My life with Python trikes Mk1 , Mk1.5 , Mk2 ?

[stormbird]

Can we get to York ?

Well it fit's in the shed without disassembly once I remembered I need the back of the front seat cranked forward, that's a relief !

Not sure DannyC fancies 53 miles sat in this seat though ?

York here we come.

Paul

 

[DannyC]

Can we get to York ?

Well it fit's in the shed without disassembly once I remembered I need the back of the front seat cranked forward, that's a relief !

Not sure DannyC fancies 53 miles sat in this seat though ?

York here we come.

Paul

Kind of you to offer Paul, but I think I shall pass.

 

[stormbird]

Ok York done !

Tilt#6 hiding in the back yard of a Wetherspoons where I caught up with a couple of friends for breakfast [#2 ]

Tagging onto the back of a group ride to York Velodrome several other recumbents , the guy with the blue hair is JJ a companion on 2 of my Holland jaunt's he dyed his hair blue in the first lock down [ I think it hit him hard ]

York always surprises ? a Ice Cream boat ! they served both foot traffic from this window and water borne traffic from the opposite side !

Ok time to fess up 2 UK Zombies are going to the Netherlands on the Tuesday night sailing.

Due to personal/domestic reasons it will not be a 2 week jaunt to Breda to meet Maddox and Emiel , however we have a week to visit some familiar places and some new places within about 50 miles of the Hook of Holland and are will have a great time.

all for now Paul

 

[DannyC]

Ok York done !

Tilt#6 hiding in the back yard of a Wetherspoons where I caught up with a couple of friends for breakfast [#2 ]

Tagging onto the back of a group ride to York Velodrome several other recumbents , the guy with the blue hair is JJ a companion on 2 of my Holland jaunt's he dyed his hair blue in the first lock down [ I think it hit him hard ]

York always surprises ? a Ice Cream boat ! they served both foot traffic from this window and water borne traffic from the opposite side !

Ok time to fess up 2 UK Zombies are going to the Netherlands on the Tuesday night sailing.

Due to personal/domestic reasons it will not be a 2 week jaunt to Breda to meet Maddox and Emiel , however we have a week to visit some familiar places and some new places within about 50 miles of the Hook of Holland and are will have a great time.

all for now Paul

Blimey! I wish you'd told me Paul.

 

[stormbird]

Blimey! I wish you'd told me Paul.

Not enough time to pack ?

Paul

 

[DannyC]

Not enough time to pack ?

Paul

I'm on it. Will do my best.

 

[maddox]

Ok York done !

Tilt#6 hiding in the back yard of a Wetherspoons where I caught up with a couple of friends for breakfast [#2 ]

Tagging onto the back of a group ride to York Velodrome several other recumbents , the guy with the blue hair is JJ a companion on 2 of my Holland jaunt's he dyed his hair blue in the first lock down [ I think it hit him hard ]

York always surprises ? a Ice Cream boat ! they served both foot traffic from this window and water borne traffic from the opposite side !

Good thin

Ok time to fess up 2 UK Zombies are going to the Netherlands on the Tuesday night sailing.

Due to personal/domestic reasons it will not be a 2 week jaunt to Breda to meet Maddox and Emiel , however we have a week to visit some familiar places and some new places within about 50 miles of the Hook of Holland and are will have a great time.

all for now Paul

 

[maddox]

Pity we can't meet you.

 

[stormbird]

Ok we are back

Ferry terminal about to set off.....
Before it went wrong for me !

We could not see any cycle path and so rode a short way down a road , when people on top of a grass verge on the other side of the road shouted we should be up there ?

Trouble was road was split by a wide grass median and it was a very steep slope to get to where they were , we crossed the median and rode on the road to horn's blasting from lorries till I though we had reached a point we could climb onto the path , I tried pulling the fully loaded Python and it's trailer up the slope when something gave big time !

The front mech post was never meant for those forces and started parting company with the frame , the rear unwelded part should be flush with the frame.

It was very bent but ridable so we carried on.

About a mile further on and ' wrong glasses Clarke ' putting the hammer down.

Being Holland there was food involved , however the whole country is obsessed with ' cream ' out of a can [ as was ' I'll have some Clarke ' ] yuck !

One of DannyC's tasks was to leave his friend in various places [ without getting arrested ] and so here he is @ a LF1 dunes cafe [ now closed ]

Didn't seem to be my holiday as when the rains came my new untested £100+ tent failed

The fly sheet stuck to the back of the inner and got my expensive down sleeping bag wet , that needed 20 mins in the tumble drier before I could pack it away.

More later Paul

 

[DannyC]

It was indeed a very engaging, meaningful and mostly enjoyable trip.
Except for:
I swallowed a bug while cycling and ended up with a chest-infection that ruined sleeping for me and "others" within earshot.
We got caught out in a thunderstorm on our way back from the marina/port of Scheveningen and we were absolutely soaked through.

However, a stunning and successful "Escape from Den Hague" [soon to be a major motion picture] was achieved with the combined use of Google Maps AND standard cycling maps. Usually we find ourselves going around in circles in the "black-hole" that is den-Hague

In essence Paul & I reprised the trip of 2017 when He, John and I ventured there as a trio (see picture below).

I left some of John's ashes in most of the places we visited (as Paul has said).

One of the goals of John's planned visit to Holland in 2019 (before his untimely demise) had been to visit a roadside café that he had nicknamed "Basils" (after Basil Fawlty) where in 2017 we had met the owner who was a Monty Python fan. John had bought some Python related T-Shirts withthe "Dead Parrot" sketch on them and wanted to present one to "Basil".

So Paul & I visited the Café and were surprised to discover that they instantly remembered us from 2017 and the owner was summoned by his wife to come and speak with us.
We told them all about John's sad demise and his wish for us to carry out the T-Shirt Delivery and Jan (Basil) donned the shirt and offered to let us leave some of John's ashes in the garden.
It was a very kind and generous gesture and I am not ashamed to say that a few manly tears were shed by me for the loss of my friend.

So, now John resides in several places in Holland.

• On the LF1 at the site of a Café where we all enjoyed a beer in the hot Sun (as Paul has shown above).
• At "Basil's" Cafe (in fact it is called the Bij-de-Bouvrow) where in 2017 we arrived with John playing the "Liberty Bell March" on his bike's stereo that prompted the owner to declare his fondness for "Python".
• At the Delftse Houte camping site (where we all stayed in 2017).
• At the Vlietland camping site
• In the town square of Delft itself.

What's left of John's ashes came back home with me, and will be distributed along the ride he enjoyed with me and in my garden where we sat and enjoyed many drinks together.

 

[stormbird]

Ok so what were the penalties for ' going camping ' ?

Item​	Contents​	Weight Pannier Volume	Weight of pannier Contents
Small Pannier 1​	Eating stuff - head light - clock etc	0.6 kg 15 ltr	2.3 kg
Small Pannier 2​	Clothes 3 x day + sleeping + spare shorts	0.6 kg 15 ltr	1.8 kg
Large Pannier 1​	Sleeping bag - folding chair	0.7 kg 20 ltr	2.0 kg
Large Pannier 2​	3/4 mat - inf pillow - towels	0.7 kg 20 ltr	0.9 kg
	Tent		1.7 kg
	Trailer	7.9 kg
	Trike frame for tow hitch	1.6 kg
	Totals​	12.1 kg 70 ltr	8.7 kg

So it can be seen the camping penalties are 12.1 kg of hardware + the drag of a 2 wheel trailer to shift only 8.7 kg of load
This does not include the rack on the back of the trike with 2 panniers 1 x tools & 1 x riding clothes , maps , sunscreen and water etc etc

Material​	Length	Width	Area
A - small scrap of cheap 3.6mm plywood	18.25 inch	5 inch	91.25 sq inch
B - 4ft x 4ft sheet of 3.6mm plywood	48 inch	48 inch	2304 sq inch
So B/A gives how much B is bigger than A​	25.2
Weight of A [ measured ]​	0.17 kg
Weight of B estimated from above​	4.3 kg
Weight 2 x B​	8.6 kg
Weight 3 x B​	12.9 kg

So I grabbed a piece of cheap and nasty plywood from garage scrap pile [ A ] measured it , found it's area [ 91.25 sq inch ] and weighed it [0.17 kg].
I then calculated the weight of a off the shelf 4ft x 4ft sheet [ B ] as 4.3 kg , so a full 8ft x 4ft sheet will be 8.6 kg
Now a fag packet scribble suggests a 8ft x 4ft sheet can make a 6 sided box of 2ft x 2ft x 2ft with 2 pieces of 2ft x 2ft left over ?
Now the rear of the trike is only 20" wide a fairing should be about the same amount of ply + a bit for mudguards ?
Now if it was purely 2ft cubed that is only 3/4 of the sheet giving a rough weight estimate of 6.45 kg only just a bit more than 1/2 the existing weight penalty and no drag from the 2 trailer wheels ?
Panniers amount to 70 ltrs of volume , now a box 2ft x 2ft x 2ft has a volume of 226 ltrs however more realistic would be a box 20" x 20" x 20" giving a volume of 131 ltrs so that looks good !

Interesting Paul
ps sorry for mixed measurements , however in the real world stuff is like this

 

[stormbird]

This may have been naughty ?

Dan laying a John trail around the square in Delft !

Paul

 

[Popshot]

Ahh - Nothing marks you out as English more than socks with sandals. Genuine Shimano ones no less.

 

[stormbird]

Ahh - Nothing marks you out as English more than socks with sandals.

Not really , in my view non of these casual shoes are good enough to wear for up to 12 hours a day cycling without them rubbing UNLESS you wear socks ?

Genuine Shimano ones no less.

Yes and have you seen the price of them now ? I though they were expensive @ £64 when I bought these ?

Paul

 

[stormbird]

OK so repaired damage to front mech post ...

As it was impossible to weld inside the angle of the original tubing I added a brace , cunningly designed bodged to clear the actual mech [ I hope ]

More dodgy welding and burn through where the original cracks were.

Next up ?

Well I am still moving towards a fairing so I need a new seat frame ?

I need to tuck the rear of the seat frame closer to the seat back and get rid of the sliding aspect so saving some space and weight.

With the seat frame further forward and no rear rack mount there is more available volume without going below the axle , it would be nice to move the axle forward and get rid of the cross piece by adding some side arms.

However I don't thing at this stage the gains are worth the work involved , the time would be better spent finishing the new front end ?

Paul

 

[stormbird]

... and together

Clears mech and cable and re-assembly was a breeze , however adjusting it was a puzzler ?

I had already put a mark on the front so as to line the mech up properly , however it was incapable of changing from the small to larger ring ?

I rode it around the estate pondering why when the Euro dropped [ I have some left from Holland ]
When I first welded it on there was no reference point available to judge whether it was vertical or not ? the front swings all over the place the wheel is offset 10mm to the left side.
So maybe I did not get it vertical or maybe it is just now welded in a different place ?
5 minutes with the stops and it changed like a good un !

On to next problem Paul

 

[stormbird]

Whilst riding with DannyC it became apparent one of us had a sticking brake , however with us riding very close and rarely alone it was difficult to pin down who was having the problem.
So shamefully it was easier to blame DannyC than investigate the Python......

Some time very early in June I shortened the brake cables , I noticed in doing so that the first 6" or so of the inners at the lever end had some grey powder on them so I cleaned with wire wool and wiped with a rag soaked in clean engine oil.

When I came to look at the Python brakes I found both of them work OK however the right-hand one would not fully disengage , the left one was slow to fully release and the cable @ the adjusters looked like this :-

So the shortening of the outer's have caused them to pull the adjusters inwards further exacerbating it's reluctance to release fully , thus sometimes causing the brake to rub ?
this problem has probably been made worse by the cloud burst of biblical proportions we rode through in Den Haag when going around in circles for 2 hours hopelessly lost more water down the brake levers into the inners !

So I have made a simple wooden spacer pushing the cable ends outwards :-

So now they look like this , much better if it will stay put.
There is still some drag in the cable/housing however I need to get these adjusters under the trike frame and not on top so i will give it new cable inners/outer's when I tackle that problem.

Paul

 

[DannyC]

While Paul has these issues I think mostly as a result of the standard backplate "stand-off" components not allowing sufficient clearance/Clarence (new ones were made); I too have had sticking/rubbing drums on SA hubs.

In my case it is only because I park the bike vertical and wind the adjusters up to ensure a high degree of "lock-up" when the parking brake function of the brake levers is used and I then forget to slacken them off fully.

Doh!

 

[stormbird]

While Paul has these issues I think mostly as a result of the standard backplate "stand-off" components not allowing sufficient clearance/Clarence (new ones were made)

Sadly NO !
no amount of beautiful custom made components can combat water getting into the brake cables

Paul

 

[stormbird]

More progress...

2 pieces made labelled rather cunningly ' L ' & ' R' these will be welded to the frame in the position shown above , replacing the one on the other side.

The wood is a spacer and will be used for assembly like this so a clamp can be applied to the new-mounting/axle before welding.

I am trying to use the upper slot instead of the central bolt hole in an attempt to get more room to get in for adjustment [ wish me luck ! ]

To weld these I suspect I will have to remove the pannier rack/panniers both rear wheels and maybe the seat and/or the main spine from the front , no small undertaking as when done I will have to figure out a new routing for the brake cables ?

The bars have considerable movement in both the horizontal plane and to a lesser degree in the vertical plane ?

As can be seen here ?

Looks like Friday is dis-assemble day

Paul