful. If you turn it nintey degrees it looks like a shocked face! Maybe even like the painting the scream! The other end of the spanner has a curve at the end. I think it is meant to be a tyre leaver to leaver off a bike tyre when changing a tube or repairing it.

I love the old worn look of this spanner, I guess it’s at least forty years old. Sometimes things get put away then turn up when you least expect it.

Vintage

Posted on June 21, 2020June 21, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Bicycle, Bike, Drawing, Ellipses, Fun, Mixtie frame, Red, Sketch, Ten speed, Urban sketchers Stoke on trent, Viking QueenLeave a comment

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This was today’s Urban sketchers challenge. Vintage.

My vintage Viking Queen mixtie bike.

Drawing this quickly it makes me realise how hard it is to draw accurate ellipses. This was the bike I bought a few pounds a week from Swinnerton cycles in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, forty years ago. I used it till I was knocked off and fractured my skull. I carried on riding it for a year, but it collapsed because the headset had been damaged in the crash. I took it to be mended and the shop lost the frame. I bought a new bike, but it was the wrong size for me. (my legs are slightly short). I ended up giving the new bike to a friend and learnt to drive. Big mistake. I got my old bike back rebraised about a year after I took it in to the shop. From then on I put on weight. I carried on cycling occasionally, but mainly used the car. The last time I rode my bike was about ten years ago. I’m scared to get back on it as my balance is not good. But I keep it, thinking one day I will have another go….

Motors on bikes

Posted on February 11, 2020February 11, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bike, Book, Brough Superior, Dynamo, History of Motorbikes, Moped, Motor, motor bike, Motorcycle, Running on front wheel, Technology, Vincent blackshadowLeave a comment

In the 1940’s and 50’s people started to motorise bicycles, This is an Auto cycle. Similar to how electrobikes are becoming popular today. The motor on this bike is mounted above the front wheel and runs on the tyre. There seems to be a hub brake at the centre of the wheel and what looks like a light that is running off the dynamo effect of the motor. Apparently it was a 50cc engine and ran on a 26:1 ratio of petrol to oil. I didn’t find out much more as I was looking at this picture upside down and couldn’t see the writing about it. These motorised bicycles then turned into mopeds in later years. The book isn’t my hubby’s. I think it’s called the History of Motorcycles, and also had details of many motorbikes including ones such as the Vincent Blackshadow and the Brough Superior which T E Laurence (Laurence of Arabia) was riding when he died in a motorbike accident.

Escher’ish’

Posted on November 1, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bike, Digital art, Digital drawing, Drawing, Escher, Favourite artist, Life, MemoryLeave a comment

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One of my favourite artists is Escher. His endless staircase and morphing fish into birds always intrigued me.

There is his self portrait which shows a hand holding a mirrored metallic globe. In it you see a bearded man. The image looks like a fisheye lens, the room around him is curved as the reflection follows the shape of the sphere. I think there are bookcases and stairs and windows reflected in it.

I only posted this because my drawing in homage to his came up on my Facebook memories today. It’s a digital drawing done on my Wacom tablet before my computer stopped working. That reminds me I must get it fixed……

Bread in common

Posted on September 6, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bike, Bread in common, Food, Friend, Lunch, Mediterranean, Olive oil, TasyLeave a comment

Went to Bread in Common in Hartshill today for lunch and to deliver an old bike that my hubby has done up for a friend. The sharing platter was great, it was sweet pepper, courgette, aubergine and a beef tomato all stuffed or covered with Mediterranean style brown rice. Also ciabatta bread with an olive oil and herb dip. Afters was a baked nectarine with yoghurt and fresh vanilla. It was delicious.

The friend was pleased with the bike despite my hubby forgetting the number to the combination lock, (he eventually remembered it). Im hoping all this nice food will help me get over my cold.

Canal bike (discarded)

Posted on August 29, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bike, Bike frame, Canal, Discarded, Etruria locks, Life, Rust, Tip, Trent and mersey, Waste10 Comments

We walked past this tonight at the canal workshops on the Trent and Mersey canal. Mostly rust, I was amazed that there was any paint left on it! The spokes have been cut off although the front wheel is still in place in its forks. One side of the handlebars has broken off completely. I wonder how it got in the canal? Was it stolen, was it thrown in because it could not be repaired? And was it dredged out of the canal or did a fisherman catch it by accident?

We will never know. Its not restorable so no doubt it will end up down the tip. Perhaps it will be melted down and turned into another bike frame.

Tour de France

Posted on July 15, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bike, Cycling, Exercise, France, Race, Tour de France, Yellow JerseyLeave a comment

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This time if year my hubby is glued to the TV for the tour. He watches it every year. For the last few years British riders have won but there is nothing to say it will happen this year. Chris Froome is out with a broken thigh and Geraint Thomas had a fall just before it started but he’s in the race.

The tour travels around France but often starts in different countries. They travel for three weeks. Climbing mountains and doing sprints, time trials and trying to win various jerseys. There is a polkadot Jersey for the best mountain rider, a green jersey for the fastest sprinter and the yellow Jersey is for the best overall rider and ultimately the winner. Who ever it is, as long as he is in the lead when the tour reaches Paris he is the winner. It is exciting to watch.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Bike