Bush (kitchen) mechanic and rolling hills
Over the past few weeks I’ve been swapping places with a great French guy called Lad who has cycled from Cairns on a,well, crock of shite! We would meet in a roadhouse or rest place, then not see each other for a few days. He was blowing spokes (there’s a surprise) and in Katherine the ‘bike shop’ had the spokes but couldn’t/wouldn’t fix it. So he rode with a square and rapidly disintegrating rear wheel in the dark last night (mad) to get to Pine Creek,so I got to work rebuilding his back wheel this morning. All I needed was a Shimmy rotor disc remover ….(cheap disc wheels have the disc riveted on) which I didn’t have! And a cassette remover – which I had but no chain whip. But necessity is the mother of all inventions, so a hammer, an angle grinder and spoke key did the job!! Bush mechanics is a real thing! Replaced 6 spokes and bingo….we rode the 110 to Adelaide River 😊. A reflective day where I learnt again about patience and being willing to just take time to stop, reflect, think through the challenge and be patient.
Might be heading in to deep ‘bush’ tomorrow to test the bike off road 😊
Squaring off a round lock nut so I could wrench it off – thanks to a guy lending me his angle grinder!
Bush kitchen mechanics!
Lad couldn’t have wished for a better bicycle mechanic to randomly come across in a time of desperate need.
Your skills and passion to help others is exemplary!
Great to hear you have a pal to share the journey (for however long) and to test those bush mechanic skills with as the adventure continues. Many more days to discover many more new friends. Stay the course and your aim at the pot of gold at the rainbows end.
They say the happiest people are those that give to others. What a kind and generous thing you did for your fellow cyclist. Kudos to you dear friend. It was certainly his lucky day. Glad you had some company riding, it certainly eases the pain. Big hugs 🤗
How lucky to have met you on the road Tony… your kindness and generosity does not go unnoticed 🙏🥰
Loving the blog Tony. Great photographs and you are clearly enjoying the experiences.
Has anybody else just rolled up to give you a knee healing?
Have fun. 🙂
And….we are hoping you and the man you were so kind to in fixing his bike, have had a great day doing some bush riding.
How lucky is your have met up Tony 🙏🥰