Volcanic ash making London quieter?

I keep expecting to breathe in gobfuls of Icelandic ash, which is apparently spewing out of a volcano and blanketing Northern Europe in dust.

Well, the net effect for me is - there are no planes, and London is suddenly quiet! It's rather lovely. (sorry, people who were booked on once-in-a-lifetime holiday taking off today).

In other news, I'm now back on my first ever London commuting bike - my brilliant bro in law converted it, a few years back, to a one-speed after the gears got knackered and I knew I was getting a new bike.

Having tuned it a bit and pumped up the tyres, I'm quite enjoying being on fat wheels, with wide handle-bars, quite unable to go fast down hills ... it's a good way of enjoying a quiet London.

In case anyone's wondering what the hell I'm going on about - ash, Iceland etc - all planes in the UK are currently grounded due to volcanic ash in the atmosphere - see BBC News, for example.

The thingameebob got my day off to a bad start

Do you ever get this? You're cycling and it feels like you're going through treacle? So hard to peddle ... well it was like that last night. I did manage to limp home, thinking it was probably just me being a bit unfit or something. But when I wheeled it through the house to the shed, I saw and felt that it really was sticking - the front brake pad was stuck against the wheel. This morning I thought I'd twist a couple of screws to restore it - but then I realised the thingameebob seemed to be loose and the bit of wire which holds the pad away from the wheel could not be tightened.

Realising I would not be able to attempt the repair, I did a hasty change into my "work" clothes which I'd carefully folded up into the paniers and took the miserable Central Line. Somehow when you're all geared it, it's really frustrating when you can't cycle.

I'm going to ask my very kind and knowledgeable brother in law tonight what the thingameebob actually is and what it's real name is. An update later.

PS Sorry Nat - no picture of Penguin effect as I didn't get to wear my funny leg things today.

My bike started going down the drain ... literally

I don't like to alarm folk unduly but I have another hazard to add to the list of adversities us cyclists face. Drains.

I was leaving work in all innocence last night, just coming out of the exit and on to the main road. I pushed to go off and suddenly, clunk! I was stuck and had suffered a really painful blow to the parts of me which don't want a painful blow. I looked down, suspecting I must have fallen into an enormous pot-hole. But no - I was stuck in the drain!

Light of day

I went back to the scene of the crime this morning to provide documentary evidence for you, dear readers. Although in the cold light of day the drain looks quite innocent, you can quite clearly see that there's a gap in it almost specifically designed to take a bike wheel:

And of course I had to prove a wheel fits in, so here's the evidence:

So on the scale of human suffering, it's not a big deal - but do watch out, fellow cyclists, the drains want to eat you!