June 29th – Ever wondered what that hill was on the horizon? Find dioramas a bit hit and miss? There’s a great piece of software for your smartphone called Viewranger.
It’s actually a quite good 2d/3d mapping application, but has this great augmented reality feature where you hold it to a view with the camera and it labels what you can see.It’s quite remarkable, and that functionality is free, too!
It was great for the view from Morridge over the Roaches.
June 22nd – With the excellent weather we’ve been having, Friday night, post work rides into Brum have become a thing, it seems, and this evening I really needed it. Into the city by the main line from Darlaston to Great Bridge, then coffee, cake and out again vial Spaghetti Junction, Castle Bromwich and the Plats Brook/Newhall Valley cycleway – one of the finest, anywhere.
A lovely, gentle, restorative ride.
November 25th – A wee cycling tip for the road cyclists out there. I’ve recently had to replace my bike-mounted pump (I smashed the previous one when I came off on the ice a couple of weeks ago). One problem with frame mounted pumps is they accrue crud, so that when you come to use them, often they’re munged up.
One tip I pickled up off an old touring cyclist (if you use Presta or Woods valves) was the M5 screw in the pump head. Just take a 5mm metric screw, preferably stainless, and with the pump head relaxed open, it should be a comfortable push fit in the open port.
This stops water getting into the pump body and corroding it, and also stops mud getting in where it has to be removed and stands a change of buggering up the tyre valve. Easy to remove with a nail, blade or Allen key, this tip makes those uncomfortable roadside repairs a bit more bearable.
Cycling wisdom, right there.
June 29th – Some tools are small, cheap and indispensable, and this little red wonder is just such an item.
This is a Rixon & Kaul ‘Spokey’ spoke key. I’ve had a fair bit of trouble with broken spokes lately (due to damage, not bad wheels) and a good spoke key makes replacement much easier, as it did when I got home this evening.
This little tool costs about a fiver, and fits the spoke nipples positively, without damaging them, and provides a large, easy lever for gentle adjustment.
It’s also small and light enough to pop in the saddlebag toolkit for emergency adjustments on the road.
A real cycling design classic.
August 6th – This is in response to a recent request by top bloke and Brum social media whizz John Hickman. This is a saddlebag vomit.
Don’t be alarmed, is a meme, or idea carried from something common elsewhere – handbag vomit/daily carry – where someone posts pictures of what they carry in their bag daily.
Here, minus personal stuff like paperwork and work junk, is what I carry daily in my saddlebag. I regard these things as essential. I suspect some folk will find them surprising.
The items are, in roughly back to front order:
The tools and survival items have evolved over years and changes of bike. Surprisingly, this lot doesn’t weigh much and leaves plenty of space for the junk of the day and shopping if necessary.
Is this the geekiest saddlebag out there? What do you lot carry?
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 