yes, we are already 1/12th of the way through 2026!

I have to say that January didn't go exactly to plan for Madeline Anafrid, too little writing, too little riding and weather that put its oar in more times than enough! February then, can only be better - i hope, not that its started well - one look outside this morning cancelled my bike ride in favour of a walk, i couldn't face going out and riding around in the dampness for several hours.

I have been reasonably productive since midweek, another new Gaby chapter completed and up on Patreon, an 8 mile walk this morning and 50+km ride on Friday. The last parts i needed to service my 'daily' turned up on Friday and so i parked Foxy up and hid in the garage.

I do try to stay on top of the bike maintenance, replacing used spares as soon as i can in an attempt to reduce down time. Of course, some stuff lasts longer than others, brake pads are replaced more than rotors, chains more than sprockets and so on but this time around it was time to renew most of the consumables, only bar tape and cables escaping. So it was wheels out, rotors off, pads out, clean, replace with new parts plus the tyre on the rear.

Next up the worn chain came off along with the rear cassette, more new bits fitted, everything reassembled, brakes reset et voila, not quite a full service but hopefully it should be good for a while. Time taken - 2.5 hours, parts - £65 (@ $85US), labour - 2 cups of tea (@ £75 / $100US at a shop). Whoever suggested only the poor rode bikes clearly never had to maintain them in 2026! On the plus side, i can do 95% of the general work myself, 50 years of collecting tools and fixing bikes finally counts for something!

Tomorrow i'll start sorting out the issues with Foxy, the bill will be smaller (i hope) but it'll probably take just as long. Why the relative urgency for Foxy? well i've booked accommodation and transport for a Birthday mini tour at the end of the month for which she is a key component. It's literally a two day trip, coach to Plymouth, a loop into Cornwall before crossing Dartmoor overnighting in Moretonhampstead before heading up through Exeter to Yeovil in Somerset for a train back to Brizzle on my birthday. We are looking at 188km across the two days but with a hefty 3600m+ of climbing, the biggest chunk of which, over 2500m is on day one. It is of course on a tight budget so making sure Foxy is in A1 condition beforehand is imperative.

I have posted chapter 32 of Balancing Trick today, hopefully it will add some cheer to a gloomy mid winters day.

What of the coming seven day? Well the plan is to get at least two more new chapters completed during the week, a couple of solid rides if the weather permits and of course sorting the stiction issues on Foxy's gear and brake systems. Enclosed cable set ups suck.

Almost time to become Chef Madeline - today it's spag bol so quite simple.

That's all then folks, back on Wednesday,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid