Weston Chain Gang

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Weston Chain Gang

Welcome to the Weston Chain Gang forum. We are a group of cyclists that ride regularly from Weston-super-Mare. We meet at Priory school on Saturday at 8:45. Rides vary in distance between 60 and 100 miles with a stop for cake. Ridet nec genere!


2 posters

    Wednesday 30th March ride

    Keep up lad!
    Keep up lad!


    Posts : 263
    Join date : 2014-07-16
    Age : 104
    Location : No use asking me. I'm lost!

    Wednesday 30th March ride Empty Wednesday 30th March ride

    Post  Keep up lad! Tue Mar 29, 2016 5:58 pm

    It's a late call but regular Wednesday rides are back on the agenda again. Tomorrow looks dry with a moderate SW wind becoming W later.  
    Planned destination this week is Portishead.  We leave Priory at the crack of 9.00. not 10 past, so don't be late.  (Pete if you want to latch on for the return trip we will give you a ring around 11.00ish)

    Forgot to say. Route out will be Puxton, Churchill, Wrington.
    showmethecakes
    showmethecakes


    Posts : 350
    Join date : 2012-07-01
    Age : 110
    Location : Weston-super-Mare

    Wednesday 30th March ride Empty Re: Wednesday 30th March ride

    Post  showmethecakes Thu Mar 31, 2016 8:36 am

    As we crossed over the M5 for the last time on our Portishead jolly, Rob pointed to the best part of the front end of a car that was left on the grass in the central reservation. I wondered if you could collect enough car parts to re-assemble a complete car a bit like Scrapheap challenge. It then occurred to me that you could probably get yourself a complete 105 group set in a similar manner after Sam left the majority of his on Naish Hill. It was definitely one of those forgettable rides.

    After ambling across to Churchill we did the usual cycling thing of ignoring the 'Road Closed' sign in Langford on the way to Wrington. We then had to dodge a load of resurfacing contraptions reversing all over the road, large lorries and a complete lack of road. After an unsuccessful bog stop in Wrington (still closed) we set off again but no-one seemed to know where. It was like following a flock of seagulls flapping their wings  in the air - we're going left, what, left here, no, right here and then left, what, at the top of the hill? Yes, no - not that left and not that hill, next left....

    After a regroup at the airport in that nice lay by where apparently small groups of people get together to watch planes without their clothes on, Steve said we would take a new route down to the A370. Lovely road, great descent apparently. It was, until Steve went into the back of a landrover that had stopped on the hill. Fortunately he was okay apart from a mucky arse. The knock-on effect was the second to last time on a Strava segment for Chapel Hill. I must have just crossed the start point while waiting for Steve. For a short 5% downhill I am currently placed 1639th out of 1641 with an average speed of 3.7 kph.

    Keith then showed us how to negotiate the back passages of Nailsea before we went up Tickenham hill. As we pulled away at the top Sam decided to change gears. Most people would shift one or two at a time. Sam decided to shift most of his rear mech onto the road. After emergency repairs, i.e. removing the rest of his rear mech, and discarding jockey wheels and bits of cage, he free wheeled down Naish Hill and into Portishead. More repairs followed and with a shortened chain he was able to ride his new single speed into town.

    A long cafe stop followed where apparently a £5 small breakfast gets you two fried eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms, fried potatoes, baked beans and two slices of toast. Bargain! We then set off home minus Sam who had gone to visit his gran. Somewhere along Nore Road my gears started slipping. Not wanting to curse the ride any further I brushed this minor nuisance aside and tried my best to ride on. The chain then came off and wedged itself between wheel and cassette. After a bit of faffing I got it back on and continued home, all the way my gears kept randomly changing up and down. Couldn't put any power through the cranks as the chain jumped badly so limped home at about 20 kph.

    That is basically the ride report but to add to this, when I got home decided to see what was causing the gears to jump around. It was a sticky link on that brand new chain I bought last week. That should be easy enough to fix methinks. No. All the usual bending and twisting would not free it up so I resorted to the chain tool and promptly pushed the pin right out of the link. Pushed it back in but not confident with that fix so off to the bike shop today for a new link/new chain!

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