The Kona is back on the road!

First, let's get over the moaning, because I always moan a little when I take a bike to the shop for repair. Normally, the chief reason for this is that I come away thinking that, for the money spent, I could have bought a new bike. I remember once, when I took my old Kona to Cycle King in Croydon some years ago, they actually told me I'd be better off buying a new bike. They weren't wrong, of course, but the problem at the time was that the 'new bike' I could buy with the money was a low-spec Ammaco with block brakes or something similar. So then, as now, I forked out the cash and got the bike repaired.

Kona Scrap, fixed, outside Cycle King, Thursday 20 November 2025.

Later I did buy another bike. Why, I don't know, and in retrospect I wish I hadn't. I bought a Specialized Cross Trail Sport Disc and it was far more suitable to the sort of riding I was doing, but for some reason I took a corner too fast when I arrived in Tatsfield village one Sunday afternoon and I came off, hurting myself quite badly. Well, a few cuts and bruises but not a pleasant experience. For some stupid reason I decided to take the Cross Trail back to the shop and swap it with a Specialized Rockhopper mountain bike, telling myself that it was more stable, heavier and unlikely to flip me off of if I took a corner too fast. Not that I was going to be reckless, once was enough. The Rockhopper has 29in wheels and it is, like the Cross Trail, far more suitable for the roads I ride.

Meanwhile, the Kona slowly rotted in the garage. From November 2016 until now, the Kona didn't move, its tyres deflated and every time I walked into the garage to jump on the Rockhopper I spotted it, sitting there doing nothing and looking like a neglected pet. I kept promising myself that one day I would take it down to the shop and get it working again. Years passed and I did nothing but in the end I took the plunge and walked the bike, yes, I walked it, all the way to Cycle King (around two miles). The guy in the shop (Dexter) gave the bike an inspection and told me what I already feared: there was a lot to be done. I knew that I needed a new chain and block, I knew I needed new brakes and was told I also needed a new rear wheel. The whole lot, I was told then, would set me back around £275. Fair enough, I thought. But then, a few days later, I got a call. There was other stuff: the headset, the bottom bracket, possibly a new front wheel and a new front disk. All-in-all, I was told, it was going to cost over £400, possibly even £500! Naturally, I was suspicious but perhaps in retrospect I should have kept the faith. I was told that the front disc was 'contaminated'. Fair enough, but on Googling 'contaminated discs', the remedy was to wipe it with a damp cloth. Hmmmmm... But perhaps I did need a new one. I was, of course, in a bit of a cleft stick, but to be fair to Cycle King, I could have said no more, just fix the brakes and put on a new chain and block. To me, that was all I could see that was wrong with it. I was told a few days later that it would cost £386 to fix and it was decision time. In the end, perhaps foolishly, I decided to go for it as long as the price didn't go over £386. It didn't. In fact, it was less. The total cost was £363, so a saving of £23!

When I took the bike into Cycle King I didn't have a saddle on it, or rather I did have, let's say, half a saddle, the old Spongy Wonder, so when I went to pick up the bike, I took in the original Kona saddle and they kindly fitted it on for free, meaning that I could ride it home. I must admit that having used the Rockhopper for the past nine years it was strange getting on to the Kona again, a completely different riding experience and don't forget, the Kona only has 16 gears compared to the Rockhopper's 27. But what a great-looking bike, it really is and I'm so glad I never got rid of it. Kona bicycles do look good. Andy has a Kona Blast and it stands out whenever I see it. My plan is to ride it somewhere, possibly Oxted, although I wonder how the bike will cope with Titsey Hill. Perhaps a less steep incline like the return ride from Westerham up Clarks Lane would be easier, but I'm thinking Oxted, give it a real work-out.

Dexter down at Cycle King has said bring it in if you notice anything that might need tweaking. I'm guessing if there is a problem it will have something to do with the gears, but let's see. Here's to having the Kona Scrap back. It's in the garage, it's fixed and it's great.

Saturday afternoon, 22 November: a trip to London in the rain and it never stopped, but for some reason it didn't bother me. I happily strolled around town in the rain safe in the knowledge that the clothes I was wearing were keeping me dry. It was a good time, punctuated as it was by a trip to a cafe. All very chilled. Reached home at 1800hrs and now I'm watching Jake and Johnny on YouTube. Yeah, I know, but sometimes it fits my mood.

 

A visit to the 'minor injuries unit'...

The original plan was to take today off, laze around, paint a door, go for a drive, the usual stuff I might get up to if I was 100% fit. But I'm not anywhere near it. For those of you who don't know, I came off the bike over the weekend, hit my left knee badly and cut up a few fingers in the process.

Saturday night wasn't too pleasant. I was finding it difficult to put one foot in front of the other, getting up stairs was a case of one at a time and I had to devise a way of getting in and out of bed without hurting myself. Getting into the shower, also a problem, although I'm only ever in pain when I lift my leg too high. By and large, like now, when I'm sitting or lying down, there's nothing in the way of pain. Perhaps a dull ache, but that's all, and each day I seem to be making progress. Each day I can do something I couldn't do the day before. In other words, thank the Lord, it's a minor injury and that, of course, is why I took myself down to the Minor Injuries Clinic. The last time I was at the MIC was back in 2005 when, God knows how (faulty running shoes I'm guessing) I developed a back problem. This was before any regular cycling took place, a good two years prior to that occasion when Andy and I, plus Dave and Geoff, met for a curry in Whyteleafe and Andy and I resolved to ride to Westerham over the weekend. The rest, as they say, is history. In fact, in those days, cycling was a once-in-a-while thing and it involved yours truly riding alone to Botley Hill, no further, on my Marin Bear Valley SE, a great bike, never EVER had a puncture and I'd riden it all over the place (London-Brighton, London-Oxford, London-Cambridge).

The Minor Injuries Unit, Purley, Surrey...

I detected the aforementioned back problem back in 2005 in the middle of the year. It got worse and worse until, eventually, I was X-rayed at the MIC (it was called Purley Hospital in those days) and my spine was keeling over to one side. I went to see an osteopath, she prodded around and then I went as far as cancelling a planned trip to Portland, Oregon (had I known how good it was out there I would never have cancelled it). As for the back problem, I awoke one morning and it had completely disappeared gone and has never come back. Very odd.

Anyway, I'm digressing. I drove down to the MIC, sat around for 20 minutes or so reading an old edition of Hello! magazine – about Peter Andre and his new wife, about Ron Wood and his new wife or girlfriend and then I whizzed through an edition of Country Life and checked out the big-money gaffs with their private beaches and swimming pools.

There was only a handful of people waiting to see the doc and soon my name was called. An Indian doctor sat at his computer screen and I launched into my diatribe about falling off the bike on Saturday and my knee swelling up to the size of a Navelina orange and so on and so forth. I rolled up my left trouser leg, revealing my swollen knee, he prodded about a bit and then told me to take a few Ibuprofen (to reduce the swelling). I knew that he was going to prescribe pills. That's what doctors do, so I'll probably leave it for a day or two and then pop a Nurofen before bed. He reckons a few days will see me alright.

I'm still limping a bit, but, as I said, it's getting better by the day because I've been resting it, taking life easy and so on; it's the best policy and I don't really do enough looking after myself. I'm going to start now, though. Not that this minor scrape has in any way changed my perspective on life, it's just that I do rush around, I do stay up too late, I am tired all the time as a result and it's got to stop.

With nothing better to do, I completed the Waitrose Weekend magazine crossword, found the correct food-related word and sent off my application for the £100 prize. I never win and don't expect to this week.

Here's a joke for you, courtesy of Weekend magazine: What's a monkey's favourite pudding? Answer: Meringueatan. Geddit? Meringueatan? Sounds like Orangutan? No?