December 18th – On the way to an important breakfast meeting in Brum’s Business District, 7:30am. Half way up Moor Street Queensway, one of my brake pads disintegrates in use.
I had thought the calliper had burst, but luckily, the pad just delaminated.
Nothing for it but to effect a running repair – in rubber gloves on the central reservation. In the rain.
The view was good, though.
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June 2nd – A ride that turned out nothing like it was meant to, but still very good. First weekend of June is always the steam fair at Klondyke Mill in Draycott in the Clay, near Sudbury, so in the afternoon, I was headed there.
Coming down a long hill far side of Yoxall on the A515, the return spring in the front brake calliper overheated, buckled and bound in the disk.
It came out after a struggle lasting well over an hour – thankfully, patience and care meant neither the calliper nor disc were seriously damaged, and I had spare pads and a spring. But it meant I was far to late to justify the entrance fee to the fair, so I went to Sudbury, had a pint in a lovely beer garden, then explored Scropton, Hatton and the Dove Valley on a beautiful summer evening.
It was 55 miles, and not a bad ride overall.
June 11th – A terrible end to a ride that started really well. I headed out in sunshine to visit a new coffee shop in Stowe by Chartley, run by a local lad. I headed up over Chasewater, up through Cannock and was just running down Abraham’s Valley on the Chase when a critical part of my drivetrain failed irreparably and I had to call for a lift home.
You can’t prepare for all eventualities, and some things can’t be fixed out on the road, but I felt cheated as I’d had a great ride, seen orchids and red deer, blue skies and The Chase was gorgeous.
It was sad to fail so unceremoniously and I felt irritated and cross at not spotting the issue in advance.
The bike was soon fixed at home and I cursed myself continually while effecting the repair.
Ah well, there will be other sunny days, and the Chase will still be there next week. Keep the coffee pot warm for me.
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