Why the daunder?

sometimes poetry or prose can get the point across better!

 

I bought my blue Daunder

To go on a long saunter

Cycle off into the great blue yonder

Free of life and work Satisfying a lust to wander

 Ben Page does a better job of saying it on this wee video 

https://vimeo.com/133177167

 

                   reading back at A few of my older blogs from cycling up the Rhine and down the Danube also the one from the time i cycled the length of Ireland plus the one from cycling the HEB way, at the end of both these blogs i wrote a page dedicated to lessons learned future plans and how the bikes I used fared, these lessons learned developed grew and changed for example at the end of the Irish end to end (the malmiz) I had decided I would not require a new touring bike, that I would strip down and rebuild my old Raleigh classic like the German fella I had met in Ireland, this changed entirely after I dumped my old tourer (the auld dear) in my brothers log barn in Bulgaria after the Danube cycle, That's when I decided it was time I treated myself to a shiny new tourer, leaving the Raleigh classic hanging in the garage with the auld dear in retirement in Bulgaria,

      

kelpies on auld dear

    Why did I end up with a Shand daunder? A big expense for a frugal factory worker when at that time I had six bikes - a racer a tandem a mountain bike my cyclocross an old classic and the auld dear tourer out in Bulgaria, I suppose you could call it a splurge which is something I had only done once before, when i bought a trek mountain bike my first ever cycle a brand new one over twenty five years ago, that bike got stolen from my hut along with my ex-wife’s rockhopper that night, gutted doesn’t come close! since then I never bought expensive bikes I’ve never owned a new car or motorbike as a matter of fact I would go as far as to say I’ve bought mostly scrappers, this bike was the equivalent of a two wheeled customized VW camper something I couldn’t really afford but I was buying into a dream,

          I had given a friend some advice about which type of bike to buy maybe ten to twelve years ago, I recently realised he still held a grudge about that advice! I would like to set the record straight a bicycle is about the person and their agenda, if anybody asks me advice please remember I am not a teacher I am not a paid and qualified instructor for a certain style of bicycling, you need to be specific about what style of cycling you are likely to do, when the legendary Bruce lee asked his friend if ten dollars an hour was too much to ask to teach his Hollywood friends kung fu, his friend quiet rightly said hell no if you charge as little as that they will view you as cheap along with your advice, its like a burger Bruce if you charge fifty cents for it people will taste a cheap burger, charge fifty dollars for the same burger and It becomes the best burger ever, (this is true about most things in life Hans Christian Anderson was correct with the emperors new clothes) people are stupid, in my case I am even worse than the fifty cents burger my advice is free! which actually makes it totally worthless and its sometimes regarded as such which I have no problem with, right up until a grudge is felt.

 Here is my guidance on what bike to buy remembering of course I have made plenty mistakes myself and I am not a teacher I am no more than a sign post pointing down routes of a journey, it is up to you to choose which route you take based on a style and agenda that suits you, marrying both style and agenda is the key as Bruce lee also said no single style suits all,

cyclocross and auld dear

            My cycling heroes all have different bikes - Danny McCaskill’s bike would be useless to Graeme Obree  whose bike would be useless to  Jenny Graeme  whose bike would be useless to Chris hoy whose bike  would be useless to  David Millar whose bike would be useless to Fiona Kolbinger whose bike would be useless to Philippa York! (Robert Millar) whose bike the totally legendary mike hall, would have adapted any or all of them into a race winning machine, well accept maybe Danny MacAskill’s! Even Mark Beaumont’s penny farthing or Mr ed Pratts unicycle have their benefits to a certain person`s chosen agenda and style

      

my mountain bike

    I wanted something I could load up with bike packing carrying ability and long distance maintenance free touring ability something sturdy yet comfortable, some of the choices I made on the daunder have turned out okay others I am already unhappy with, that is not the manufacturers fault or anyone else except my own, I wasn’t specific enough with what I required because I didn’t truly know at the time, the bike is beautiful it suits my character but the front end is too light and the gearing is too low, I have a very low top speed, the super low gears mean I can cycle up any hill but then the front end gets light so it is a bit of a Daunderer which I am ok with but I couldn’t use it to race in, if I ever wanted to enter my favourite bicycle race (the transcontinental) I would need another bike,

my tandem

after getting the paintwork scratched between home and Shetland, I can’t blame baggage handling, but I think that’s where it was scratched? I never checked before and after and my wrapping was rubbish so regardless where it happened it was my fault, I sent Shand an email for some touch up paint which they posted out for a fiver, it was easy touched up,

I have been unhappy with the seat since I bought it so I ordered a new seat, I’ve always dreamed of treating myself to a leather brooks saddle but my new found ecologist ethos would no longer buy leather, I opted for a soft tourer in wiggles sale, I’ve also bought a bar bag to fit below the Jones handle bars bike packing style hopefully it will add a bit of front stability to make sure it does I have bought a set of front panniers which was never on my agenda when buying the bike, or ever actually! 

I added a side stand for standing the bike up to take photos, stupidly bought a kids stand it was a fail I ordered another, I bought new front and back lights and some reflective stuff to be more visible, the rest of the new stuff will be listed under another blog for touring equipment, if I'm lacking in something I can buy it along the way and you always get by,

Thursday morning I type this up and it looks like ALL is going to plan for tomorrows start of for me what is a big adventure the Shetland cycle touring camping trig point ticking adventure begins