Spotting on the Sandbach to Chester Railroad by wyleu

Cold but clear this morning. But there is definately something in the air. Got to work with a dry throat, and a half cough, which not even an irregular cup of tea could shift, presumably this is the Icelandic contribution, so we will await a damn good rain storm to clear the air so to speak.

Life in the wyleu household has taken to Spring fever with a fair degree of verve. The extensive lawns ( well that's how they feel to me when I'm cutting them) have had their first crop of the year and althou' it picked up more twigs and leaves than actual grass the intent is pretty clear to see. Obviously the birds are busy going about their various businesses. Shy groups are gathering around the local watering holes ( the pond fairly full of frogs spawn) and buying each other drinks all dressed up in their disco finest. Of course such socializing attracts jealousies and next morning the evidence of 'encounters' are in evidence with several patches of feathers atest to the Magpie equivalent of a late night mugging.

Inside the house much is afoot. Chloe, our french eschange does look as thou' she will make it back to France today on a coach hired to take them all the way back to Bordeaux. So that's a relief to all of them and also the many concerned English families.

Ellie, our 12 year old, has completed her first performance as Young Corsette in the schools performance of Les Miserables and all pronounce it a success so she is wandering round with a permenant self satisfied grin on her face, trying to catch her own eye in any mirrors she sees.

All in all another year turns and we get to look forward to Summer.

A cold slightly damp morning with little to recommend it. Since we have a French exchange student with us at the moment the traditional wyleu family indifference to matters international has been rather undercut by a concern as quite how Chloe is to get home. 

She's booked to fly out of Liverpool on Tuesday evening but this is looking pretty unlikely as the European airline industry gets an opportunity to polish it's planes on various tarmacs around the country.

The school, as ever, has leapt into action. Well we assume they have because not a word has been received so far as to any contingency. Given that there is no information forthcoming, as to when the problem will resolve, parents are doing the most obvious thing. Carrying on until we know more.

It seem ok in out household but for some of the more homesick exchanges this is a cause of major concern, and since we have a web camera and microphone, and far more importantly, we've actually had it set up and working, we've had little groups of frantically talking french girls gathering in our kitchen to state identical doubts and uncertainties but in high speed French. It's all gathering together people wonderfully, but even though the air of concern is high certain things have been maintained. Frankly your nobody until you've been properly ignored by a French fourteen year old...

All good practise for two years time when my eldest reaches this most critical of ages.

I took the bike in to be looked at last night. The strange semi-regular clanking noise seemed to be getting worse and the front wheel was still rubbing, so Myself and the fine gentleman of Cycle Junction  chewed the cud over possible causes.

Little emerged, other than that the normal adjustment of disc brakes should leave the disk just touching the unmoving brake pad to prevent bending of the disk on heavy breaking. So he adjusted that to free it up a little bit. 

He rode around on it for a while and agreed their was definately something arry but as to quite what that was, was difficult to fathom. But he offered to have a look at it, and very kindly said he would drop it off that night. Now that is the behaviour of a fine local business, and it's the sort of thing that probably sets the style for how a local area can start to become independant of the large chains. The idea of H*****d's actually having a member of staff work till eight thirty at night on a job because the customer finds a complaint would seem unlikely. And true as his word, almost to the minute as yours truly finished his final mouthful of apple crumble washed down with a glass of red wine the front door rang and the bike was returned.

He'd stripped down various bits and pieces and given the chain a thorough oiling and although there was still some grating it was streets away from how it had been on the first few days of the week. The charge for two hours work? Nothing...

Personal recommendation is reckoned to be the best form of marketing, and to be able to say there was a problem and they fixed it does not leave a nasty taste about the problem but a deeps sense of admiration at someone willing to go the extra mile.

As the weather begins to improve to the point where certain individuals consider the possibilities of a cycling holiday there is an increased likelyhood of my lone bike being joined by others. It would be easy to get territorial about the one and only spot on most Arriva trains but that really doesn't help proceedings and it's much easier to try to help the process when it occurs.

Arriva, makes allowance for bikes but it's rather a strange effort. A small corridor like room adjacent to the corridor, next to the train door, is what they've given which is a considerable volume to set aside but is only really large enough for one bike, and whilst it looks like a second bike could fit it really can't because of the pedals and gears.

Since, in my case the train runs back and forward between Chester & Crewe there are none of the complications of getting bikes on and off at intervening stations which would really confuse the whole issue, and I've enough experience to get my bike in first,I was already comfortable sat in a seat where I can keep an eye on the whole area. ONe can't be too careful.

Once you do get a second bike there are two solutions. The first of these is a touch of local knowledge. Since the train has the same door opening for both Chester & Crewe, the space near the other door is available and that is probably the most sensible solution. The other solution is to try and jam a second bike into the space available. 

In regards to the first solution, The local staff aren't concerned althou' the occasional British Transport Police with their overpowering desire to be seen to do something, anything, to fill the tedium of their days will probably say something. And this is what happened this morning.

The BTP muttered something about safety and mentioned the fire risk to the short wearing individual with the large rucksack who had stationed himself adjacent to his bike. Now quite what there is on a bike that could increase the fire risk is difficult to identify and if the fumes were so thick at this location as to obscure the view the odds are you'd probably use the three other ways out, but such logic obvious hasn't featured in our fine, upstanding BTP's risk assessment of the situation and anyway theres some telling people what to do available and that is bread & butter to our stout yeoman.

Firstly our tourist, had to manouver the bike round to get it in such an orientation that it could slide into the storage area. This isn't normally very easy to do but when the person doing it has a rucksack on and there is a spare policewoman in the volume as well someone is going to have to move. Obviously BTP felt she shouldn't have to actually help this process at all, seeing herself in a more managerial role, but its was becoming apparent that if any progress was to be made someone would have to relinquish the space, so reluctantly she stepped back into the the train compartment to allow the tourist to perfrom the manouver. Where upon the automatic door shut on her. She instinctively, with what must have been days of training, jumped forwards into the tourist and baching her leg on the back gear of the bike.

She swore.

The door opened, she stepped back through it giving him space, he put his back wheel into the compartment to line it up, at which point the door closed again onto the bike.just as he was moving it forward catching the door with the pedals. Both of them went for the door switch at the same time, and so the ballet continued for some minutes. If fact by now the train was beginning to approaching Chester.

And light dawned. 

'Why don't you put it next to the door?' suggested the BTP. Now given it had originally come from there it was with great resistance that the tourist managed to say 'That's a good idea' without so much as a trace of an ironic note in his voice. So they once more manouvered round each other, the bike, the door and the corridor till finally it was in the original place it had come from.

Just in time to arrive at Chester station.