Today Penelope went for a trip to the River Rhine, a river that I’ve cycled along on my Trice Q and on Alfie many times but this was Penelope’s first visit (as far as I am aware). Today is Easter Saturday. However, yesterday Penelope also got to stretch her legs (metaphorically!) as we went to… Continue reading Penelope goes to the Rhine at Orsoy/Walsum
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Penelope goes to Straelen
It’s mid April and the weather is being pretty variable – two days ago it was extremely windy, yesterday it was pretty cold but today dawned with a clear blue sky. I took the dog out for a walk and decided it was definitely cycling weather. I had no specific plans for the day except… Continue reading Penelope goes to Straelen
Penelope goes to Schwalmtal
I’ve now had Penelope the Versatile Velomobile with me for a week and have done a reasonable amount of riding in her to slowly get the hang of riding a velomobile rather than my recumbent trike. She and I had done 73 fairly easy miles and apart from a slight bit of pain in my… Continue reading Penelope goes to Schwalmtal
Penelope goes to Wachtendonk
I had my first slightly longer trip on the Velomobile today. It wasn’t going to be very long as I have slightly painful knees, probably as a result of switching to the heavy Versatile, so I wanted to take it easy. I left the dog feeling very patriotic. Then it was off out in Penelope… Continue reading Penelope goes to Wachtendonk
Penelope the Versatile moves to Germany
Today was the day, long awaited, when Penelope the Versatile Velomobile came to live with me in Germany. As mentioned on previous blog posts, I bought Penelope from Alex who lives in Rotterdam but realised it wasn’t a good idea to bring her back to the UK as she doesn’t fit in my car. Alex… Continue reading Penelope the Versatile moves to Germany
Auntie Helen flees to the continent 2: I’ve arrived in Germany!!!!
Yes, I’ve made it – I’m now living in Germany! Leaving Events First of all, however, I was able to enjoy several leaving events (I think I counted nine in total). These included Black Forest Gateau at a church housegroup, several meals with friends and, on the Saturday before I went, a cycle ride around… Continue reading Auntie Helen flees to the continent 2: I’ve arrived in Germany!!!!
Replacing the track rods on my ICE Sprint
A long, long time ago (well, August 2013, i.e. six months ago) I realised that the ball joints on my track rods on my ICE Sprint trike had got rather worn. This meant that they wobbled around a bit and consequently the trike’s tracking was rather variable. In other words, if you stood between the… Continue reading Replacing the track rods on my ICE Sprint
Auntie Helen flees to the continent…
Yes, I’m crossing the English Channel and going to live ‘abroad’. The title of this post, “Auntie Helen flees to the continent”, is a quote from the minister of my church who explained to a church meeting why I couldn’t organise our event in the Essex Book Festival as I had for the previous five… Continue reading Auntie Helen flees to the continent…
Alfie gets another Alfine
Long-term readers of my blog will know that Alfie, my ICE Sprint, had his hub gear internals changed in September 2011, after I’d ridden him a 1300 miles, due to skipping of gears/slipping into neutral. The new hub gear worked fine and I got quite adept at the oil changes and even changed the sprocket… Continue reading Alfie gets another Alfine
The Versatile Velomobile – and V006 in particular
A week or so ago I bought myself a Flevobike Versatile Velomobile, having ridden it for five miles. Obviously I had done a little bit of research on these beforehand, which included getting in contact with several owners of Versatiles, so I thought I’d write a bit about what I have learned as there doesn’t… Continue reading The Versatile Velomobile – and V006 in particular
Auntie Helen buys a velomobile
The headline says it all – I seem to have bought a velomobile! And it wasn’t for sale just around the corner, I had to embark upon a mini expedition – to Rotterdam in the Netherlands no less! The fact that I have succumbed to a velomobile will not be a surprise to many readers… Continue reading Auntie Helen buys a velomobile
ICE Trike with Falco e-motor (no, not mine!)
Cycling friend Kim, who rides a recumbent bicycle regularly, has written a report about a modification she did to her partner N’s ICE Sprint trike recently. I thought it was a very good read and would be worth reproducing here, with Kim and N’s permission (which they gave). N’s bike was already previously adjusted for… Continue reading ICE Trike with Falco e-motor (no, not mine!)
A ride around Thaxted, Dunmow and Stansted Airport
Although most of my cycling is done alone as I pootle around Great Bromley for 24 miles every day, occasionally things are made a bit more interesting by riding with friends. Even more occasionally, I take the bike somewhere different to ride with friends. And, very fortunately, friend Wowbagger (also known as Peter) had organised… Continue reading A ride around Thaxted, Dunmow and Stansted Airport
Romantische Straße – Bad Mergentheim to Würzburg
Saturday 14 September 2013 Another good nights sleep and then it was time to wander up the road to the main hotel for breakfast. As usual there was a large selection of food. We selected our regular light selection of food: 1) Mixed muesli and cereals with milk 2) Bread rolls with ham, cheese, salami,… Continue reading Romantische Straße – Bad Mergentheim to Würzburg
Romantische Straße – Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Bad Mergentheim
Friday 13 September 2013 We slept really well in our exceptionally quiet room. Breakfast was a very varied selection. Including very startled-looking eggs. The official route for today looked fine, not too many pointless detours and generally very high quality road surfaces (according to the Bikeline book which is not always 100% correct). So we… Continue reading Romantische Straße – Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Bad Mergentheim
Romantische Straße – Dinkelsbühl to Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Thursday 12 September 2013 After a reasonable night’s sleep, started somewhat amusingly when James’s side of the bed partially collapsed (he fixed it OK), we went down to breakfast. The skies were grey but the earlier rain had turned to drizzle and we hoped for a dry-ish afternoon at least. We’d read a lot in… Continue reading Romantische Straße – Dinkelsbühl to Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Romantische Straße – Harburg to Dinkelsbühl
Wednesday 11 September 2013 Last night we talked on Skype with the in-laws and they let us webcam with Poppy the dog who looks very relaxed in front of the woodburner. I slept really well last night – mind you, I went to bed at 10pm which was an hour and a half earlier than… Continue reading Romantische Straße – Harburg to Dinkelsbühl
Romantische Straße – Meitingen to Harburg
Tuesday 10 September 2013 This morning we went down to breakfast and I had a lighter selection than normal – I felt it was time to cut back a bit! I did enjoy peering at this chandelier however! We got ready to head out and another look at the weather forecast showed us that rain… Continue reading Romantische Straße – Meitingen to Harburg
Romantische Straße – Königsbrunn to Meitingen
Monday 9 September We awoke at eight to blue skies with white fluffy clouds, not the rain we were originally forecasted. Hurrah! Before we went down to breakfast I received an email from Booking.com, the website that I used to book most of our hotels. As usual they were asking me to review a hotel… Continue reading Romantische Straße – Königsbrunn to Meitingen
Romantische Straße – Schongau to Königsbrunn
Sunday 8 September 2013 After a good night’s sleep we woke up to blue skies and sunshine again, hurrah. The weather forecast was for rain late morning here in Schongau and rain from 5pm in Königsbrunn, our destination for today. If we were lucky we could dodge the rain as we travel. Breakfast was once… Continue reading Romantische Straße – Schongau to Königsbrunn