Combing my hair….

Two rainy days and the opportunity to get down to two non-cycling, but cycling related tasks. The first was enjoyable but occasionally perplexing. A change in structure for the local CTC group meant that it was time to move the website to the much more user friendly www.sheffield ctc.org One thing I am particularly pleased about is that we have a clear statement about what we are about and we now have a site that integrates both the riding and campaigning content. While we are on the topic of new websites Cycle Sheffield have had a refresh and now include some detailed route advice to place like Hillsborough, Crookes and The Northern General

Task two was rather less enjoyable. I had bought a floor anchor some months ago and had not got round to installing it. There was no alternative but to go for it. Now this brute is intended to stop people walking off with your prized bike and is essentially a kick ass metal ring which is attached to the floor with four allen key bolts. Once torqued up to 25Nms the heads of the bolts are destroyed by hammering a ball bearing into the hexagonal hole. This is intended to prevent the bolt either being undone or drilled out. Simples. Well not quite so simple as installation required drilling four 16mm holes 90mm deep into solid concrete. Note concrete, not cement but a mixture of cement and aggregate. And note that 4x90mm equals over a foot in old money. After an age determining where it should go – there would be no chance to reposition it – I went to collect the SDS drill I had arranged to hire. Only problem was the previous hirer hadn’t returned it. I was now faced with a choice; abandon my plans for the day or push on using my 20 year old 500w hammer drill. So it was gloves, face mask, ear protectors and goggles on and two hours later with a bruised right hand the beast was in place. Hmm