08th October 2024 - Wester Ross build - Caleb and Jamie - Recent addition to the stable for Caleb

This frame I picked up before Christmas last for my son Caleb who was 13 at the time.
He has really shot up as well as grown up the last couple of years to the point he is as tall as myself and had a few rides on my various retro rides and so I thought this would be a good thing for us to build together with him learning to do each bit of the build as we go. He already knows his way around the older steel bikes but this would be his, not one of mine, for him.
I also gave him a full Arabesque groupset, set of Mavic wheels, bars etc. Everything he should need and what we didn't have, or I didn't have we would source no problem.
So it sat waiting for him from Christmas through to the summer when it was toyed with a few times and due to being busy and Caleb riding my Jack Taylor as well as my Surly Pugsley over the spring/summer, he was in no great rush to build. He said he wanted to wait until he wasn't going to be rushed as it wasn't going anywhere so no rush.
Now, to the frame. It is # 192 built early in 1981 in Altbea just south of us here in Scotland. It is 49.5cm touring geometry.
I purchased the frame just before last Christmas for a very low price, and while it is solid and looks good, it does unfortunately have a very thick powder coat hiding a lot of that Wester Ross fine detail that we know is below.
We have sorted the wheels, seatpost, changed chainset, shifters, brakes a couple of times due to various little issues but are close to getting it ready to cable it up and test ride it.
So the basic plan is to get it riding and rolling nicely before the winter, give it a nice shakedown ride on the west coast from Ullapool or Gairloch to ride to it's birthplace at Altbea. The building where it was built is now the Arctic Convoy museum which is also special to Caleb as his great grandfather was a big part of the convoys.
Hopefully this will happen quite soon with school holidays starting next week.
Once everything rides and runs right Calebs plan is to then get it stripped and then nicely painted in the winter.

Information on these Wester Ross builds are hard to come by and with me buying it from a shop, Isambards, who didn't have any history for it, it wasn't looking too good for getting much.
Then, slowly, over time, through a few sources but mainly through the Wester Ross Cycles facebook group we have gathered far more than we could have hoped for a few months back, where at the time, a post I made asking if anyone had any information, was ominously quiet.
Slowly details started to immerge, first from John Connell's daughter Louise, confirming our thoughts of the frame number showing it to be a Altbea built Wester Ross rather than a Yorkshire one and advising that Fergus Forsythe has been a clockmaker since and is now living in Australia, as does Louise. Ironic really with me being an Aussie living in Caithness not far from Altbea.
Then only on the weekend I got a message from Nic from the group, who is also in various other groups I am in, contacted me with the build sheets. He messaged them through, I will include here, along with the notes from the back. The date sheets had no date which was normal according to Nic, who said they were only occasionally marked with a date, either from a payment or where the person ordering the frame had received the form, usually in the post, noted any changes needed and then sent it back, would occasionally have the person ordering dating when they signed it. Though mine we can say early 1981, maybe earlier? as one that is 16 numbers after mine, #208 was confirmed built in Altbea and invoice in April 1981.
While the build page shows it was built for Jayne Tyrer, with discussion on the back of the form. I also found that it was originally black with red lining and decals would have been white, as they only offered black or white decals. Not the gold that we currently have on ours. Another interesting detail to come of this investigating is that the next frame #193 was built for Bernadette Tyrer with #129 long before being built for a Geoffrey Tyrer. Looks like this family really liked their Wester Ross's.
I will update this as we go along but after a slow start we seem to picking up steam.

Jamie 

Sunday 29th September 2024 - Black Isle Birthday ride with Brian - Long Haul Trucker

 Out last weekend with Brian for a ride through the Black Isle from Dingwall to one of the Garden Centres for a cracking lunch and some cake. 

Always a good reason for a ride. 

Brian was on his Voodoo with Alfine and drop bars while I was on my ever reliable Long Haul Trucker.

Was great to be back on the Trucker as it seems ages since I had a nice Sunday mixed terrain ride on it. This is the sort of stuff the Trucker excels at, dirt tracks, back country tarmac and laneways. Seem to have just been commuting on it this year and even those are few and far between.  

Nice weather if just a bit cooler than has been lately. Sticking to back roads and cycle paths were we could with the start few miles being around the shoreline on singletrack and dirt walking tracks. 

Good to be out after the rubbish weather up here the last month or so and also good to have lunch and cake for young Brians recent birthday. 

Hope everyone else is doing fine and getting the odd ride in. 

Jamie 

Sat 07th September 2024 - Mercian - King of Mercia - Local Coastal Ride

Wow!  I didn't realise it's been so long since I posted one the rides on the King Of Mercia! 

I have been riding it, honest, just not posting clearly  

It has seen a fair few commutes and local rides when I have a couple of hours to spare, longer rides away tend to have been on the Jack Taylors this year, or my Long Haul trucker for my few and far between Audax rides.

So yesterday was glorious up here after a foggy start and I had to go to one of the local markets for lunch and then head to town to get a couple of electrical sockets for the house, I checked the tyres on the trusty KOM and headed out into the summery afternoon.

It may have been a while since I had ridden the KOM but it only took a few peddle strokes to feel right back at home and realise what a joy this bike is. It fits like a glove, handles anything and everything with such calmness and poise that it's hard not to relax and enjoy it. It just handles so nicely and is a joy to ride.  

I stopped at the market and had lunch before heading into town, picking up the sockets before deciding on a coastal ride home. This consisted of a small bit of walking path and then some singletrack path with a bit of farm track before the last part on the main road. All of it handle with ease and a few stops for a couple of photographs, before realising the time and having to race home as we were going out. Time flies when you are having fun.

Hopefully won't be so long before posting the Mercian next time. 

Jamie

August 11th 2024 - Jack Taylor Ride Stokesley -

 Last Sunday was the annual Jack Taylor get together and ride from Stokesley in North Yorkshire. 

As has been the way the last few years this annual get together by the VCC and Jack Taylor Appreciation group on Facebook has gone from a weekend ride to just a Sunday outing. But what a great Sunday it was. 

After having such a rubbish summer really, up here in the north of Scotland it was nice to get back down into some heat and sunshine. Normally this ride is on the last weekend August/start of September bank holiday, yet even with the earlier date it was it's usual sunny and hot ride through some really quiet and beautiful country side. 

This year I had  Caleb with me.  He would be riding my Super Clubman while I rode the Super Tourist. 

We travelled down the 400 odd miles on the Saturday staying at a hotel in Stockton on Tees, but not before stopping just outside of Stokesley for a nice Jack Taylor tandem ride with one of the group. A great way to break up a long drive. 

Sunday dawned sunny, not a cloud to be seen and warming nicely. We made our way to the start at Stokesley and lined our bikes up with the others where they are all displayed before the ride. 

There was a really good turnout with about 40 or so bikes I think someone counted, with about 30 0r 35 on the ride. We made our way in 2 groups through the lovely quiet roads to a lunch spot at Swainby, before another looping ride on quiet roads ending back at Stokesley. More cold drinks and a good bit of sitting around chatting before we packed and headed off for some dinner. 

This year was even better for having Caleb with me. He rides all the time but not usually on the older bikes, except our Flying Scot tandem. He has grown so much the last 12 months though that he fits my bikes now, not sure that is a good thing ;) 

He handled it all so well and I was so proud of him. He is not used to using drop bars as he has always shied away from them, he is not used to friction shifting or downtube shifters and definitely not used to riding in a group. All of which he did perfectly, you would never have known. Best of all he had a real blast and loved every minute of it, loved riding the Super Clubman and enjoyed the social side, which was helped by everyone being so welcoming to him. 

He has his Wester Ross to get built as a road allrounder but I have already started putting tourist parts away and will most likely build up the other unused Super Tourist for him to use so we can tour together. 

For me on the Super Tourist, well I think I finally have it dialled in. It ran beautifully, handled all the different surface roads nicely and while it has new World Tour tyres, they surprised me with how comfortable they were despite the design being a good age now. They are the 700c X 35 models. This along with everything being well lubed, adjusted and double checked meant it was rolling through the sunny countryside in the way I imagined it would. As close to how it left the works as I am going to get. Somewhere along the ride I must have clicked the Subito dynamo on as Caleb came alongside and said your taillight is on solid, never even noticed so that is good to know.  

We then went on to stay down on Sunday and head to the National Train Museum in York on the Monday which was brilliant, before heading to Glasgow Monday evening to pick up mum and have dinner with family before heading home on Tuesday.    

So a great Jack Taylor ride this year, once again. It is such a nice social gathering while being surrounded by some really stunning machines. 

Jamie 

Wednesday 17th July 2024 - Jack Taylor Super Tourist - Contin - Meig Dam

 Was out yesterday on a lovely ride from Contin out to Meig dam with my usual wingman Brian (epicyclo) and my young son Caleb. Calebs first time down this road.

It was certainly a good day for it, bit of cloud, no wind but quite warm.
While not a big epic ride it was good 4 or so hours out and about enjoying the beautiful scenery.
I had the Super Tourer sorted, I hoped, everything cleaned and regreased, BB, headset, hubs, new tyres and it didn't disappoint. It really did finally feel like riding a new bike, quiet, everything slick, even the dyno that I inadvertently clicked on was hardly noticeable.
I got Caleb to take it for a ride, he doesn't like drop bars at all, but put it in a gear and said just ride the tops and see what you think. Well when I could finally prize his backside from the seat, he was all full of wonder at how nice it was. It's a start. 

It was nice to finally have the Super Tourer riding as it should. While technically it is a new bike in the sense it had only done 20 miles, it was unused for 34 years and as such had dried up/thickening grease as well as naturally perished rubber. So was nice to feel it how I always imagined it would. 
Anyway, good to be out mid week and getting a ride in with my boy. Hopefully he will be out with us on a few more of these randonneur type rides. 

I think it tired him slightly as he was asleep in the van on our 2 hour + drive home. 

Jamie