Mornin' Guys,
Following on from those nostalgic posts about transport modes of our 'yoof'.
I mention this for heddification and hentertainment purposes only.
My first independent mode of teenage transport was a new imported ‘Maple’ bike from Canada which despite my proud care with Mansion furniture polish soon shed all the plated chrome as, due to austerity, there was no nickel allocation to bond it to the steel.
Sadly the GTV currently remains in V.O.R. mode (hope you had better luck with your Ebay order than my last few weeks experiences Nick!)
I therefore had reason (starvation) last Saturday to drag my current bi-cycle out from its' 8 year slumber in order to purchase essentials from the village.
So I proved, as they rightly say, “you never forget how to ride a bike” but, sadly, omit to mention that the bike may very well have forgotten how to be ridden!
Yes I did a pre-test on the brakes and gears and also pumped up the Dunlops to 90 psi or whatever. All A1OK!
So then off uphill with the derailleur gear insisting on favouring 'overdrive top' irrespective of the selector position - nevertheless I eventually arrived at the shop.
Speeding downhill on the return with heavy rucksack on shoulders I soon realised that I was being a bit unrealistic in expecting the GTV's braking distances to be equalled by my bike and so when the overloaded front brake lever adaptor popped out, releasing the front brake it was just a millisecond after I was thinking "this is going to be a close one" as I approached the driveway. I was therefore obliged to ricochet off a conveniently located piece of Council street furniture to redirect my trajectory away from a stout drystone wall and back onto the road, finally using the direct front brake lever to pull up a few yards? beyond.
I've only posted this for a bit of fun and fortunately no cars were harmed during the incident and also as there doesn't seem much chatter on the Alfa scene at the mo.
Thinking of which, any more of you guys going to join the last minute scrum to declare your bellas for 'Combe in October??
Obligatory nag as they will probably be requesting our numbers soon.