Shakedown ride

June 25, 2023

I've spent the last week or so doing lots of theoretical plotting about routes, and also giving the Shift a once-over and picking up the few other parts I needed. My bar bag - a cheap nylon thing - was getting pretty knackered and coming loose from the holder, so I knew I needed to replace that. The price of them seems to have gone through the roof - the identical bag would now cost me £60! Even after finding a special offer at £40, this still seemed very steep. I actually found that I could buy a Carradice "Super C" bag for a similar price. Handmade from waxed cotton in the UK, this is a much nicer bag.

The only surprise was upon fitting new brake pads, I was very disconcerted when the whole caliper foot fell out! This is apparently not an unknown fault with the BB7. The foot was very pitted and "excoriated", and it being on the front, even once I fixed it I wasn't particularly happy about relying upon it in the Spanish mountains. £60 for a new caliper again seems pricey, but they are excellent brakes, and it's probably best not to mess around with front brake quality.

Finally, I switched out the pedals. Given that the cages of the old ones were beginning to fatigue, and not the mention that the axles were wobbling around rather too freely in the bearing, I'd bought some replacements months ago. It's a five minute job to swap them over.

It's a really nice bag, much bigger and sturdier than my last one, but not too much heavier. It also doesn't have such a ridiculously big mounting, freeing up much more space on the bars. Previously, my little bike computer had to sit on a special mount on top of the bag!

Attaching the new flat pedals, with new nylon clips I had knocking around

Shiny new front brake caliper. Money well spent.

This Sunday I thought I'd load up the pannier bags and see how (i) the bike and (ii) my legs would cope. I collected together my tent and sleeping kit, tools, a representative set of clothes and food, and added 2.5 extra liters of water in my reservoir. I also packed my tiny laptop, which is a - potential - new addition to the kit.

The fully loaded Shift. As well as the water bottles, I had another couple of liters hidden away in a back pannier (it was a warm day, but this was mostly to test out my bladder and check it wouldn't leak)

It was a lovely day, if a bit hot. I didn't have much or a plan or an object - just to do some climbing and varied riding, and see how the bike handled it. I struck off east on the national cycle way through the lanes towards Gwinear, aiming to pick up the mining trails in the hilly spine above Camborne and Rudruth.

There's the inevitable moment of bloody hell that's heavy when you get on, and I had the usual awkwardness of getting used to the steering with the front panniers - but the amazing thing is within 15 minutes I kinda forgot the bike was loaded. I went a little slower up the hills, but everything felt sustainable, even at >10%.

This was very much a tour of mining country.

As always, I ignored the "Road Closed" signs, confident I'd find a way to squeeze through. It was tight, but I could.

Multiple mine engines looking over to Carn Brae

Stopped and had lunch perched up on this old engine house. It was a bit precarious, actually - I had a bit of a climb up there

Well preserved. You can see that the pump houses were quite crudely built of local stone - they're about 150 years old. Then the replaceable top of the chimney was built in brick.

I had a weird encounter on the trail, which was otherwise pretty quiet. Right blocking the entrance to one stage a guy was sitting - at first I thought he was actually meditating, but getting closer he didn't look in a good way. His two companions were cajoling him and trying to get him to move, which he would not. They were profusely apologetic and helped me carry my bike around him - I was worried I would bash him otherwise. The guy on the ground made a feeble grab for my water bottle as we passed, while his companion stopped him. It was a bit concerning, but at least he clearly had kind people looking after him.

After coming to the end of the Great Flat Lode trail, I was about to head down to the roads when I thought I'd check out a random bridleway. I was really pleased to (re)discover the continuation of the trail, which impressively cuts along the side of the increasingly steep valley. I'd cycled this about a year ago, but for some reason I've had real difficulty identifying this on even detailed maps. I was beginning to think I dreamt it.

If you look carefully, you can see the sea

The trail becomes pretty impressive as it tracks the deep valley to the left

Just in case you were thinking of drinking from the stream. Arsenic still leaches from the extensive 19th century mining works, and pollutes some waterways. My mother once actually got sick from eating samphire growing in contaminated water.

The "folly" on top of Carn Brae is actually quite an old hunting lodge. Bizarrely, it is now a middle-Eastern restaurant, with excellent views and (reportedly) so-so food.

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I was really pleased with this run - the Shift did excellently, no mechanical problems to speak of, and the new bar bag was great. I was carrying pretty much the load I expect to tour with, and did a half day 50km/800m climb without destroying myself. Considering this involved a fair bit of off-roading I'm thinking 90km/1500m days in Spain should be ... doable, at least?

Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 54 km (34 miles)

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Suzanne GibsonAnd interesting ride. You certainly have nice cycling near by and it looks like you're in great shape for Spain!
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10 months ago

Jon AylingTo Suzanne GibsonThanks Suzanne! Yeah it's beautiful round here, and we've been lucky to have good conditions for the last couple of months. The only difficulty is the hills - which is good training!
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10 months ago