coastrider

Saturday, 12 November 2022

Willys jeep; Hand crank starting...

Another cool feature of the Jeep...

The hand crank handle is stored behind the rear seat and has a clever dog clutch that engages on the crank pulley but only connects in one direction, so it cannot spin once the engine starts and have potential to hit your hands and cause injury...

As I said already everything on the Willys Jeep is minimal but cleverly designed....

Wee film...

More soon...

Wednesday, 9 November 2022

29+ wheels on the Surly Pugsley 2.0`s

We put the Surly `Rabbit Hole` 29; x 50mm wide rim wheels with 29 x 3" tyres back on G’s pink war rig, and i have my 2nd Orange Pugsley 2.0 already sitting on these size wheels as a bike packing rig...

We planned one more bikepacking ride before the clocks changed at the end of October and the darker shorter daylight days arrive. We have not been bikepacking on these wheels since we went up to Cromarty. G has been away 3 times since on other backpacking trips but been rolling on the full 5" tyre which she prefers for comfort and the bikes ability to ride better off-road in both comfort and grip.

One thing about 29+ though is they roll like hell!

13psi rear 12 psi front....

This Pug just needed a pump up of tyres and ready to roll today...

We did a 10 mile loop as cold rain showers swept through, but it was enough to check both bikes running ok. G`s bike has same hubs on both bikes - all bikes we use do - Hope Pro 4 Evo rear hub , Surly 135 RDS front hub...

Same cassettes and disc rotors mean no adjustment to rear mech or disc calliper alinement needed....

Wee film from a short cycle, song is `Hello Inc. (DJ Falcon Parallel Remix) by Alex Gopher

More soon...

Friday, 4 November 2022

SAS Rogue Heroes - new series on BBC iplayer...

BBC have done it again with another great new series. From the director of Peaky Blinders a action packed rocking soundtrack history of probably the most famous group of military men in British military history.

Famous because they went against traditional military procedure and those who previously did not fit in with Military discipline found a place together to serve with the already Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and along side then as part of a new unit called the Special Air Service took a new direction in military tactics that was at first at loggerheads against the powers to be at first, until they saw what they were capable of.

Winston Churchill said in now famous words `time to unleash the dogs of war',

And what a devastation they unleashed Axis Airfields tearing through Axis airfields causing death and destroying aircraft and supplies.

The SAS turned the tide of the Desert campaign and ultimately a big part in the eventual WW2 victory.

There was also another enemy they had to deal with - The desert....

With 2 wheel drive Chevvy trucks of the LRDG another vehicle became their tool of choice, the Willys Jeep. with 4 wheel drive armed with twin aircraft Vickers and 50mm machine guns and aircraft bulllet proof glass they could speed though airfields and cause mayhem, death and destruction...

This was where the Willys Jeep became famous though later campaigns of 1944 seem to put this war in the shade slightly...

Airfix model...

Started by Scotsman David Stirling The unit became the feared unit of Axis forces and is no doubt still the best special forces squadron today.

Reality TV shows with celebrities going through supposedly SAS selection are really an insult to men who served and continue to serve in the Special Air Service.

My late dad was friends with an ex member, Peter was the first warden at John Muir Country Park outside Dunbar here in East Lothian in the late 1970`s, and passed away a few years ago...

We visited the David Sterling Memorial a few years ago...