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| Outside Tesco's Supermarket on Kilmore Road before Christmas Day |
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| Surly LHT on the West Pier Howth |
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| The Surly LHT and I on the West Pier Howth |
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| Harbour Seal waiting for People to give it Fish at Howth |
At last the Thaw set in on Christmas Night and continued on Saint Stephens Day. The Temps rose from - 10C before Christmas Day to 8 C on St Stephens Day but with Patches of Ice still on the Paths and Roads. The 27th came along with Temps rising to 11Celsius and only tiny bits of Slush,as I was suffering from Cabin Fever I decided to go for a spin at 3.00pm on the Surly LHT. I headed off out to Raheny then onto the Cycleway out to Sutton then Howth Village.
It was getting very Gloomy with the Rain falling and slowly getting darker. There was still little bits of Ice here and there but I could hardly see it with the Rain on my Specs and I had to keep wiping the Lenses every so often with my Fingers. This was the Third time to be on this Bike since I got it on the 24th of November. Because of the Snow and the two falls I had on the Dutch Bike I just stopped Riding in the Snow. The second time out a small problem cropped up with the Bike,the Chain began to hit off the front Mech Cage particulary in high Gear. So before I left the House I decided to try and fix it. I put the front Gear on the Granny Gear which is the big Chain Ring and the Rear Cassette on the high Gear which is the small Gear. Then I loosened one of the two little Screws ,the right one on the Derailleur a bit and tightened it a bit,then it righted itself and all was fine,no Clanking off the Mech Cage.
Out on the Cycleway at Sutton there was a strong Breeze coming from the Sea on my right and I could feel it pushing me over a bit but it wasnt impeding my progress much. The Rain was blowing into my face and I had to keep wiping it off my Spectacle Lenses with my Fingers. The Sea was coming in and you could hear it bashing off the Sea Wall.It really felt good to be out Cycling along really Invigorating. Loads of People out Walking and Dog Walking and Jogging and a few People on Road Bikes,they seemed glad to get out of their Houses like me possibly for the first time for Days because of the Snow.
I got to Howth and took a few Photo's of myself and the Seals then headed Home and when I got to Clontarf I continued on the long way up the Cycleway back Home. With some stretches of Ice on the Cycleway of 10 metres or more every so often,I just got off and walked it each time I came to the Ice .
Total distance I had covered was 30 KM or 19 miles.The Surly was very smooth and dependable with no Twitching of the Steering,it held the Route solid and true,it was a Pleasure to Cycle on it but what would you expect from a Tourer it did what it said on the Brochure Brilliant Bicycle.
2 comments:
The Surly must a dream to ride!
As I was having problems with flats and frozen chain links on my Hybrid, I got a 'beater mountain bike' (almost new, hardly used) for Winter use. It seems easier to ride in the snow with Knobby tires. I will get studded ones for next Winter. Nothing fancy at all, but I won't have to worry about it rusting away either.
I taught myself how to change a chain- via internet video. First time, yeh!
Hi Carolyn ,None of my Bikes have Knobbly Tyres unfortunately,we normally dont need them as we seldom get Snow much.
Our Snow if we get it comes in January and it lasts a Day or two then it is gone but these last three Years we seem to be getting very heavy Snow and it is lasting a long time. I was thinking the same thing maybe get an Old Beater MTB with thick Knobbly Tyres except I have too many Bikes lying around .I want to try and sell two of them first before considering buying anything. The other alternative is buy two thick Winter Knobbly Tyres for the Surly,it can take thick Tyres up to 2.1 Inch.
This bike has 26 Inch Wheels and it looks a bit on the short side in that Photo with me,exaggerated Perspective. I think the smaller Wheels makes it more manoeuverable than the 28 ''Inch Wheels on most Bikes. Because of the lower Bottom Bracket there is a slight Danger of the Pedal Hitting the Ground when turning sharply but it has not happened to me as I dont do fancy Road Bike manouuveres.
A lot of very interesting Bike maintenance Videos on U Tube that I always look at ,it can get you out of trouble when you thought something was difficult to fix when it is actually very simple maybe just turning a screw or a Nut..
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