Day 7 is the last full day in the Lake District; tomorrow, I will ride to Shifnal to get another piece of Shropshire before heading back home.
I have the habit of refuelling as either last or first thing of the day, in order to avoid searches for gas stations during the day. Things have become much easier in the age of GPS, but it is still a nuisance to have to interrupt your chosen route to get to a gas station.
I therefore stop, first thing, at the gas station just outside HQ.
The fuel filler cap refuses to open.
This is a “keyless ride” bike (bought that way, used; I tend not to pay extra for electronic gimmicks, but when you buy used there is no substantial difference in price), therefore there is no key. The damn thing just does not open.
I try and try but do not want to break the “beak” used the open the fuel filler cap as I might be in real trouble then. I give up and want to call BMW Assistance. No mobile phone signal (“emergency only”). I decide to ride further and try again at the next station, perhaps it’s a momentary glitch. In Troutbeck Bridge (this is between Windermere and Ambleside) the filler cap still does not open, but I do have signal. I remember once in April, when I had to call BMW Assistance because the electronic lock of my pannier refused to open and give me my helmet back. On that occasion, a dirty sensor at the back of the pannier was causing the problem, but I see no dirt on the filler cap now and cannot imagine that there is any inside. I fear an electronic gremlin; which, as those know who have experienced them, are the worst thing that can happen.
I call BMW Assistance and they need a lot of time (1:40 minutes) to show up. When the chap appears he shakes the bike a bit with the help of the steering bar, then punches the cap energetically two or three times.
Nothing happens.
He repeats the procedure, and the filler cap opens up.
Just like that.
“It’s the water on the sensor”, he says; “quite a common issue on this type of machines!”.
He dries the now visible sensor and we repeat the closing and opening several other times. It now works a treat.
I am angry and relieved. Relieved that I can ride away and know what to do if the problem reappears. Angry that these new technologies are released on the clients without having sufficiently debugged them (my bike was registered in September 2014, I really want to hope things are better now). It has rained quite a bit in the last days and it basically rained every night since I arrived at HQ last Saturday. But this does not mean that my filler cap is justified in refusing to open up.
It is now almost Midday and I have basically had no real ride at all. I decide to allow myself one and a half hour ride before riding back to HQ for a late lunch. I also ride to Coniston and back, like yesterday, which is still beautiful but I find more traffic than yesterday afternoon. The lunch is the last lunch at HQ.
The afternoon is, compared to the morning, blissfully uneventful. As it is the last afternoon I ride along the now well-known local roads for a while, then back along the 592, which I hope to ride all the way to Penrith. However, the Apocalypse awaits me at the roundabout connecting with the A66, with a queue stretching for as long as the eye can see on the road itself. I can’t avoid thinking Health & Safety Dr Goebbels might be at work again. I abandon the plan and ride back along the 592, which means lake and pass again. At around 7:30, after a leisurely stroll and my farewell to beautiful Windermere, I ride back to HQ for the last dinner before the ride to Shropshire.
No more than 130 miles today.
Blame the damn sensor.
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