How to avoid spending money at Mildenhall

[Mike Causer]

With already some damage to my wallet I was standing next to someone with
a 2.5 year old who wanted to be picked up. Daddy said "How can I buy
things when I'm carying you?" I said "Just what I need, a block on
spending more money!" So 2.5 year old was promptly dumped into my arms.

"Are you coming with me so I can't spend more money but daddy can?"

Wide eyed silence.

Daddy says "I always do this, it keeps him quiet for at least five minutes."


Didn't try to pick up Mike Burrows, in return he was eloquent for
substantialy more than 5 minutes.


Wobbly John didn't have his wobbly bike, and ICE didn't have their own
stand, but Kevin Dunsheath (D-Tek) had several Trices on display. There
was a greater variety of visiting recumbents than I've seen before,
including a couple of very nice low-riders. (I've ridden someone's
home-built low-rider through the crowd at Mildenhall a couple of years
ago, and found it very controlable, despite initial appearance.)


A good day out Gromit.




Mike

 

[wafflycat]

"Mike Causer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> With already some damage to my wallet I was standing next to someone with
> a 2.5 year old who wanted to be picked up. Daddy said "How can I buy
> things when I'm carying you?" I said "Just what I need, a block on
> spending more money!" So 2.5 year old was promptly dumped into my arms.
>

I could have done with that 2.5 year old!

My offspring has done well at Mildenhall this year, as we've used it to kit
him out for cyclocross: bike & clothing. On the plus side, it's worked out
cheaper than buying online or shop. All I got this year was a pair of tyres
for Luigi.

Cheers, helen s

 

[wafflycat]

Best cycling purchase of the day at Mildenhall...

I bought my niece's daughter her first bike a little while ago. She's 2.5
years old too.

In the 'hard to find' tent... a pair of dinky, *tiny* track mits

They'll be in the post tomorrow to my niece for her daughter.

Cheers, helen s

 

[[email protected]]

Mike Causer wrote:

>
> Wobbly John didn't have his wobbly bike, and ICE didn't have their own
> stand, but Kevin Dunsheath (D-Tek) had several Trices on display.

As Wobbly John had ridden 80 miles on the Wobbly bike on Friday (with
the Tallbike tour Britain guys), his ar*e was not up to riding it 15
miles there and back + showing off on it all day!

I was there on one of my recumbents tho'

May be there with the wobblebike tomorrow as I have use of the car for
the day.

For those of you unfamiliar with it the wobblebike is here:
http://wobblebike.xntrick.co.uk

 

[wafflycat]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>

>
> For those of you unfamiliar with it the wobblebike is here:
> http://wobblebike.xntrick.co.uk
>

With which he appears to defy logic, physics, gravity and makes me feel as
if I've had too much alcohol just by looking at him on a wobble bike. Cue
puzzled expression of 'how does he ride that thing exactly?' ;-)

Cheers, helen s

 

[David Martin]

wafflycat wrote:
> <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
>
> >
> > For those of you unfamiliar with it the wobblebike is here:
> > http://wobblebike.xntrick.co.uk
> >
>
> With which he appears to defy logic, physics, gravity and makes me feel as
> if I've had too much alcohol just by looking at him on a wobble bike. Cue
> puzzled expression of 'how does he ride that thing exactly?' ;-)

It's not as bad as it looks unless the saddle is too high..

...d

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, wafflycat
('w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com') wrote:

> Best cycling purchase of the day at Mildenhall...
>
> I bought my niece's daughter her first bike a little while ago. She's
> 2.5 years old too.
>
> In the 'hard to find' tent... a pair of dinky, *tiny* track mits
>
> They'll be in the post tomorrow to my niece for her daughter.

We've had an interesting cycling weekend here. As well as the crit
documented elsewhere (well, partly because of the crit), Don of this
parish was down with a back wheel with four broken spokes, and a seven
year old daughter with a bike with no stabilisers which she couldn't yet
ride (as well as a three year old daughter on a teeny little bike with
stabilisers).

The spokes were interesting. Because the wheel has a Nexus 8 speed hub
gear, roller brakes and a deep section rim, they were an unusual size.
The bike shop didn't have any the right length, but lent me a thread
rolling jig with which, after a false start, we rolled much longer
threads onto six new spokes and then cut them down to length to repair
the wheel. First time I've done that.

Earlier we'd taken the girls down to the playing field at the bottom of
the village where elder daughter rapidly learned to ride her bike,
pedalling right across the flat field after starting on a gentle slope.
After a bit of practice she could start on the flat unaided, but the
grass was pretty hard work, especially for smaller daughter.

So after we'd fixed Don's bike I took the Cannondale, and with Don and
both daughters and bikes we went up to the school playground at the top
of the village to practice on tarmac. Small daughter loved this, but
larger daughter was very nervous of falling on the hard surface and was
rapidly discouraged.

Now, the thing about living in a village on a steep hill is there's two
ways from the school back to my house. One, down the street, is steep
enough to be intimidating to any inexperienced cyclist, let alone one
riding without stabilisers for the first time; and the other a little
quiet lane running three quarters of a mile up one side of the glen,
over a bridge, and back down the other - which nevertheless manages to
be a very gentle downgrade pretty much all the way. So I proposed to Don
that he take small daughter straight back to the house, and larger
daughter and I would go the long way round.

And this we proceeded to do, with larger daughter finding the gentle
downgrade made cycling much easier and rapidly developing confidence.
But soon there were shouts from behind, and bombing along after us came
smaller daughter on her tiny bike, with Don trundling gently along
behind. And so we proceeded. At the end I wasn't sure whose performance
was most creditable - larger daughter's for gaining so much confidence
and competence in the use of her bike, or smaller daughters for covering
one and a half miles on her horribly inefficient little machine and
remaining indomitably cheerful and energetic the whole way.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; no eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn.
;; Jim Morrison

 

[Mike Causer]

On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 13:43:09 -0700, xntrick.cycles wrote:

>> Wobbly John didn't have his wobbly bike, and ICE didn't have their own
>> stand, but Kevin Dunsheath (D-Tek) had several Trices on display.
>
> As Wobbly John had ridden 80 miles on the Wobbly bike on Friday (with the
> Tallbike tour Britain guys), his ar*e was not up to riding it 15 miles
> there and back + showing off on it all day!

Fairy nuff. I don't think my ar*e would be up to riding it at all at all.
80 miles on the Wobbly is A Worthy Achievment!


> I was there on one of my recumbents tho'

Which was yours? There was a better selection than I've seen since first
taking my Ross there in 1998 (and every year since).



Mike

 

[Tony B]

Simon Brooke wrote:
> At the end I wasn't sure whose performance
> was most creditable - larger daughter's for gaining so much confidence
> and competence in the use of her bike, or smaller daughters for covering
> one and a half miles on her horribly inefficient little machine and
> remaining indomitably cheerful and energetic the whole way.
>

Nice post, cheers. It just goes to show how much fun can be had cycling
with kids, without going fast/far/high etc. You must be made up now!

bfn,

Tony B

 

[[email protected]]

Mike Causer wrote:

> > I was there on one of my recumbents tho'
>
> Which was yours? There was a better selection than I've seen since first
> taking my Ross there in 1998 (and every year since).
>

I was on an M5 Citymate CLWB it was parked near the food hall while I
was there.

Did you see my wooden lowracer last year?

 

[Don Whybrow]

Simon Brooke wrote:
>
> Earlier we'd taken the girls down to the playing field at the bottom of
> the village where elder daughter rapidly learned to ride her bike,
> pedalling right across the flat field after starting on a gentle slope.
> After a bit of practice she could start on the flat unaided, but the
> grass was pretty hard work, especially for smaller daughter.
>
> So after we'd fixed Don's bike I took the Cannondale, and with Don and
> both daughters and bikes we went up to the school playground at the top
> of the village to practice on tarmac. Small daughter loved this, but
> larger daughter was very nervous of falling on the hard surface and was
> rapidly discouraged.
>
> Now, the thing about living in a village on a steep hill is there's two
> ways from the school back to my house. One, down the street, is steep
> enough to be intimidating to any inexperienced cyclist, let alone one
> riding without stabilisers for the first time; and the other a little
> quiet lane running three quarters of a mile up one side of the glen,
> over a bridge, and back down the other - which nevertheless manages to
> be a very gentle downgrade pretty much all the way. So I proposed to Don
> that he take small daughter straight back to the house, and larger
> daughter and I would go the long way round.
>
> And this we proceeded to do, with larger daughter finding the gentle
> downgrade made cycling much easier and rapidly developing confidence.
> But soon there were shouts from behind, and bombing along after us came
> smaller daughter on her tiny bike, with Don trundling gently along
> behind. And so we proceeded. At the end I wasn't sure whose performance
> was most creditable - larger daughter's for gaining so much confidence
> and competence in the use of her bike, or smaller daughters for covering
> one and a half miles on her horribly inefficient little machine and
> remaining indomitably cheerful and energetic the whole way.
>
<sniff>
But what about me .... ?

Feef xx

 

[Don Whybrow]

Simon Brooke wrote:
>
> We've had an interesting cycling weekend here. As well as the crit
> documented elsewhere (well, partly because of the crit), Don of this
> parish was down with a back wheel with four broken spokes, and a seven
> year old daughter with a bike with no stabilisers which she couldn't yet
> ride (as well as a three year old daughter on a teeny little bike with
> stabilisers).

The wheel was still attached to the bike, it is just that the spokes had
gone on the commute home before we set off to Simon's

> The spokes were interesting. Because the wheel has a Nexus 8 speed hub
> gear, roller brakes and a deep section rim, they were an unusual size.
> The bike shop didn't have any the right length, but lent me a thread
> rolling jig with which, after a false start, we rolled much longer
> threads onto six new spokes and then cut them down to length to repair
> the wheel. First time I've done that.

I nipped into EBC this am, by car unfortunately, to get some better
quality ones (as well as a truing stand, rim tape, ...), but they did
not have any the correct length either. I had measured the spoke at
240mm from bend to inner diameter of the rim (checking again now it is
232 ??). I will have to go again with bike to let them see for
themselves the length and gauge I need. Either that or I need to get a
rolling jig.

After the experience of repairing a few spokes, I am quite keen to build
a wheel from scratch and since I have been hankering after a dynamo on
the front ... The strange thing about my bike is that the rear while
does not have any dishing requirements, one side has the drive, the
other the roller brake, however the front does require dishing as the
roller is is not balanced on the other side with anything.

As an aside here, does anyone know of any sites that given details of
rims and hubs will tell you the spoke lengths you need?.

> Earlier we'd taken the girls down to the playing field at the bottom of
> the village where elder daughter rapidly learned to ride her bike,
> pedalling right across the flat field after starting on a gentle slope.
> After a bit of practice she could start on the flat unaided, but the
> grass was pretty hard work, especially for smaller daughter.
>
> So after we'd fixed Don's bike I took the Cannondale, and with Don and
> both daughters and bikes we went up to the school playground at the top
> of the village to practice on tarmac. Small daughter loved this, but
> larger daughter was very nervous of falling on the hard surface and was
> rapidly discouraged.
>
> Now, the thing about living in a village on a steep hill is there's two
> ways from the school back to my house. One, down the street, is steep
> enough to be intimidating to any inexperienced cyclist, let alone one
> riding without stabilisers for the first time; and the other a little
> quiet lane running three quarters of a mile up one side of the glen,
> over a bridge, and back down the other - which nevertheless manages to
> be a very gentle downgrade pretty much all the way. So I proposed to Don
> that he take small daughter straight back to the house, and larger
> daughter and I would go the long way round.
>
> And this we proceeded to do, with larger daughter finding the gentle
> downgrade made cycling much easier and rapidly developing confidence.
> But soon there were shouts from behind, and bombing along after us came
> smaller daughter on her tiny bike, with Don trundling gently along
> behind. And so we proceeded. At the end I wasn't sure whose performance
> was most creditable - larger daughter's for gaining so much confidence
> and competence in the use of her bike, or smaller daughters for covering
> one and a half miles on her horribly inefficient little machine and
> remaining indomitably cheerful and energetic the whole way.

When I picked the girls up from school the afternoon (I had a bank
holiday, but the girls did not), I took the bikes and they cycled home
via a close that a school friend lives in. This close has a parking bit
in the middle and so forms a circuit that has virtually no motor
traffic. The elder one has cracked it. I did not need to help her at all
as she whizzed by, it is a joy to see. Now I need to get the young one
off the stabilisers.


--
Don Whybrow

Sequi Bonum Non Time

"I suppose they are vicious rascals, but it scarcely matters
what they are. I'm after what they know." (Gibson-Sterling, The
Difference Engine)

 

[Mike Causer]

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 07:43:50 -0700, xntrick.cycles wrote:

> I was on an M5 Citymate CLWB it was parked near the food hall
> while I was there.

Yup, saw that.


> Did you see my wooden lowracer last year?

Err no.

But I'm sure I saw you on the wobbly-bike, and we talked about the (then)
broken glass Sustrans route from Ely part-way to Cambridge (now tarmac on
top of the glass thank $DEITY). IIRC your patch is north of Ely not south?



Mike

 

[[email protected]]

> But I'm sure I saw you on the wobbly-bike, and we talked about the (then)
> broken glass Sustrans route from Ely part-way to Cambridge (now tarmac on
> top of the glass thank $DEITY). IIRC your patch is north of Ely not south?
>

North - as far as Welney WFT.

We are having trouble with undergrowth encroaching on the NCN11
Ely/Barway path at the moment. In despiration I took a scythe down
there a few weeks ago. spent most of a day clearing less than half and
ended up with a broken scythe!

 

[David Martin]

Don Whybrow wrote:
> As an aside here, does anyone know of any sites that given details of
> rims and hubs will tell you the spoke lengths you need?.

The DT site does. Google for DT swiss and they have a spoke calculator.


232 sounds quite small - are they 650c or MTB 26"? I need 264 for the
project which has 584 rims to put in nexus hubs (dynamo front, coaster
braked 7 speed rear.)

...d

 

[Tony Raven]

Don Whybrow wrote on 28/08/2006 22:33 +0100:
>
> As an aside here, does anyone know of any sites that given details of
> rims and hubs will tell you the spoke lengths you need?.
>

AUSHTA. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/spocalc.htm


--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

 

[Tony Raven]

[email protected] wrote on 28/08/2006 15:43 +0100:
>
> Did you see my wooden lowracer last year?
>

Got the plans as a result of seeing it and they're top of the pile in
the Round Tuit tin ;-)

I avoided spending money at Mildenhall this year by not going and
instead taking the family and tandems to Ireland for some nice trips
round Dublin, Strangford Lough and the Antrim Coast (more tales of
Sustrans routes to avoid). Not sure it was cheaper though ;-)

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

 

[Rob Morley]

In article <[email protected]>
Don Whybrow <[email protected]> wrote:
<snip>
> As an aside here, does anyone know of any sites that given details of
> rims and hubs will tell you the spoke lengths you need?.
>
http://www.bikeschool.com/spokes/

http://www.geocities.com/d_halem/wheel/wheel.html

http://www.damonrinard.com/spocalc.htm

http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/spokecalc/

etc.

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, David
Martin ('[email protected]') wrote:

> Don Whybrow wrote:
>> As an aside here, does anyone know of any sites that given details of
>> rims and hubs will tell you the spoke lengths you need?.
>
> The DT site does. Google for DT swiss and they have a spoke calculator.
>
> 232 sounds quite small - are they 650c or MTB 26"? I need 264 for the
> project which has 584 rims to put in nexus hubs (dynamo front, coaster
> braked 7 speed rear.)

It's a bloody great Nexus eight speed hub in a 26" rim with an unusually
deep section. It's laced two cross. Consequently the spokes are
remarkably short. Over all a very practical, workmanlike sort of bike,
but I was surprised how heavy it was.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Do not sail on uphill water.
- Bill Lee

 

[Don Whybrow]

David Martin wrote:
> Don Whybrow wrote:
>
>>As an aside here, does anyone know of any sites that given details of
>>rims and hubs will tell you the spoke lengths you need?.
>
>
> The DT site does. Google for DT swiss and they have a spoke calculator.

After posting, I hunted round Sheldon's site and found the spreadsheet
calculator which is remarkably good.

> 232 sounds quite small - are they 650c or MTB 26"? I need 264 for the
> project which has 584 rims to put in nexus hubs (dynamo front, coaster
> braked 7 speed rear.)

The rims are Alex TD16's, although I can't find any details on the Alex
site they have a TD17 that looks remarkably similar, this has a ERD of
538.8. The hub is a nexus 8 speed with roller brake and according to the
data on the spreadsheet and with a crossing pattern of 2, this gives a
length of 240mm (rounding up and to an even mm length) for both left and
right.

--
Don Whybrow

Sequi Bonum Non Time

Invalid thought detected. Close all mental processes and restart
body.