Check yo' stuff

The relic of the rim below belongs to a rear Alex DH19 - the standard issue wheel on a Ridgeback Panorama.

Having had a gander at forums and the like, it seems that the DH19 has issues with metal fatigue similar to but not quite so dramatic as the DH Comet. I do not know how many fatalities have been the result of a catastrophic disintegration of a touring bike's back wheel.

This wheel, often carrying 110 kilos, has been up Ventoux, the two St Bernard Passes, Cols de la Madelaine and du Glandon and the Stelvio. More to the point, it has been down the other side of all those, hitting bumps and all manner of immovable objects at pace-ish. Then add a bunch of other stuff and Rimmy the Rim has probably knocked up well over 5,000 miles. There has been no catastrophe - though this is now the state of five of the 36 eyelets - and there was the early warning in the shape of readily warping wheel. In that time I haven't had a spoke snap and so, it could be the expected life span. These wheels are not, seemingly, easily obtainable and so I am checking out the alternatives.

Sassoon and the Somme

If you've been to my pages before you might have had a gander at my wee blog, The Somme. This was a quick trip undertaken last September. 'The Memoirs of an Infantry Officer' is the second book of a trilogy by Siegfried Sassoon, and is set during the horrors of the Somme during WW1. While featuring a fictional character, the account is as real as you'll ever read of WW1 as Sassoon is simply disguising his own experiences in the fictional 'Royal Flintshire Fusiliers'. Excusing the fact that he is an officer and has a few bad habits, it is a book that might inspire you to get out your map and visit the region - Amiens, Albert, the Ancre, Thiepval, Mametz Wood and so on.