Old Linslade to Stoke Hammond

I’m going to stick to moving every two weeks. I know on the Oxford most people make it 3, if they move at all. Most of the boaters I’ve talked to here tend to at least SAY they move every two weeks. There are people who just stay as long as they want, for whatever reason, but I’ve never been one of those. I used to drag it out a bit in the winter and when the weather was cold, simply because it was more convenient, and safer to stay put.

The weather isn’t that bad, and I don’t mind moving around.

The new place I’m in is called Stoke Hammond. It’s over the border from Bedfordshire. I’m now in Buckinghamshire! How exciting!

Mobile signal is slightly more consistent with 5G speeds. The village has a convience store, a post office, (in one shop), and a pub and church.

There’s a nice walk up a hill to a nearby village which commands view over the Vale of Aylesbury, which is where I am now, if you want to call it that.

It’s called Brickhill. As you can see it’s got nice views.

Towpath and upkeep

Of the waterways.

Went to empty my waste and do some recycling as I went through the locks.

I get the suspiscion that punters pull up in the pub car park, which adjoins, and dump their rubbish in these bins.

I know they used to do this at Long Buckby, on the Grand Union further up.

Pretty sure all this waste isn’t coming from boaters….

Walking back to the car, the towpath drops below the level of the canal at one point.

How people with disabilities might navigate that I don’t know. I had to shimmy along the edge, gripping the steel corrugated barrier so I didn’t fall into the puddle which would have gone over the top of my boots.

It’s got wooden planks that people have put down. Without the planks, it wouldn’t be possible to pass this stage without getting wet.

Bad.

Still. That’s in the past. Bedfordshire…. I’m moving on up. The towpath is asphalt with many joggers round and about the place around Stoke.

Here’s a picture of where I am now.

I sleep much better without the railway line 200 metres from my head. No matter how much people say ‘you don’t notice them’. The main thing I’m noticing is that I’m not waking up at early hours, looking around and wandering why.

It’s much quieter here. And as I’ve said before. You do notice the trains.

Autumnal offerings

I’ve found some edibles. Nuts! Been in the air-fryer, very good, 15-20 mins. In the multi-stove also, very good, also about 20/25 minutes.

Air fried chestnuts are without doubt superlative in this respect.

These look suspiciously like ‘Chicken of the Woods‘. They are not. Chicken of the Woods is a good and tasty mushroom. It grows on the tree, not on the ground around the tree. These are ‘Honey Mushrooms‘. They proliferate the roots of decaying or dead trees. I was tempted to try them, but after some research and contemplation, they didn’t seem worth the bother…

Bike repairs

One of the things I set myself to do whilst I find a job is do some repairs and maintenance on my much deserving mountain bike.

There’s two major problems at the moment.

1. The rear wheel bearings: After I’d cycled to Timasoara in Romania, which was 112miles or so, the rear wheel developed some ominous clunking and squeaking sounds. These got worse as my trip continued, which was luckily only for another 6 days or so.
2. The steering bracket: Again, a problem with bearings. Wear and tear. The headstock you can move around with your hand. Not ideal. It won’t stop you riding, but it may give up at any time leaving you with no steering.

Last week, I bought a chain whip and SRAM spanner fitting. These are specialised tools for bikes that allow you to remove whats called the ‘rear cassette’. The rear cassette is basically the gears.

Halfords were going to charge me £17 for the same thing. Also, they said they’d take the cassette off for £12. Took me about 2 minutes to do it myself. I’ve no idea why you’d say ‘that’ll cost you £12’. They might just as well have taken it off for free. That way they might have got a sale out of me, because I would have needed a new wheel anyway.

You can mess around with replacing the hub and other components of the wheel. When you take into account of the re-spoking and re-balancing and the rest of the parts and time, it’s not something you’re going to undertake unless you have a particularly valuable wheel.

I don’t.

In the end, I ended up buying a replacement wheel, from Halfords, over the internet. £54. I’m going to pick it up later in the week.

Did a little video here, if you’re interested.

Weather

Has been pretty gloomy and rainy the last few days.

Today, it’s showery with the odd bit of sun.

Until next time.