Frank Kinlan's Blog

First post for another month with a trip to London for a week to see Paul. We had booked into Crystal Palace Caravan Club site and this just about sums it up.

It was a steady trip down with the fun starting once you get within the M25. Traffic volumes and queues increase and not content with the height worries there was a new one with width restrictions. 7ft 6in into 7ft doesn’t go.

Took the bike down but it saw little use, cycle lanes are OK until they end and there is a massive pinch point with all the traffic.

First port of call was to buy an Oyster Card for the buses , with a trip to the Science museum on Monday planned. The number 3 bus taking you to Picadilly Circus. Then the number 12 to South Kensington. It’s a scenic sight seeing route on public transport.

After taking a shortcut through the Victoria and Albert Museum  we arrived at the Science Museum to see what the Google Web Lab was all about, only to find it closed for a function. With security and PR people not letting us in.

The next morning watching the news on tv the function was a press conference by Will.I.am of Black Eyed Peas fame.

When we finally got in you pick up a card which is read by the exhibit and stores a record of your visit to the web.

This exhibit takes your picture and the robotic arm draws your face in the sand.
There are web enabled exhibits that are for the web based visitors.

http://www.chromeweblab.com

After that it was a vist to the Imax cinema to see the Space Hubble in 3D on what was the Space Shuttles last journey along with about 500 school kids. You could probably spend a couple of days here and still miss something.

Tuesday Was visit Paul at the Google office.  One amazing place, even has it’s own sushi chef and a london bus as a meeting room. If that wasn’t enough  just down the road was Buckingham Palace . A japanese honeymoon couple were getting photographed by the gates with a dresser, camera man and video too.
Strolling up Horseguards parade the Queens corgis were getting a walk.

In sharp contrast to Google Weblab  was a trip to Greenwich and the Observatory to see the John Harrison clocks. One took 20 years to make and this was his final one the H4

We had to make two trips to Greenwich as we got lost after leaving the bus at Blackheath and walked down the hill towards the Millenium Dome which is nowhere near where we wanted to go.

The cable car across the river was closed due to high winds.

Had to take a day out of sight seeing to get a pump and tyre pressure gauge  as I spotted a soft tyre on the van.

This was the view from the train when I dropped the motorhome off for its upgrades.

The newly surfaced Rest Hill

It’s been a while since I posted and with good reason. I had a major setback last November  in the form of a low bridge. Lost the will to ride and much else for that matter.

You wouldn’t believe how sickening it is to hear it crunch into thebridge,reversing out to inspect the damage was just the start of things to come.

Not too bad at first glance you might say but these toys are expensive and expensive to repair.

Once we had got our bearings back at the storage, it was then time to take it to Flintshire Caravans to asses the damage, they kindly sealed it from the elements while I was there and took me around the workshop and spraybooth.
The insurance assessor was there within a day of the quote getting to them, which meant another trip.

I must give a mention to Malcolms Motorhomes , he was the the only one that  bothered to quote Flintshire Caravans for the parts needed for the repair. Parts have to be ordered from a franchised dealer. Most were unhelpful which doesn’t say much for the dealers. This was not to me but fellow traders, which is worse.

We took a trip down to Malcolms Motorhomes to see if anything could be done to speed things up, we couldn’t. Optomistic 2-3 week delivery times in reality turned out to be 5-6 weeks. This is just for the parts.

Nothing starts until all the parts are on site or the repair will just clog up the system, it was a hard pill to swallow.

In the mean time it was a chance to decorate the living room. This meant a mad rush to wallpaper and then clear downstairs ready for the new carpet. In the process we (I) lost the new tax disc for the motorhome. After spending  about 3 days ripping everything to bits I went to the DVLA and got a replacement for £7. Another lesson learn’t the hard way.

Progress trips to Flintshire Caravans had a bit of a setback when we learn’t that we wouldn’t get the van back for Christmas. The only consolation was the house was looking good with new wallpaper and carpet. I had planned a trip to Crystal Palace for my Wedding Anniversary but it was not to be.

Finally we got the van back but were suffering other problems alongside it, like the central heating packing in, in a cold spell.

Our SECOND shake down run was to the Caravan Club site at Chirk.
Great site, but I had the most terrifying experience of crossing the River Dee bridge in a high wind. It’s not something I want to do again.

Other things of note: Lance Armstrong confesses to cheating and we have the wettest year end on record.

Wonky photographs are what you get when using a smartphone.
The bike did get used but not for what I was expecting.

When I booked in to the Chirk Carravan Club site the last of the snow was just melting and on arrival it was blowing a gale. Parking up after deciding parking under swaying trees was not a good idea, we discovered a water leak on the sink waste. This had been sealed on an earlier trip but the root cause had not been sorted.
Walking down into Chirk we discovered a small hardware store  Korkys Cabin where a tube of  silicone sealant and caulking gun was purchased for the reasonable price of £7.20. It even has a tap on the nozzle to prevent the silicone hardening.

Tried to access the internet through the site WiFi to no avail that evening only to find out in the morning that it was down until Tuesday. Time to get the bike out and head up the A5 to Llangollen. Too narrow and too many double white lines for my liking even midweek. Quarry trucks pass ok but it’s nerve wracking at best.

Calling in at the Visitor Center/ Library for internet access only to find it closed on a Thursday. Probably the victim of Council cuts. I was directed to the internet Cafe across the road where tea and a nice scone is £1.90 but half an hour of internet access is £2. I was not in a position to argue. The google search I put in came up with Horizon Motorhomes of Chirk, finding them on an Edge 800  proved to be quite difficult.
My search of a couple of housing estates proved fruitless but did reveal the carved tree. I was about a mile off course and just missed them when I ventured past the Bridge Inn, deciding to head back via the canal towpath. 

Interesting  how the Cadbury factory is at the centre of the carving. If the wind is in the right direction it is inobtrussive. If not the drone of the place carries along with the smell of Cadburys drinking chocolate. It may look out of place now but Chirk was part of the Industrial Revolution with the Aquaduct and later the rail bridge. 

More later, managed to break the screen on my laptop, Central heating boiler packed up in the recent freeze. Took 2 attempts to repair the thing.
The repair to the above took months and wasn’t completed till January. More pictures to follow and more.

Entries are now open for Merseyside CTC,s Wild Wales Challenge.

http://www.wildwaleschallenge.com/index.htmlWild Wales Challenge

As always it promises to be a great event.

I’ll update the blog  in due course, it’s been an eventful 3 months and not over yet.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 160,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 8 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Time flies at the moment with a lot of it directed to The Toy Mk2. The logistics of finding storage for it then arranging insurance which is based on the secure storage location meant things were cut quite fine on the run up to collection of The Toy Mk2.

Couldn’t fault Kingsmill Leisure on the handover who showed us where everything was and how it operated. Only thing I can’t seem to find is a jack for the fitting of the spare wheel. Printed out the Fiat Ducato manual as it doesn’t come with the van and at 260 odd pages I can see why. Talking of the handover, there is a lot to take in and a lot of it goes straight out of the window come your first trial run. The van did come with  a RollerTeam document bag full of all the manuals for the kit.

Things NOT to do with a new motorhome with an automatic gearbox are jumping on the brake thinking it is the clutch, this was before I’d even left the carpark. The trip home proved to be eventful with a Fiat 500 merging with motorway traffic at 50mph. This leaving me with nowhere to go but the middle lane.
It’s built on a van chassis and handles like a heavily laden one. I’d be lost without the rear view camera and it did prove to be a deal breaker on some of the other motorhomes I’ve been looking at.
I’ve had 2 shake down trips now to sort things out. One of the first problems was the wheel base and roundabouts, don’t cut it to short or the rear wheels will ride up on the curb.

Riding has taken a back seat at the moment but I did make it to the Tour of Britain Knowsley safari Park finish.

The point of the photo is the kid on the purple fleece guys shoulders with the Wiggo sideburns on. Good day but Cav got beat.

Made it into the Eureka cafe video. Link to come. Need to loose weight by the looks of things.

It’s been an eventful week or so, in terms of what I’m planning for the future it’s small change.
 

Monday:  First day back at work. Called in on Sunday to book a half day Holiday to take Paul to Manchester  airport at some ungodly hour.
Back early enough to hang that awkward piece of wallpaper over a wall light that meant isolating the light circuit.
Started ringing around caravan storage sites without much luck, ring such and such after 5pm or the phone rang out.  Storage sites at Bromborough and Arrow Park were full. Speke Boulevard right next to work which would have been ideal on many counts said ring Wednesday.

A call in on the way to work soon showed why. Why rent out space to a 7 metre motorhome for £299 when you can put 2 cars at £50 a week on the same space and still pick up and drop them off at the airport 2 minutes away.

Had built my hopes up on this one. Cycle into work on the last day, pick the van up and throw my bike in the back and we would be away. Hopes dashed on this one. Val phoned the “Ring after 5″ Thingwall guy, left a message but he didn’t get back.
Alcohol Units Zero
Tuesday: Full day at work but a lot more of the same. Numbers ringing out, a webpage and email address that looks 15 years old. Started looking at CASSOA sites, even considering access time restrictions. Starting to get a bit concerned, I’m picking it up on Saturday and haven’t got secure parking yet.
Alcohol Units Zero
Wednesday:  Work, liked the look of  Holmstom Hall site by Oulton Park but maybe a bit far. It’s been a two pronged attack for the last 2 days now and I finally get a reply. Appointment set for 3 on Thursday.
Now to sort out the Insurance. The card I got from a stand on Saturday rang out and I got transferred to a callcentre.
From here things got a bit convoluted as I got passed from pillar to post.
One came good as I hesitated another offer came up, I’d have gone with the first one. Unlimited mileage, full European cover, breakdown cover with recovery etc.
Things are looking up.
Alcohol units Zero
Great Vuelta ride from Bertie
Thursday: Half day at work and I had to pull my finger out to get it all done before I finished.
All those calls we put out a couple of days ago deemed to call back after things were sorted.
Picked my spot at the storage, pretty it is not but it’s secure.
Headed to Graham Weigh in Deeside to have a look at some bikes. Never seen so much team kit, they have more jerseys than Chicago Dave. Talked to Walshy in the workshop, he’s not been on his bike for a while too.
Called in at M&S at Cheshire Oaks, really nice shop but the view isn’t the best.

Just wait until the stack flares.
Home, blog.
Alcohol Units Zero.
No comic in the Coop, will have to look further afield.
Friday: Looks like a ride out to the Eureka , No Eureka ride on Sunday as we’ll be out in the van for the first time. Need to get some miles in.
Headed out to the Eureka after a haircut. Rule Number one don’t get your haircut while Jeremy Kyle is on. The staff tend to get distracted by the guy who has cheated on his girl six times.
That done it was time to head out via Port Sunlight it always looks good in the sun.  Called in at the camping shop in Bromborouh and then on to Cheshire Oaks Cycles where I picked up a Bontrager Bottle cage in Placid Blue.
It’s close but not a 100% match to the Madone.
I’ve also had another lesson in the law of diminishing cycling returns.
Bontrager bottle cage 33 gramms @ £9.99 Zefal Carbon cage 28 gramms @£30 and it doesn’t hold a bottle as the bottom tang is cracked/springy.

Eureka for a BLT.  260 riders doing the Anniversary ride on Sunday.
Also on Sunday is the Etape Cymru, be a shame not to take in those closed roads if your in the area.

Had to go out for a new bracket for the Garmin nuvi as I lost  the original. Just goes to show how fast things move. It’s virtually an obsolete technology. Smartphones have it built in and Google maps is a powerful rival to Tom Tom, Garmin all for free. As Google own all their mapping data there is no need to license it from the likes of Navtec.

Dropped a kilo and still alcohol free. Pick up the new toy in the morning so it’s an early start on what has been a hectic week.

Saturday: Dropped another kilo so it’s under 100 at 99.9Kg .  Totally cutting out alcohol has been the main reason. Diet has been similar to the BHF above, with cereal and fruit first thing in the morning.  Cycling has been limited to the Friday ride. I’m expecting the exercise gains to kick in in due course.
Side effects have been very light sleep.

Off out now to pick the new toy up.

I have to hand it to the Merseyside CTC they continue to selflessly organise an excellent event that they don’t get to ride.
http://www.merseysidectc.com/
In the middle of Wild Wales no less.
Probably the toughest ride since the Etape in 2009 I haven’t done myself any favours by putting on 20kg and it shows.

The electronic tag sign in for the second year had about 600 of us on the road in a little over 15 minutes. This had the unforeseen consequence of the biggest queue at a control point I have ever seen with about an hour wait.

It defined the British and queues, orderly with no one pushing in except Zel of The Sunlight. Who I would class as marginal ;>)

2.5 miles in after tagging on to a club doing 9.5mph across the lake shore we were confronted by the climb of the Hirnant.

I’ve been shying away from hills since the Etape  and I’m about to get my come-upance.  That along with the lowest gearing I could muster, it wasn’t enough.

One theme that does shine through is that the more time on the bike the morethe

weight falls off. Expect a big increase in ride miles.

The Hirnant Pass probably defines the dictionary definition of a glacial valley.
Next up a fast descent to Lake Vyrnwy where I should have stopped to take a picture of the dam as it looked spectacular with water spilling over the weir.

One of the features of the ride was it was almost entirely up and down, the only flat section being the ride along the lake.

Some of the views today were stunning.

Possibly the longest queue at a feedstation EVER

Stopped on this climb to recover and take a picture it was earily quiet and far in

the valley below you could see the sheep running around the purple heather.

Another missed photo opportunity were the 3 Model T Fords along the route.
Someone had a support vehicle following them around the ride, all well and good but where’s the challenge? The annoying part was having the same car come past you on narrow climbs 4 or 5 times with me being a soft sod and stopping to let it pass.

There was a stop at Machynlleth for food and drink with riders emptying the shelves of the Co-op of water. The shop manager coming out with a plastic bag to put the empty or not so empty bottles in.

Out of Machynlleth I ended up riding with a chap from Chester Tri  who sticking in big efforts on 39X27.  What doesn’t come through on a post like this is the number of people you interact with. You tend to end up riding with a section of riders of a similar ability. If you are suffering they are suffering.

Dinas Mawddwy stop had no queues and the card reader had packed up so it was a manual checkin with the main event a few miles down the road.

This climb is relentless the easy bits can be 18% with the Sunlight telling me it’s 29% at the top which is where the armco starts.

Nothing worse than looking in the sock draw and finding 1 Assos sock, talking of which had a chap fall off in front of me on the Bylch who was wearing one fluro pink one and fluro yellow/green one and they were long to boot more like legwarmers.

Highest road pass in Wales

Ancient capital capital of Wales no less, you learn something every day. Thinking back there was a chap on a recumbent trike , mountain bikes were more suitable at times or at least the gearing.

Wolverhampton wanders no Wheelers won the team prize with 39 riders turning up.

Great video from Alan of the ride, great site too.

http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/2012/08/wild-wales-challenge-2012-the-movie/