A gears tutorial. Avus is the progenitor of the blog Little Corner of the Earth which shares a number of interests with Works Well. Apart from a motorbike Avus has at least two pedal bikes which may be indicative of the extremes of his character. The first is a vintage Rudge, in beautiful condition, equipped not only with chain-guard but also with a chain-bath. It is intended for stately, if not majestic, progress and I can imagine it being used for the trip to Buckingham Palace, were Avus to be awarded an OBE.
The other is a drop-handlebar Dawes which he uses for serious outings such as a recent 51-mile tour of some of the loveliest parts of Kent, now photographed, described and posted. Since the Dawes is multi-chainwheel, multi-sprocket (like my bike) I asked him what was the lowest gear he would consider using, consistent with maintaining sufficient forward motion to prevent falling off.
His answer pre-empts a subject I may well have tackled myself. So in the interests of ecumenicism let me provide the link.
Techno-musical moment. At a concert last year in St David’s Hall, Cardiff (programme and orchestra name now forgotten) I noticed something irregular. A string on the leader’s violin had bust. Calmly the leader whispered to the deputy leader who slipped her something out of the pocket of his soup-and-fish. Within less than a minute she’d installed the new string, tuned it and was ready for work. Remarkable enough but it all happened during a period when the string section was inactive. That’s what I call professionalism.
The other is a drop-handlebar Dawes which he uses for serious outings such as a recent 51-mile tour of some of the loveliest parts of Kent, now photographed, described and posted. Since the Dawes is multi-chainwheel, multi-sprocket (like my bike) I asked him what was the lowest gear he would consider using, consistent with maintaining sufficient forward motion to prevent falling off.
His answer pre-empts a subject I may well have tackled myself. So in the interests of ecumenicism let me provide the link.
Techno-musical moment. At a concert last year in St David’s Hall, Cardiff (programme and orchestra name now forgotten) I noticed something irregular. A string on the leader’s violin had bust. Calmly the leader whispered to the deputy leader who slipped her something out of the pocket of his soup-and-fish. Within less than a minute she’d installed the new string, tuned it and was ready for work. Remarkable enough but it all happened during a period when the string section was inactive. That’s what I call professionalism.
2 comments:
That is professionalism. Great story.
I checked out Avus' Rudge tales, great bike , and somehow I fetched up on a group pic taken on Bedlam Lane. Sweet serendip'.
The Missus and I are currently riding 1 speed beach cruisers for our nightly circuits of the subdivs. I sold my last multi-geared bike for a 'plane ticket to Rome. My fav-o-rite bike was a 3 speed 'Raleigh', 40 years ago.A very sensible bike.
Thanks for the "plug", Barrett. We will discuss your commission at a later date.
As to the violin story - great professionalism and dexterity, but extremely well observed on your part.
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