Today was a lazy day. As lazy as you can be from a campsite that’s 4.2 miles from the local town, and 1.7 miles from the nearest pub. Short distances – but lots of hills. It has also been a day of bike problems, solutions and fingers crossed.
I cycled into Bakewell, getting there just before 0900. It’s mostly downhill but with enough short hill sections to test the legs. Coffee at Summat, good again, then breakfast at a recommended Google place. Bakewell has been a bit disappointing for food to be honest. Characterless venues and so-so food at high prices. I’m sure there are some gems but the normally reliable Google Maps suggestions aren’t serving them up.
Breakfast done and a wander round the town complete, I decided to replace the front brake pads. Easier said than done. Getting the pads out was simple enough, but pushing the pistons back in sufficiently far to get the pads and disc back in was a nightmare.
Several people came over to see if I was ok, had the right tools, or knew that there was a good local bike shop nearby. Genuinely super lovely people here. Then I had a quick chat with a guy who’d just moved to the area from Germany. He was admiring my upside-down, front-wheel off, bike and was familiar with Canyon - the German brand who make my bike.
Eventually, after downloading the service manual, then working out I could put the old pads back in and use those, to more evenly (and safely) press the pistons back, I finally got the brakes sorted. It seems SRAM brakes require approximately 2 discs to be inserted and tightened against without the pads, to allow them to reset their positions.
That done, I took the bike over to the local bike shop to get some more disc pads in case I need to replace the rear as well. I only carry one set of pads – foolish on an extended trip. I rode over still wearing my sandals and a knocking that I’d previously noticed late in the ride yesterday seemed to have become much worse. That was weird. I had assumed it was my cleat loosening on my shoes but that couldn’t be the case. I looked at the pedal. No, that was fine. Wait! My crank is wobbling, but the bolts seem tight.
Aside: There is one Allen bolt that connects to the spindle and an outer retaining ring that is tightened using a pin wrench that goes over the Allen bolt. This outer ring is part of a self extracting feature that uses the main Allen bolt head pushing against the ring to push the crank off the spindle as it is undone. Very clever and something I’ve not seen before.
The bike shop owner was super helpful, getting me the pads and then taking a look at the crank. Bad news, the bolts are tight, the carbon crank arms have become loose on the bolt section. Neither of us know how this system is constructed so we don’t know what the failure mode will be…
I’ll need to replace the crank arms ASAP but that will take time to order and I have 110km / 60 miles to cycle to a wedding over the next two days. The first day will be ‘lumpy’ but the second flat. I’ll have to nurse the cranks, using my cycling shoes to have more control and try to minimize wobbling of the crank. What could possibly go wrong? 😎
That dilemma parked, I grabbed a cheese & onion pasty which I ate by the river. Very pleasant indeed. Then cycled very carefully back up the hill to the campsite where I decided that with all that excitement, I needed a nap.
After the rest I decided to make dinner rather than eating out again. I’d bought pasta and a stir in sauce on the first night but hadn’t used it yet, so out came the stove and I boiled the pasta. While I was waiting for this I watched a young child cycling up the path, followed by their mum who carried a younger sibling. Just as I was thinking how well the youngster was doing, they fell off. Much screaming ensued. I could have – should have – gone and helped but my food was cooking and the moment passed. I ate with a slight sense of shame. It was surprisingly good though. The food, not the shame.
After eating I decided to go to the pub to get a little top-up charge in exchange for a few pints of cider. The add-on battery has proved invaluable this break. It takes up valuable space that could be used for water but it is going to prove its worth again tomorrow I think.
I’m short on photos (again) so here’s one of me in the pub looking a lot more miserable than I actually am. Must remember to smile in selfies. and do that finger thing all the kids do. I’m not miserable because the pints here are only £5.00, a full £1.20 less than in Bakewell. Buy 4 get 1 free!
Full of charge, as much as I can be, I headed back to the campsite for an early night and early start tomorrow. I have a campsite booked halfway along the route to my brother’s wedding and hope I can get a full charge there, I’ve booked an electric pitch and just need to find a lightweight hook-up unit for use in future trips like this.