February 8, 2012
Bridgwater
getting a Thorn Nomad
I'm not sure what to do. It's sunny for a few minutes, but clouds drift across and they look heavy.
The plan is to ride over beautiful Exmoor to the north Somerset coast, visiting more quaint locations Patterson drew, but at the first junction, the sky is promising an imminent storm, so it seems wise to get to the train station, some six miles away, and zip to Bridgwater to sort out a new bike from St John Street Cycles. This is something arranged months ago.
Now is the time.
It's sad that my Brodie has come to the end of its life. The good news is in future I'll be on a Thorn Nomad, equipped with a Rohloff hub - a birthday gift from Debbie.
I head to Bridgwater's train station, which is basically on St John Street, so finding the bike shop is easy. My loaded tourer gets wheeled into the Internet-based company's office and I start stripping it down in the reception area. Basically most of the components will get reused and transferred to a new frame, plus a new rear wheel with the drive chain.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 2 | Link |
I don't think Thorns come in many different colours... although black is practical, it didn't appeal as my old Brodie was that colour, and yellow looks cool. Eight years have flown by!
3 years ago
It takes me a few hours to assemble the yellow Nomad. Rack bosses on the new machine are a bombproof 6 mm, but my front and rear racks are drilled for 5 mm ones, which means a bit of messing around.
The mudguards need drilling and I'm not confident about cutting the Rohloff cables, so decide to let the guys in the workshop finish it all off, arranging to pick up the completed bike tomorrow morning after 10:00.
If it's a nice day, the bike will be taking me over Exmoor. My fingers are crossed as I lug my heavy bags down the street to a B&B.
Today's ride: 16 km (10 miles)
Total: 2,706 km (1,680 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 2 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |