Challenge Met !!

Yes. Got there. I have cycled 5,000 kilometers in 2021.

Ride with GPS keeps a running total but must start with a week 1 which is the end of 2020 plus the first part of 2021. Why else would the running total say :

when the Goal which runs from 1 Jan to 31 Dec is a smaller figure.

Whatever, Challenge 2021 is done. What will I do for 2022? I will tell you next year!

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Bicycle Network Recumbent Ride 1

We met up at 10.30 – all 3 of us!

The rides were 2 Greenspeed Magnums and one very well home-built Cruzbike style 2 wheeler.

The route was for a 48 k roll through the Norfolk Plains

It was pretty windy out there though so 2 of us took a slightly shorter route while Rob cycled the complete 48k.

We didn’t know what the crop is but later found out it is camomile. I wonder how the crop is separated from all the grasses also growing amongst the camomile clumps.

We had a good example of canopy drag while descending one hill into a headwind. Colin and I began the descent together and by the bottom of the hill I was quite a way behind.

The best thing – the rail crossing has finally been rebuilt following the associated closing of the road for 3 days. It is really smooth to cross now.

I tried to get a look on day 3 but was turned back by a bloke in a ute who was “policing” the closure of the road.

Now to plan a route for Bicycle Network Recumbent Ride 2 in January.

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Bike E – Ernie

I think I left the story at a point of waiting for replacement PAS sensor parts and after Colin had muscled the Mountain Drive.

While waiting I decided to ride the bike unassisted by the hub motor and see if we had indeed fixed the slippage of the Mountain Drive (MD). I enjoyed a couple of rides finding the Bike E comfortable to pedal with the new gearing and no slipping. Perhaps also the old rear wheel was causing some drag as it’s certainly hard to feel any on Bike E now. That’s the bonus of using an electric hub motor – no drag when not turned on.

On the first ride though I lost a shift button off the MD. Obviously I hadn’t tightened the little grub screw properly with the el-cheapo 1.5mm Allen key. It gets round edges when used ! I have just taken delivery of a Park Tool set that includes a new 1.5mm key. The new key doesn’t round itself.

I did slowly re-cycle the route looking for the button as they are $12 each (plus postage). It is hidden well – not spotted. I now have only 1 spare.

The second ride was out to Bishopsbourne and the shift buttons stayed in place. The MD gives great gear ratios to get an old bloke like me up hills without too much puffing. The lowest gear is very low though so you are likely to wobble too much at the resulting slow speed but the gears from 3 up are very useable.

While riding I thought about the sensor problem. The parts supplied are for a standard diamond frame bike and the bottom bracket area is quite different on the Bike E.

I decided to play around with the parts I have just to see if I can work out a better way to set them up while the replacements are on their way. To do that I decided to use a material I can work with – wood! If I had a 3D printer that would be ideal but I don’t.

The disc with magnets (black disc above) was not sitting straight so I first made up a wooden spacer to hold the disc against the pedal. Then I used a wooden block cable-tied to the frame to hold the sensor. The distance from spacer to magnet is critical and this set up allowed me to try out positioning and spacing. After much mucking about – crikey – it’s working!

To check out the temporary PAS setup I rode Ernie out past Bishopsbourne on a 35k ride. This was the ride that took my annual total over the 5,000 k mark; a multi-purpose ride.

The bike went OK except that every now and again the motor went to sleep for a second to two. I reckon jolts from the road are moving the sensor slightly.

Overall, a success.

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It’s now time to enjoy the Christmas and New Year season.

I wish you all well, stay clear of Covid and I will be back in 2022.