It was time to dismantle the bike, for a couple of reasons. One, of course, is that it has to be packed shortly for the trip to Europe. Second, I needed to go over the bike with a microscope to see if I could find out why it's creaking. I want to ensure that there aren't any hairline cracks in the frame !
For an inspection like that, I need it very clean and in pieces so that I can put some weight on the frame and see if there's something going on. AFAIK, there's nothing. Furthermore, the creak was there BEFORE I replaced bottom bracket, cranks etc etc so it's not one of those. It could possibly be the couplers, but they were tight. Perhaps better cleaning and greasing might do the trick but I won't know until I reassemble. Perhaps it's the fork, but it and the headset were quite well greased. It's not the seatpost or saddle because the creak happens while I stand. I can make the handlebars creak but it's different from the creak-while-pedaling and no pressure on the bars. It could still be the bars/stem; don't know. It doesn't appear to be the pedals ...
Anyway, my key concern isn't the creak itself but rather assuring myself that there's nothing going on with the frame. Had I found something, the backup plan would have been to use the Litespeed.
Some good news - after riding 300k the newly built rear wheel was still true. I must have done a decent job.
... and in other news ...
I took the X5 wheel into Arnstein and later in the day Jeff confirmed that the rim is ok. That's great. I was worried that I'd be racing around Ontario to find a replacement rim ... or not. Our backup plan, which we hope to not use, was two-fold - Sandy could take her car to Reading and bring the Atlas back; Jeffrey could come up with her car and swap back ... or ... Sandy could have a rental and I'd take the X5 to the airport. Hopefully none of that comes to pass.
I hit the post office and made her day with mailings to USA, Japan, Romania & Ukraine. The last three all have a $3.25 CAD stamp, so not too bad. The US ones are cheaper. These are the International Super Randonneur mailings which consist of a brevet card and a patch. The addresses on some of these are complicated !
Assuming the car thing works out, Sandy will probably head to the Toronto area on Thursday, overnight with Joyce and then the two of them are driving to Montreal for the surprise 50th anniversary party, then returning Sunday. I leave on Saturday for my afternoon flight to Frankfurt. If the car thing doesn't work out, all bets are off !
It was cloudy yesterday, basically no mosquitoes inside or out. I only saw one in the den yesterday; one downstairs; nothing this morning and they always, always, always are attracted to the laptop. When David was here on the weekend, there were tons of the buggers in the house, now nothing. The only thing that we can figure out is that they gradually accumulated with the ins and outs of mainly Sandy and Cassie. The other possibility is that the kitchen door was open a crack -- that happens if you shut the slider hard and it bounces back. It only takes perhaps 1/8" for those critters to come in and even a couple of dozen in the house makes for a constant battle because they do find you, attracted by flickering lights (laptop, phone, ipad, tv), overhead lights, body heat and CO2.
The mosquito catcher, at the same time, is collecting thousands ! I seem to have found the best place for it, right by the kitchen window. Having that window open also adds an attractant. It did precious little a few meters away under the trees. Judging by how quickly they accumulate when I light the barbecue, one of those units that burns propane might have been a good idea. I believe that they go through about 1 barbecue tank per month which would be nothing attached to my 3000 liter submarine.
Onward ?
No comments:
Post a Comment