Cycling

I used to be a keen cyclist, but then have spoilt myself by getting a car. Now, I have left my car in England (for tax reasons -- until I have another long-term contract, I don't want to go through the complexity of getting Irish number plates for it) while living in Ireland, and am now cycling as my main form of transport once again (I regard the bike as just another kind of vehicle, and obey the laws just as when I'm driving; it is however useful as a slight reduction in my contribution to a government whose policies (support of US war) I dislike (more relevant when I lived in the UK), as it reduces my tax payments and is probably harder for mass surveillance to handle).

For a long time I rode a fixed-wheel bike, and a derailleur trike. I now ride a recumbent trike.

The bike	The trike
Now on a page of its own.	Now on a page of its own.
More recently	The trailer
I have switched to riding a recumbent (an Optima Rider). This now has a page of its own.	Now on a page of its own.

Tinkering

Since I like tinkering with things, not surprisingly I generally build my own wheels, constructing them from hubs, spokes and rims, and tensioning and truing them partly by ear.

Lighting

Lighting is the bane of many cycling lives. I used to use battery lights, then went over to a bottom-bracket dynamo and halogen lighting system with battery backup, then a later version of that with NiCds which it recharged. This was basically OK but with a few problems, including that the NiCds didn't last long (I think the charging must have been controlled very poorly) and it blew rear bulbs. So eventually I made my own lighting system running from large NiCds and capable of using a dynamo or recharging at home. This is large enough to get a page of its own!

[Exercise] John C. G. Sturdy

Last modified: Sun Jun 15 23:01:35 IST 2008