Distance Average Speed Max Speed 67.9 km 12.6 km/h 30.2 km/h A much colder start with a low of -28 °C when I was feeding the dog’s their breakfast but another sunny day which warmed up to about -5 °C by the afternoon. I headed over in the direction of Saija and on the way decided to turn south on the disused railway line. I was hoping to find a trail which would lead me to the area south of
2019 Trip – Day 3
Distance Average Speed Max Speed 31.5 km 11.7 km/h 24.6 km/h An unusual day with much better weather. I got a text from one of the guides, Laura, to say that her uncle was coming to take some publicity photos and would I help. After a late start I met up with Laura, Milla and the uncle and we drove to Janisvaara hill whilst Laura and I were photographed. The uncle then departed and we had lunch on top of
2019 Trip – Day 2
Distance Average Speed Max Speed 27.0 11.8 km/h 24.4 km/h Got up at 07:00 and only then thought that perhaps the missing axe might be in the wood shed – Duh! Given a lift to the farm, Old safari house completely gone following October fire and now just an area of snow. The guides managed to find most items I needed except snow shoes – which was a pity as they might have come in useful later. I was allocated
2019 Trip – Day 1
Due to early flight I spent Saturday night at the Heathrow Radisson Blu hotel. They did a deal with 8 days parking which was very reasonable. At a most unpleasant hour I caught the bus to the terminal for the uneventful flight to Stockholm. The plane was only about 1/3 full. Whilst in Stockholm airport I tried to make use of their free WiFi. Now, I know that my travel laptop is old and weird, but it has worked fine
Pushing for the re-test
Following the Fiesta’s MOT failure on Monday, today was the time to try and fix it so I can get a re-test before the end of the week. This morning I rushed round to get what I needed. At Tyreland I was going to get two new tyres and a slow puncture fixed on a third. But, when I got the wheel off it looked very badly worn on the inside edge. I decided that it wasn’t worth repairing so
MOT for the Fiesta
Time for the Fiesta’s MOT. I put it off a bit this year as part of my scheme to move the MOT period into the summer (working on the car in the rain and cold is getting less pleasant). Following my dissatisfaction with Graham Dimmer, I decided to try out Brunel Motors. I wasn’t particularly impressed to start with as I was left hanging around in the reception for about 10 minutes while the chap behind the desk finished a
Roses are red…
On our way to visit Dad’s parents, we stopped to lunch on the A43 at the “Sign of the Purple Chicken“. The gents contained a most curious home-made sink which has apparently caused confusion for previous visitors and necessitated the creation of an entertaining piece of verse (see photo).
Binding brakes on the Golf
When, a couple of weeks ago the Golf failed its MoT, there was an advisory about binding rear brakes. Well, they weren’t joking! A few days later, there was an obvious loss of power and some mightily hot brakes. I hoped, when I bunged the car up on the axle stands, that just fitting new pads and clearing out the grooves in the calipers would be enough, but sadly the caliper pistons were seized solid and couldn’t be re-wound. A
MoT at last
Following the problem with the used wing mirror I bought a new third party one. For some loony reason it didn’t come with a mirror glass, but fortunately I could use the old one. After a great deal of pain I managed to screw it on and re-fit the door panel and now I have an MoT. I mentioned the concern other places had had about the exhaust fault to the MoT people and they were most dismissive. I think
Kit parts missing
Well, my forum contact has been back in touch and it looks like the kit is missing the etches for the chassis so it’s not a lot of use. I have let the seller know and suggested that he might want to list the wheels and motor as separate items. I might even bid for the wheels if the price is right.