October 18, 2014
The Beachboys & Beachgirls (Good Good Good Vib..): Time Off in Cadiz, Meeting People & Doing Lots of Cool Things on A Beach.
Jorge the guy on reception marked a bike shop on a plan of the city called Urban Bike, saying the hostel use them for their hire bikes. First thing next morning after breakfast I was there. Urban in name, the shop as contemplated deals largely in city bikes and there is little chance I could buy a touring rim here. Wheels are bought in complete. The woman running the shop suggests it may be possible to true my wheel, but I doubt it. The buckle seems too big. She then mentions a bike shop in the new town, saying they might have a rim.
I traipse along up the slope through the archway in the old city wall and down the avenue of the new city and turn right along one side of a garden plaza where I find Bicicleta Valbar, where the offer is solely cheap to midrange off-the-peg road and mountain bikes and Shimano and Scram components. Beyond this it isn't a shop of the traditional wheelwright. The guy behind the counter says the only thing he can do for me is sell me a complete wheel and I would have to wait ten days, as it would have to be ordered in.
Back at the hostel I tell of my lack of success with having the rear-wheel rebuilt. Jorge who is a cyclist too suggests that maybe it is possible to true it somehow. There is a bike mechanic the hostel use and he gets on the phone to see can he come over and have a look.
He comes straight over. Spinning the wheel and inspecting it he says that it won't be perfect, but he will be able to true it. He goes away saying he'll return around six o'clock. At six thirty he arrives back on his bike and from a knapsack produces a foldable truing-jig. He sets the jig up on the kitchen table and I take the tire off the wheel and slide it into place. I watch. I'm thinking as he turns the spoke-key, tightening each spoke in turn while turning the wheel that next there'll be a great bong. A spoke will break, most likely the spoke with a spider hair-line crack in the rim round the spoke-nipple will pull through. But he has already spotted that crack and now he is making precise turns in that area, even loosening said spoke to reduce strain on the cracked rim.
When he finishes the wheel spins true with a small deviation toward the brake-pad each turn. He says the rim is still a little bent and therefore impossible to get perfectly true. Then before he would except payment of six euros, suggests I take it out for a ride, which I do. Starting with a bit of a spoke twang before going quiet. I ride a loop up into the new town and return by the waterfront. And finish off riding hard over cobblestones in the old town. The wheel remains good, though only time will tell.
With the wheel sorted I give the bike a good wash, taking off all the dust and sand that has built up in Morocco, leaving gleaming clean tubing and components using a spray on degreasing produce from the bike shop, as well as attacking the black gung covered cassette, chain and chain-rings leaving them looking like new. I'm hoping these parts last the duration of the ride home. I also make other improvements; changing the rear gear-cable which was sticking, resulting in delayed derailleur return down the cassette. The outer cable turned out to be rusty dry as it is the same cable used through last Winter. It hadn't been changed. And there I thought the bike shop service I had before starting this tour would've taken care of this. My advice to myself is in future, service the bike myself. I also had to tighten the headset which hadn't been taken care of either. And when I was at it, I turned the handlebar stem to give a lower riding position and have managed to get the handlebar bar-bag really low, just over the front-wheel, making the front and steering less top-heavy . I'm very happy with drop-handlebars. Some people think you have to sit upright to tour: to see the countryside, avoid back-pain, whatever. My previous touring bike was a mountain bike and on long days I often suffered a sore backside and quite a few times a numb left hand with the more upright position and the usual MTB-bar isn't meant for riding eight hours.
I've gone through my camping gear too. Gave the sleeping-bag a clean to get rid of the sand and hung it out in the sun to air. I would've liked to have washed the tent as there is a lot of sand on it too, but there isn't room to set it up in the hostel.
The hostel in Cadiz where I'm staying is one of the best. It is in a nice old town house in the old city with balconies looking down on the narrow street below. Though best of all are the people and I've been having a great time off the bike, going to the beach.
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