Monthly Archives: April 2010

After a week off, it was back out on the Hemlock again tonight. Unfortunately the Hemlock has started creaking loudly again, making the ride something of a cacophonous affair. I’m endeavoring to get some advice on how best to fix it, failing that I’ll wave various tools at it over the weekend and hope for the best.

My legs hadn’t really gone on strike today, so Sandy and I headed out on the planned off-road ride which on reflection proved to be a bit of a bad move. My legs were totally lifeless, and the climb out of the valley proved something of a struggle. Even on the flat bits it was almost impossible to maintain any sort of speed. To be honest, going from hardly any riding at all to 4 rides in 5 days was probably a step too far, but I have done about 20% of this years miles in the last 7 days.

I think I’ll forego a ride tomorrow and give my legs a rest.

Despite suffering from tired legs all day today, the lure of the sunshine was too much and tempted me away from my intended evening of rest. I managed to drag an equally tired Sandy out with me for company, and once aboard the Singular Peregrine we headed out along the cycle track to Saltford before climbing a few hills on the way to Wilmington and back home through Twerton. 15 fairly hilly miles were despatched in 85 minutes or so at a reasonably leisurely pace, the steep climb towards Wilmington almost defeated me, but determination saw me reach the top before my lungs made a break for freedom.

There’s an off-road ride planned for tomorrow night provided my legs haven’t gone on strike by then.

I headed out this afternoon on the Hemlock accompanied by Al, we rode pretty much the same route as Friday and the trails were even dustier, and there was even more totty out and about to improve the view. Back home after a heavenly 13 miles for a well earned cold beer and a shower. No photos today as I was enjoying it too much to stop and get the camera out.

Before leaving I raised the stem another 10mm, and I think it’s improved the handling of the bike off-road by shifting my weight back slightly.

After a bit of stem swapping, I’ve ended up with a new Thomson X4 90mm stem paired with a Bontrager Rhythm Pro bar, together they should beef up the front end of the Hemlock a bit.

The incessant creaking from the bike was beginning to get on my nerves, so I decided to attack some of the pivots armed only with a set of allen keys, a hammer, some grease, and a healthy dose of ignorance. I didn’t manage to get the rockers off completely, and I’m still not entirely sure how you’re meant to remove them, but I think the creaking was due to an over-tight pivot between the rocker and seat-stays. Loosening it off slightly appears to have solved the problem, although it probably means that the bolts will fall out, the pivot will collapse, and I’ll die horribly in a nasty accident next time I ride the bike. Now where did I put my thread-lock?

After a frankly pathetic amount of riding in the Lakes over Easter, more of which later, I took the Hemlock out for it’s first proper local ride this afternoon. I was joined for most of the ride by Al on his new Genesis Altitude 00 complete with SPDs, consequently he spent a large proportion of the ride failing to unclip and therefore falling off, including at one point attempting to kill me by nearly pushing me into a main road after randomly stopping during a climb.

The Hemlock quickly became christened the Cotic Creaklots due to the horrendous noise emanating from one or more of the pivots. Fortunately things calmed down mid-way round the loop, either that or I lost most of my hearing.

With an 80mm stem fitted to replace the 100mm I’d previously been running the bike feels superb. With the fork locked out and Pro-pedal switched on on the shock, it feels almost hardtail-like, yet with everything opened up it’s supremely comfortable. I could get used to this full-suspension lark.