This photo was taken by me in Dorset a couple of weeks ago. The fear was almost palpable.
Scary Ghost Cyclist Photo – Scared Us To Death
So, what do you think? Can you see any evidence of tampering? I’m pretty sure it’s genuine.
Yes, I’d recommend it to anyone.
We spent a week in a field in Dorset recently, staying at a Camping & Caravanning Club site a few minutes from the coast in Charmouth.
The site was excellent. Clean, welcoming, lovely big pitches with good drainage (a must in the British summertime), well-equipped shower blocks and a well-stocked shop. As a family, we enjoyed 7 nights of restful fun, helped by an almost complete lack of 3G signal which prevented me from checking in on work emails! 🙂
Home
From a cyclist’s point of view, let me tell you that Dorset is hilly. Surprisingly hilly. I took a brief excursion onto the Sustrans NCN2 past Monkton Wyld, just behind the camp site, and was alarmed by the steep drop, which led me to abandon my plans to ride to Bridport and back. Instead, I turned back after a mile and a half and picked a different, flat loop which circled the site in a nice easy 5 miler. Wimped out.
But not before dropping my bike accidentally and smashing my rear light off. Two cable ties later it looks as good as new.
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis is silly steep. It’s basically a drop down to the coast with streets scattered along the hillside. The roads are almost impossible to drive safely, so it’s a “point, hope and squint” experience! In the end, I parked a little higher in the town and walked the family down towards the beach, vowing never to return.
But return I did. It’s such a pretty place once you take it in away from the car. The day after our first visit, we went back for a lovely Italian meal and loved it. We stayed so late that they were cleaning up around us and presented us with complimentary Limoncellos by way of an apology. Limoncello’s lovely, once you get over the thought that it’s like drinking Flash kitchen floor cleaner.
Lyme Regis, very pretty
Cycling in Devon
The Dorset coast isn’t really made for cycling. Far too hilly for an unfit bloke on an MTB plus a family of 4 other fairweather cyclists. So, we took a 45 minute drive West and headed to a river basin in Devon.
However, we bought a fantastic little £5 Treasure Trails guide booklet for a ride around the river Exe and the Exeter Ship Canal which took us on an excellent 11 mile loop of around 3 hours. The booklet presents a sort of treasure hunt, where you solve a puzzle by completing 21 clues. Then you can submit your answer to be entered into a prize draw.
Treasure Trail Around Exeter
The Treasure Trails books cover walking and cycling, and can be bought for most areas in the UK. What a brilliant little idea! Learn more about them here.
Hopefully I’ll post more about our adventures in the next few days, but I hope this gives you a taster. If you like the idea of the trails, please buy one and give it a try – I can’t recommend them highly enough if your kids have a short attention span! 🙂
Tell ’em Phill sent you.
Last week I spent £5.48 on a pair of Superstar Components brake pads. Now that’s cheap! Shimano or Ashima were all the wrong side of £10 so I took a chance and ordered one set to see how they were. If they were rubbish I’d only have wasted £5.48.
They’re not rubbish. They’re bloody marvellous so thank you @Mattmbr !
… was easier, but took longer, than I expected. Le me explain. Extracting the old pads was simple:
– Remove the wheel, squash the split pin on the brake unit and pull it out (easy).
– Push the old brake pads out with a small screwdriver (easy peasy).
– Put the spring clip and new brake pads together and push into the void left by the old pads (pretty easy)
– Re-insert the split pin and bend the end with the small screwdriver (lemon cheesy)
So far, all good. No issues. Hunky dory. Five minutes top end. Smiling.
Then put your wheel back on. No, hang on, the new pads won’t let the brake disc rotor back in. Oh no, now what? Drop back wheel, put the small screwdriver between the pads, work them apart, put the back wheel in again. No? Repeat several times, with swearing.
Eventually, to be fair, the wheel went on. Just remember that your brake pistons gradually work their way further out when pads are worn, so when you fit new pads they’ll be too close together unless you force them back in with a little bit of grunt (and of course some care). Once the wheel’s back on, you should be laughing. And, more to the point, stopping.
Don’t forget to wear your new pads in with a few long, hard stops to get the rotor and pad heat up so they form to the shape of the rotor. Then you’ll stop properly.
I’ve ordered the second pair today, so I might let you know if the second fitting is better 🙂
I took some advice via Twitter earlier this week and ordered some new brake pads direct from Superstar Components.
Two days later, less than half the price of Shimano OEM or Ashima and with no postage costs, here they are!
I’ll fit them at the weekend and hopefully bed them in with a long descent from Blackstone Edge, but based on my first Superstar purchase, I’m a convert!
I also got a bag of Haribo! Wiggle haven’t sent me any for ages, so Superstar win on that score too.
p.s. I posted this via my phone, so sorry if it looks pooey.
This is my personal entry for the presently non-existent “Cycling Photojournalism Awards 2011”
They say that a good picture paints a thousand words. This one is more concise. This one paints 10.
“We went on a bike ride. There was a pool.”
This may not have a potential running theme like Jamie’s excellent “Bike And Gate” series, but I quite like it.
Got any entries? If I get enough links in the comments below, I will publish them and give an actual prize. The rules are as follows:
1. You have to own the picture.
2. It has to tell a story about cycling, in its own right .
3. A caption of up to 20 words is allowed.
Tell your friends. Tell ’em Phill sent you 🙂