April 9 2008

Another lovely sunny day and I have had a more ambitious ride along the seafront of 7 miles. The Felixstowe sea defenses are being greatly reinforced and seeing monstrous machines effortlessly picking up boulders weighing many tons and throwing them about, I was amused to think of the difference in power used by these behemoths and used by my little Panasonic.

Being able to get about so easily and pleasantly again I am beginning to plan a photographic album of some sort, and a seafront ride is likely to be one of the first candidates. A bicycle really is a perfect vehicle for a photographer, allowing one to cover reasonable distances at a speed which allows one to look around properly which one cannot do in a car.

My front tyre is still hard, and I am left wondering just how it came to lose all its pressure before. It obviously cannot be a puncture and so must be the valve. In the old days, one would have known that one must replace the valve rubber, but heaven knows what sort of valve is in this modern version.

I should have mentioned that I have reverted to the original saddle that came with the Agattu. I actually ordered a Brooks B-17 saddle but was informed there would be a delay of two months so I cancelled the order. It still isn't right, but I'm getting very much more used to it and it is certainly very comfortable in use around the town.

I switched the power off for a while and noticed what may be a little problem with the gears when starting off. There was some stiffness for the first few turns of the pedals, which I thought perhaps was due to the motor being turned before the drive from the pedals was released. It's nothing that matters, but perhaps of some interest in getting to know the bike.

Coming home a slightly different way I had a lengthy hill to climb. Not a steep one, but a good mile of it. I experimented a little and found that it was best tackled in gear 3. The last time I did this. I had used gear one and I'm tolerably sure that it was harder work. There is much to learn about the gears and the motor assistance.