Changes and choices

I shy away from changes and choices.

After ignoring the message from  blogspot saying YOU NEED TO UPDATE I did the update which forced me to choose and change . This necessitated me spending a whole hour putting some stuff back and changing the layout.

There are too many choices but I preserved and what you see is what you get whether you or I like it or not.

Well now i have a search on the page, that is good.

If you don't like it I suggest you drink two glasses of wine and then read it.

West Meru Plateau

I was planning on a long slow road ride on Saturday but Thomas said lets do long slow mountain bike ride. We opted for over the West Meru Plateau , hoping that the rain last weekend had settled the dust. It looked good for the first section but once we got above Olmotonyi the main road was 6 inches of dust over loose gravel. We managed to find trails along side and other roads for most of the time, even riding on open forest without trails at times. This time we had clear veiws down once we got off the logging road.

There are several large peach orchards, just flowering now.

It is alot of climbing, from 1350m to 2800m. I couldnt keep up with Thomas nor Matt but didnt feel bad about it.

quite a bit of logging activity on top. No sign of elephants. Matt started to ask about "short cuts" down to the highway. Higher up in the moorland and heather there was no logging and the road was a mellow track. We turned the cornor and had some rolling riding and then it was downhill all the way to the highway Thomas crashed and burned and was covered in dust.

At the road we had a mechanical and Matt was wanting to hop a daladala bus. We knew the feeling, got him to drink a coke, eat, and then we rode together and he drafted right behind and recovered and we were home in another hour or so.

Fixed

I had to commute a few days on the mountain bike as the raleigh was broke, as I explained in my last post.

 In a few hours  I  had stripped everything off the frame. I noticed that the other chain stay had a small crack and checked the inside of the frame and there was no rust.  Pretty good for a 40 year old bike!

I put it over my shoulder and  took it to a friend with a metal shop on my route to work.   Hashim didn't have gas to braze but took it to someone who brazed and put on piece of pipe. I was appreciative because he knows about metals as he was trained in USSR in the 70's.  Everytime I talk to him he tells me something new about something.  He also helped me clean up the bottom bracket threads.

I spray painted the frame in places and spent a two hours putting everything back together.  I was proud how fast I could do it.  The hardest part was putting the wires for the back taillight.

In the picture you will notice the thicker part of the chainstays behind the bottom bracket.  Not aesthetic but what do you expect from a guy with mono eyebrow.

It rides okay. I lowered the front stem and put on the brooks saddle with the broken rail, which means the seat is a bit forward from before. I would prefer it to be more back but will live with it.

Busted

So I drug myself off the couch and went for a short ride, like 20km out and 20 back. Uneventful, same road as a million times before.  I almost fell asleep from boredom.
Someone in authority added more rumble strips and I was into a headwind coming home so Icouldn't jump them.  They are new and brutal.  The bike jumps all over .  About Ngaremtoni I go over one and suddenly the bike feels mushy.

I stop and check tyre pressure, wheel tightness, bearing play. Everything is okay. It still feels funny but I ride on. Then I notice a new clicking sound, and it is not in the drive train. I stop again. Can't find anything. Ride on.

While i am looking at the drive train while shifting I see the chain stay is cracked!   Not only cracked but broken clear through! (if you dont know what a chain stay is I attached picture at the bottom).


I notice that if I am pedaling it hold the pieces tightly together but if i coast it opens up and becomes mushy.

Damn rumble strips. I curse the fast reckless drivers who have caused TANROADS to put them in. I limp home and eventually use the service dirt road.



On the chainstay tube just where the gear teeth dissappear you see the break, although it looks like a crack.


It is slightly depressing and worrying. Is the frame rotted out? who will braze it? What will I commute on tomorrow?

Well at least I have something to blog about.

Confessions

I have 3 confessions today.

1) I haven't done a bike ride other than commuting in two weeks.

2) I don't always like change (at least in technology)

3) Technology often stumps me.

On the weekend I know I have to go for a ride , then I sit around putter around, try to think of a ride, feel guilty for not riding. Do you feel sorry for me yet.

About 2 and 3.
Blogspot wants us all to update to a new format
"

The old Blogger interface will be removed in the coming months. Upgrade Now."
( and then they say I could lose formatting and layout)

Anyone else tired of 'advances' in technology?

And now on this blog, it doesn't give me a place to go to the dashboard or icon to add a post. I have to go in through the building blog to post something.

I am going to ride my bike, on a road I have ridden 100's to times . Then I host Erik "mdogo" Zweig and "shady" Pete Oneal for another world problem solving session.