Bikes
=====

After long,  dark, years I  have been starting  to use bicycles  a bit.
This year I have bought the Brompton folding bikes (the 6-speed models)
for  both me  and  my wife.  It  have  made possible  for  us to  reach
relatively distant places (like shops in  9 km distance) without use of
car or of some sort of public transport. We even made some longer trips
in  the  Krusberk  dam  area  (a remote  and  deserted  area  by  local
standards). OF  course, I have  been using  the Brompton to  commute to
work.

Moreover, I have finally managed to repair both our mountain bikes. Now
I have little use for them but one never knows. Sometimes I ride my red
bike on paths  around the village where our weekend  cottage is. I have
had to replace the saddle with the  Brook B17 leather one. This is what
I got with my  Brompton and have found it much  more comfortable than a
modern saddle.

And we have found a vintage roadster bike in our cottage attic. My wife
remembers that  her father got it  from one of its  older relatives but
she is unsure  about details. Anyway, it's a  Velamos one-speed touring
bike, a model which this local company  made from 1930s to 1960 (if not
longer). This particular one is probably  from late 1950s or from 1960s
as it has relatively modern plastic grips. The bike frame was obviously
re-painted  several times  so I  have been  unable to  find its  serial
number nor other identification except the "VELAMOS" badge.

Local people  used such bikes  for transport  to work. That  wasn't too
easy as the distance from the village to the places of work (factories,
offices and so) was  between 10-20 km and we are not in  a flat area. I
cannot  imagine how  they used  singe-speed bikes  (nothing better  was
affordable for most of them) to travel such distance (and back) daily.

Thus I have decided  to repair the bike and to try how  it runs. I will
not be that  easy as it was in  the attic for at least 30  year. At the
moment  I have  replaced  the  tyres, adjusted  the  saddle, oiled  all
necessary  parts, fixed  the front  lamp (it  was moving  randomly) and
cleaned the  bell. To  make it  moving I have  to repair  the mudguards
(they are deformed and thy are corroded in place of support so they are
not fixed in place now). I have  to remove the nuts and replace them by
bolts with bigger heads to fix the mudguards.

If these  works will  be successful  (and if  I will  able to  ride the
bike...) then I will have to  consider repainting of the whole bike and
modification  of  its  lights  (they do  not  fit  contemporary  safety
regulations, of course).

It's summer...