Saturday 30th March 2019 - Mercians - Swapping Kings

Todays weather was pretty rubbish up this way and after getting a few things sorted around the house I decided to take the time to dismantle the rest of the fitting from the Mercian as it may be going off to be repainted in a few weeks time. I thought while I was doing this I would pull down the King of Mercia tourer from the loft and swap the headset onto it and maybe, build it up with parts from the other one and a few other bits I have around and take it riding in a few weekends time. It's been in the loft a long time. I then had the crazy thought of build it and ride it and then decide which one gets painted and becomes the everyday rider. 

One thought that was behind this was decide which one I like riding best and get that painted, then sell the other one. Neither frame owes me anything as I picked them both up for next to nothing as the blue one was just a crazy bargain, right place, right time and the green one was also a cheap bargain as it had a bent rear mech hanger and was stripped and left lying in a shed because of this. It took me about 10 minutes with an alignment tool to align and reset it and it's given a few years and a lot of road and off road service trouble free since.  Both used for slightly different types of riding. I thought I had made up my mind as I have put a lot of miles on the green one over the last few years and really like the fit of it and especially the way it rides both on and off road, so it was going off to be freshened up and built a bit more suited to it's randonneur/audax style riding it's been doing these last couple of years, maybe even try a 650b wheel conversion. The blue one was always to be used for more randonneur type riding but carrying a bit more gear for short tours or overnight type rides where the LHTs heavy duty tour ability was a bit of overkill. It is a lovely frame and while the finish looks good in the photos it is, like the green one, looking a bit old, with the paint thinning and slight rust spots coming through as well as the touched up scrapes looking a bit rough. The green one is peppered all over with chips and scrapes from it's adventures and the white undercoat certainly makes them stand out. 

We shall see and I realise I am very lucky to have such options ;) .  

Maybe they both have a place in the fleet :) 

Jamie

27th March 2019 - LHT to Dingwall on Train. Jenny Graham Talk + riding with Brian

I needed to use up a couple of days holiday before the end of the month and with Brian and I having tickets for Jenny Grahams talk at Dingwall Academy about her round the world ride for Wednesday evening, it seemed like the perfect time to use them. This sounds last minute but it wasn't as we had planned it a while back, though the spanner in the works is that we were down to a 1 car house the last few weeks so a new plan was hatched to get the train down on the weds and attend the talk, Thursday have a ride  before getting the train back up home. Train times etc weren't wanting to play ball with the early train from Thurso not being available, it was either cancelled or fully booked, though I am pretty sure it was cancelled due to a signal failure south of Inverness. Anyway I packed my Carradice with a change of clothes and boots, and after battling a 35 mph headwind for the full 22klm ride into Thurso, I got the next train at 1 pm but unfortunately that didn't get me in to Dingwall until just after 4pm so after meeting Brian at the station we grabbed a coffee and the rode back to Brians for bike talk and dinner with the family.
Jennys talk was fully booked out and for good reason, a great talk, such an inspiration really, this word is often overused, but in this case it’s beyond justified. She laughs and jokes and thinks she is just one of us but she is really pretty unique. If you ever get the chance to attend one of her talks then definitely go, you won't regret it. She was averaging something like 160 to 180 miles a day for 120 odd days with no days off, fully solo and on her own with no support or back up. A pretty special lady.
Had a lovely stay with Brian and Sheena, thanks again, before getting up and out early for a ride this morning with Brian along the shore and then inland and upwards to a café we know but unfortunately we were too early! You don't hear that too often :)  While the rain stayed off despite the very dark clouds, the winds was just as strong as at home and it was very cold as well. You could see it whipping up what was left of the snow on top of the hills so no wonder it had a bite to it. So it was back towards Dingwall then back around the shore to a tea room next to the station where we filled on coffee and cake before getting the train back north at 11. Once off the train the short 20klm or so ride and I was home. Great midweek break.
I must also say I enjoyed the train journey. I don't get the train very often if ever, I think the last time was when I went down to Brians to start the Audax ride back up home. The price with our local highland rail card is pretty reasonable, cheaper than what it costs in petrol, at this time of year and being midday then there was next to nobody on the train, though you have to book a seat to be able to book the bike, though it doesn't cost anything. There is space for two bikes in each carriage but there are only two carriages so once the season kicks off it is hard to book. The train was comfortable with free wifi and usb plugs for each seat and while it is a three hour trip it is through some pretty quiet and remote parts of the highlands and scenery is pretty special from start to finish. So a thumbs up for Scotrail.
Back to work tomorrow, but hey, it's nearly the weekend! 
Jamie

Sunday 24th March 2019 - New Frame - 1973 Flying Scot Ventoux

Friday seen a trip to the Post Office to pick up the large box that contained my  new frame, a Flying Scot, # 160Q, which makes it, I'm pretty sure, a 1973 Ventoux. 
While I have more than enough projects, frames stored about the place, I have been on the look out for a nice Flying Scot for a good few years now. Usually when one comes up I have no money or if I do ever have some spare cash then there are none about and, lets face it, with a family always on the go, there is always somewhere more needed for any cash than yet another frame :) . This time though my wife was fully supportive as it was a very good price and came from a gentleman named John who was helping with an estate sale. The gentleman that passed had an incredible amount of older bikes and frames of all sorts but he had a really nice collection of Scots and a couple of rare Andy McNeils in amongst about 150 pieces. There are two more lots to go as well. I had heard as on the Flying Scot Facebook page that I frequent, one of the members had been down to see them and had taken a few photos and then posted them. 
Most were frames and needing painted as everything had been lying around and like John said 'he was a hoarder not a collector'. All were very reasonable, if not cheap prices relative to what they are now commanding, nearly all were too big for me but John did say the small blue one with chrome ends I was ringing about would suite me as it was a 20''.  It looked straight and in decent condition and Johns description confirmed this, but, and there's always a but, I couldn't get down to him for at least a week as it was down in England with about 7 hours drive each way so would need to wait until we were spending the weekend about halfway helping family and I could drive down and pick it up. Not a problem as  long as I left some sort of deposit because word was out and people were coming from everywhere to get these frames. I was hearing of a few people going down in vans and just buying up what they could. I spoke with John again at night and said I would sleep on it and ring in the morning as John said it wasn't going anywhere Sunday night. He also realised I was a good distance away but obviously really keen for it. 
I ended up ringing back first thing and paying for it that day and while not the way I would normally buy a frame, off of one online photo, it was also very decently priced and I thought I don't want to miss out again as I have in the past through procrastinating. I also try never to just jump straight in, I always walk away and make sure but most importantly I am confident in what I am buying but this time I was taking a gentleman at his word, though I had heard nothing but good things said about him the last week or so, but it was still a bit of nervousness in the background until I opened the box and seen it for myself. In the end the weekend we were meant to be down south, we were, but with car trouble, that is still not resolved completely, and thankfully John just packed it into a box and shipped it up to me, which was one less thing to worry about. 
Once out the box it was plain to see that it looked in a far better condition than the photo. John had said that it wouldn't need paint as the paint job was a good job and in very good condition, just a bit grubby. A quick wash and a bit of wax bought it back to shining with no effort at all, I was really pleased with how nicely it cleaned up.
It has a couple of later decals on the seat tube so suspect it has been repainted somewhere down the line or maybe just put on to replace the originals as they aren't under varnish,  also the Reynolds decal is later as the 531c tubing wasn't around until about 1983. Much better condition than I expected it to be in which is always a bonus. The Campagnolo headset that came on it is in great condition, recently greased as well :)  Needs either the Ventoux decal on the downtube or just a simple Flying Scot one I think. Really looking forward to riding this one. 
I should say I have always looked at Flying Scots and held them in high regard as with my family all coming from Glasgow my dad used to tell me about 'The Scot' bikes from when he was younger and with me living not far from Glasgow for a long time when I came over here, and while I now live up north in Scotland, due to my family and always visiting and living nearby in the past this family history makes me feel like Glasgow is my Scottish hometown. Especially as we visit regularly, my wifes family are from just outside Glasgow at Loch Lomond, the majority of our friends are in Glasgow and most of all we love the city. So for me more than anywhere else in the UK where I feel like a visitor, in Glasgow I feel at home and so this Glasgow built Scot has a much more sentimental pull on me, not least because it makes me think of my dad. That alone makes it more than worth it :) 

Jamie

Sunday March 10, 2019 - Big dummy ride to deliver supplies.

Out this afternoon on the Big Dummy to take the camp stove and tea, coffee, hot chocolate etc over to Heather and Caleb who were busy working to get a field and stable ready to move a friends horses into. Not too far, only about 8 miles each way so relatively close to home.

It was damp and cold when I left as winter has returned, making for a much cooler ride out than what has been usual these past few weeks. I didn't get too far before the first of the days little annoyances struck. The Surly singulator used to keep the long chain on the BD tensioned had unwound the bolt holding the  guide together and had unwound until it was hitting the spokes. Fortunately it sounded a lot worse than it actually was and while it was slightly bent  I could put the bolt back in and screw it all back together on the side of the road. I was just short of my destination when the rain started, not too heavy but that sort that looks like it has set in for a few days. I had my wet weather jacket on but didn't bother bringing over trousers. So after a cuppa or two and a couple of biscuits while waiting for the second horse to arrive I thought I better head back. 

Then just as I was about to head back home in the rain that hadn't stopped since just before my arrival, it started sleeting and hailing, coming down hard and fast. Instantly soaked and felt like I was back at the Strathpuffer 24h  only moving a lot slower, hands and toes were instantly numb. Water was flowing down the roads like streams and the dirt shortcut, well, not one of my better ideas ;) 

 Still any ride is better than no ride. That's what I have to tell myself so I keep pedalling anyway :)

It could have been worse as yesterday Brian and I postponed our ride out to Altnabreac as the weather was meant to close in with some rain, snow and 'near' gale force winds. I think my forecast said about 50mph or so. Brian text me midday or so and said lucky we did postpone as he spotted a report that said Dunnet Head, which is just down the road from home, had reported gusts of 82mph in the morning! 
Hope it was a bit drier and calmer wherever you are :)
Jamie

Sunday 03 March 2019, Jack Taylor coastal meander

Hi all

Hope everyone has had a decent weekend and had a bit of the sunshine that is rumoured to be leaving for a while so winter can return for a bit. I hope they're wrong with that forecast, I really do.

Just a few hours out along the coast and up to Dunnet Head just to keep the legs turning as I have been pretty busy with non bike matters this weekend. Though I did do some work getting the Mercian stripped down properly as it should be heading off to get repainted any day now.

Had some heavy clouds blowing through most of the day with a few showers falling though I could see them coming with enough warning I could change course and avoid easily.

I Really am enjoying riding the Jack Taylor for these unhurried rides, it's such a relaxed riding machine though still quite responsive which makes it a really sweet handling, comfortable bike on these rough uneven back roads. This is with it still being cobbled together with the Dura Ace stuff which will make it all the sweeter once it has its nice purpose fitted components more suited to its style of riding. I have a few things set aside for it already and suppose I just need to get the rest sorted. It’s funny as it always seems to be at the back of the list as I think there is no rush as it’s definitely not going anywhere but then I think, well I really should as I seem to be riding it more and more.

The one thing that seems to cross my mind at least once on each ride is the age old patina or repaint question. I have said that the patina on this one is one of well-aged and on any other frame I would say repaint but because of this being painted, lugged and box lined by Jack himself then it is worth preserving for as long as I can, but at least once each ride I will think ' you ride really, really nicely and just something special about you but you just don't look it with all that rust spots etc, you deserve to look like new, all bright and shiny'   Then I think, I know how special it is because of how it rides and then I will look down at the box lining where there is a bit of a wobble in the lining and think that also makes it special because of what that represents, the personal touch from Jack himself and that it doesn't have to look shiny and bling to look special. I suppose it is just sometimes it would be nice if others could see how special it is. But I know it’s special to me and really that is all that matters.

Jamie