This is a longer term follow up to the previous postings on my experiences with the SRAM Red eTap Aero derailleur system. I was an early adopter, buying the eTap aero kit in early 2016. A bit of a glitch occurred in November 2016 when the BlipBox malfunctioned, and this was resolved later that winter.

Until recently, the system has functioned flawlessly, and indeed I've liked it so much I sourced parts (mostly via eBay) to fit out my P3C bike with it as well. As you'll see in this report, I've had a recurrence of the BlipBox issue, and this caused me to look into buying a replacement, which turns out to be not only expensive, but near-impossible through my usual retailers.

As I think I noted in one of the rare posts here this year, plans to ride the Duo Normand in 2019 were initially thwarted by a date clash, but ultimately the organisers rescheduled the event to 15th September (not, I think, in response to our inability to attend!) which meant that all systems were go. The main report is built using Microsoft Sway - you can either read it via this link: 2019 Duo Normand, or via the embedded version below. The four-way arrow icon will expand the Sway.

So far this year, my racing has been characterised by lack-lustre performances, where I actually managed to complete a race. On the bright side, the recent change of date for the Duo Normand time trial in September now means that Team Grumpy can once again turn out. This gives a really good late season target for us!

9th March

The season kicked off with a club event on the Astwood circuit. Unfortunately it was so windy that I packed on safety grounds after a mile or so.

A few months ago, I reviewed the Shand Stoater bike that I’d bought as a problem-free commuter bike / tourer / winter bike - it’s equipped with a Rohloff hub gear and a Gates carbondrive belt rather than derailleur gears and a chain. Since then, I’ve used the bike a couple of times a week as a commuter (the rest of the rides to work are on a tandem), and out twice a weekend for club runs and the like. In that time, the only mechanical problem I’ve had has been a repeated puncture caused by a tiny black thorn in the rear tyre - so small and black my ageing eyes couldn’t spot it. Other than that, it’s been great fun to ride - and even dealing with a rear wheel puncture has been a lot less messy than with a chain.

Detailed instructions for setting up a Raspberry Pi Zero W as a Bluetooth-enabled music player for the Logitech Media Server streaming system.

I'm a long term user of Logitech's Squeezebox music server system. Despite Logitech discontinuing their line of Squeezebox players several years ago, the system seems to carry on in rude health owing to the dedication of a number of software contributors, and the excellent community support forums. One significant factor in the system's survival has been the development of piCorePlayer, an operating system based on TinyCore Linux for the Raspberry Pi (more information here). Since its initial launch, piCorePlayer has become astonishingly refined, even allowing installation of LMS (Logitech Media Server). Indeed, my home music system uses a Raspberry Pi model 3 as its server.

One of the things about commuting and touring that can be a bit irritating is keeping the transmission running sweetly in the face of sometimes wet and horrible weather. In the past I’ve had rusted and worn chains, clogged derailleurs and so forth. A few years back we bought a new tandem from Thorn, a Raven  Twin, which was equipped with a Rohloff 14-speed hub. This has been really great, especially with a set of high quality KMC chains, which do resist rust quite well (recent SRAM chains rusted badly, though I can’t recall the model). I’ve particularly welcomed the ability to change gear when stationary, which seems to me to be important when riding a heavily loaded tandem.

This autumn/winter, I planned to refurbish my 2010 Cervelo P3. Over the last year or two, I’d gone from 9 speed to 11 speed Dura-Ace, so that I could swap wheels with my main time trial bike, a Cervelo P5, which is presently equipped with SRAM eTap kit and concealed Magura RT8 hydraulic brakes.

The main intention of the remodelling was to reduce the amount of cabling exposed to airflow on the P3, and generally make the bike a bit sleeker. The P3 is quite a bit bit lighter than my P5 bike, so I have the intention of using it on rather more undulating courses where its monstrous top gear is rather useful on long descents.

We approached the 2018 Duo Normand with considerable interest, as there would be a new course used. Grumpy Bob had visited the course on a low intensity tandem trundle round at the end of August. But riding it on the TT bikes would offer a better idea of how the course might play out.

As per usual, as soon as weather forecasts became available on XC weather, we started looking ahead to 23rd September to get some kind of idea of what the conditions would be on the day, bearing in mid the lack of accuracy of longer term weather forecasts.

It was with mounting horror that we saw the predictions for strong winds. By the 17th September, we were looking at 28mph wind with 48mph gusts.

I realise I haven’t blogged too often about time trialling (and cycling in general) this year. That reflects considerable personal and work-related things getting in the way of (a) training, (b) racing, (c) cycle touring and (d) blogging.

At this point, I could note that our summer cycle tour had been planned to include many Outer Hebrides. It went seriously awry when a road accident delayed us while driving to Oban for the first ferry, which we subsequently missed by seconds. As it turned out, this was a good thing as Storm Hector blew in later that day, closing down the ferries we’d planned to use in the tour. So that was that.