Newsletter - 2001 Archive

BC Randonneurs Cycling Club

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A "PS" to the computer mount repair. The following Saturday computer worked fine. Sunday morning, take bike out of truck at Albion and ride to ferry. No odo functions. Another ride sans computer. Got home and wire had broken close to repair. Repeated repair but this time I potted the underside of the mount with two part epoxy after reinforcing with a piece of shrink tubing where the wire emerges from the potting. Works fine.

The following Wednesday (Jan 24) I had a LEL (Ed: London-Edinburgh-London) entry form to mail to Bob Bose. Went out to mail it and finished up riding over to his South Surrey abode with it! Via the Albion Ferry that's round trip of 120 km. Odo functions working fine. But my heart, if the computer could be believed, was doing some weird and wonderful things. Like dropping from 110 to 40 as I laboured up a hill. Bought a new battery for the transmitter belt. Opened it up to find corrosion around the battery. In trying to clean it I broke the wire that connects the two parts. Then I dropped a minute contact in the carpet. In the evening,(Friday), anxious to have a heart monitor for Spinning, I got down on hands and knees with a trouble light. Found the tiny little contact! Reassembled transmitter - didn't work.

Thought that it was possible that the techology required mating circuitry at transmitter and receiver. That would mean finding another Vetta transmitter and they don't exist anymore. Tim Pollock and Manfred Kuchenmuller both assured me that any transmitter will do. Went to MEC this morning and bought, amongst other things, a Cateye transmitter belt. Didn't notice the price until I got home - $45.00 (plus 14%!) It worked fine during my somewhat chilly 57 km this afternoon.

If by 2001-01-31-24:00, a further 4 days, I manage another 210 km I shall have managed a 1,000 km in the month of January. It's a comment on the fantastic weather I have been blessed with for my first month of retirement. Mind you, the 120 km I did on Wednesday included constant rain all the way back from S. Surrey and the miserable ride in the dark along that awful stretch of Hwy 7 through Haney was spent regretting my decision not to be a wuss and drive to Albion.

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