First of all, sorry for the wait, but being laid low with that cold has meant not much of interest going on, and i couldn't even plug the gap with Mrs LDR's nuggets of wisdom as she has been a bit more sane than usual.
So, i can't remember if i've mentioned it before but down at Warwick on the Darling Downs there is a very active steam railway which runs a glorious old C17 locomotive to various towns around the region. The cyclists up in Stanthorpe race the train into town from about 20kms out and when i heard of that i took it to it's logical conclusion.
So, i can't remember if i've mentioned it before but down at Warwick on the Darling Downs there is a very active steam railway which runs a glorious old C17 locomotive to various towns around the region. The cyclists up in Stanthorpe race the train into town from about 20kms out and when i heard of that i took it to it's logical conclusion.
I'll be heading out that way again in a couple of months (and this time hopefully continuing through to Goondiwindi), but for now the focus is on Clifton. The plan had been to ride my 1965 Local Cycle Co. 3 speed from the coast down to Warwick today (310kms), race the train tomorrow morning before heading to Brisbane (~200kms) and then finally getting back to the coast on sunday (130kms). So a pretty solid itinerary, not helped in any way by having headwinds forecast for about 3/4 of it.
But no one ever got anywhere by being comfortable, so up i got at 3am, triple checked everything and set off. The second i was out of the driveway the wind made itself known and i suspected it was going to be a bloody long day.
The Local was running nicely though, or at least she was for the first few kms. And then the hub jumped out of gear without any warning. It happened another few times but i carried on, hoping it just needed a few kms to settle in after having had a strip down and rebuild.
She kept playing up though, and stopping a couple of times to check cable tension etc did nothing to help. Eventually after i had covered only 32kms i decided i had no choice but to turn back, and was thoroughly vindicated by some appalling behaviour from the hub on the return. I've ticked all the normal boxes, so it will need some careful investigation to find the source.
In the meantime the far more reliable Tom Wallace will be stepping up, and i am now driving down there. On the plus side, this means i will be able to take the Shiv with me and have a crack at reclaiming a Strava KOM in Warwick.
Fair Winds (and co-operative equipment),
LDR.