30th December 2015 Now, is the winter of our discontent!

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Wednesday 30th 40F, 4C, windy with another heavy overcast but threatens to be dry. I don't know how many miles today will bring because the forecast isn't much different from yesterday. Apart from gaining a useful couple of degrees Fahrenheit. I had agonizing pain in my hip area last night after lifting a huge, waterlogged plant tub to drain it off. I haven't had that problem so badly for several years. [The pain! Not the pot lifting.] It used to paralyze me to the spot when  I was still working. I was literally unable to change my shoes to drive home and just getting into bed was agony. So it may just be the sciatic nerve complaining again. Careful examination by several specialists following scans and X-rays showed my joints were not to blame for the pain.

I had a nose bleed in the bath last night too. Which was another regular problem just before I was forcibly retired by having my job exported to China. It may also be an excess of Christmas cake and chocolates, of course. Though I'm not admitting anything in the public domain. I haven't dared to measure my blood pressure since I refused to take regular medicine and started cycling more seriously again. Though I often wonder if "serious" is the correct word for an attention seeking old clown, like me.


I shall have to remain in pedant mode and measure the trikes today. Though a walk to burn off some calories would not go amiss providing I can match my clothing to the weather. Fortunately it wasn't remotely as cold today. I even took my gloves off at half way as I climbed a fire break in the forest and never needed them again. Sadly I disturbed the buzzards on the huge lawn again. There were six of them this morning as they flew off complaining bitterly at my disturbance. I have never seen so many buzzards together in one place. Perhaps they are family having a good year thanks to the mild weather? Hunters in the wood forced a detour back along the track instead of my usual loop.

A late morning ride of 15 miles. I'm still working on adding dimensions to two similar images of the two trikes. I was surprised to discover a 6cm difference in reach from the saddle nose to the "tops" of 'bars. Though it feels much more in practice. Logic suggests that I move the Trykit saddle rearwards to reduce the stresses on my hands. If I do that the reach increases. Heads you lose. Tails you lose. Raising the bars is the only option which will not increase the feeling of being stretched out. The irritating thing is that my reflection in shop windows suggests that I am already fairly upright. An upright stance adds considerably to wind resistance. Grr?

Thursday 31st 34F, +1C, red sky in the morning... Blowing a gale. Forecast to be a potentially bright start with cloud and rain to follow by lunchtime. A quick, early morning, photo session of the Higgins proved exactly how cold it felt outside. I should really have put the Higgins on the workstand. So I could get the top tube horizontal and the back wheels at the same level. You'll have to make do with what I could manage under the circumstances. The rain came early, putting an end to any thoughts of a ride today. So WYSIWYG in mileage for this year.

I still have chronic, lower back pain so it must be the result of being stretched on the Higgins rack. Fifteen days after my order failed to arrive and eleven days after their last response to my emails Wiggle is promising to send me a new package by express delivery. I ordered new levers on the 15th to get my Trykit back on the road. I never did have a reply from the Campag repair specialist in the UK. So it was a good job I did not rely on them!

The simplest change I could make to the Trykit would be to reverse the [already short] handlebar extension. [Stem in old money] Instead of being parallel with the ground it would become tilted up like the Higgins. This would raise the 'bar tops to about the same level as the saddle. I could then try and sneak a rearward movement of the saddle and pray the "pilot" doesn't notice. Interestingly[?] the Trykit saddle nose is only 1cm ahead of the BB axle compared with the Higgins. I dropped a plumbline while the trikes were both on a level floor. This makes no sense [at all] regarding the theory of balancing the rider with a rearward saddle position.  

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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