Author Archive

I had a slight moment of panic when I recieved in the post a set of vintage Campagnolo C Record downtube shifters for the Walvale classic bike restoration. They came in no less than 18 teeny pieces and as they were vintage they didn’t come with an easy to follow assembly instruction manual. After...
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My new project arrived in a box last night. It’s a thing of beauty but is destined to cause cursing and consternation in the household. I’m not known for my mechanical skills but I am known for flitting from one project to the next with only a book for guidance. The book didn’t help...
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If I don’t have to use my heated grips in the morning then it is just too darn hot for biking. What possesses these fair weather bikers to dust off their machines just in time to roast in the heat wave? I’ve seen varied summer fashions, from the Ducati guy with shorts and t-shirt...
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I hope something out of the ordinary happened today because I couldn’t move. I was trapped in maelstrom of push bikes, cars and jackknifed buses. Bikes were crammed into every available gap, going nowhere but making an ugly disheveled plug. Others were hopping up on to the pavements looking for escape. I was sat...
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Even the kids have taken to pointing out my profligate ways. No. 2 child said the other day “but it’s not just the bike Angela, it’s all the bike related stuff!” I feel somewhat victimised in the house, they just haven’t let me forget my last purchase of the “special sponge”. “Is it a...
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Excessive use of "comfort aids" aka heated grips, combined with very short commutes leaves my Bonneville struggling to start up. So I'm stranded in London on a rainy night, waiting for the RAC to come and jump start my flat battery.
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I followed the bike dropping incident with a whole host of other bike related ball’s ups but two weeks have passed and I’m still here relatively unscathed so I think my biker chick pieces must gradually be falling into place. 4 mile commutes are barely worth getting togged up for but the miles add...
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The calendar entry for Saturday read “Pick up Bike”, I couldn’t have realized quite how literal that reminder would prove to be. I like riding bikes but I have a severe and disabling bike parking phobia. I always have had. I took the first bike I had, out on a trip to Matlock –...
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The discovery that “I was too short for BMW” floored me, but as the t-shirt says, Fat Bikers Bounce Better. I bounced back quick smart and found myself sitting comfortably astride a Triumph Bonneville the very next day. The 2009 Bonnie has been shrunk by a whole inch and must now be at least...
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I’ve been acquiring gear for my latest obsession at a fair rate of knots and the pile of trammel in the hall is now reaching embarrassing proportions. I’ve sourced fat bikers trousers, extortionately priced yet rather swanky bad ass biker jackets, helmets, special socks, neckerchiefs, outdoor bike covers and locks. Quite frankly I’m the...
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