English - Concrete Chronicle

As some of you might know, my bike got stolen in April. I depend on the bike for my independence in getting to work and stuff, so this was extremely annoying. I have nowhere to lock it to at my house, which is normally a criteria for bikes in Ireland - lock it to the world and you'll be fine. Otherwise...

Anyways, I now have a lovely new bike (thanks Yvonne!) that I really really love and will do my best to keep safe. So how do I go about that? Hmmmm....

Stephanie had a marvelous idea: fill a bucket with concrete, put a hook or something in it, and chain the bike to that. Brilliant!

So, without further ado, may I proudly present to you:

The Concrete Chronicle!

Part I - How Do You Make Concrete?
My sister is an engineer, but she has never made concrete, and was kinda jealous that she couldn't be here to help me do this (which is why I'm even writing all this stuff down). I looked up some stuff on the web, and tried to calculate how much I'd need and how heavy it would be and what kind of tools I'd need. It was kinda fun. Concrete is made by mixing cement with sand/gravel and water, and then leaving it to dry out and harden. Sounds easy, huh? It actually was!

Part II - Getting Materials
I had scouted out the local hardware store to see what they had to offer. I decided to buy two sacks of concrete mix - consisting of a lot of sand and a wee bag of cement wrapped separately within the big bag. I bought 1 x 25 kg and 1 x 5 kg, thinking that would fill up the pot, especially as I would also be adding water.

I also bought a big grey flower pot, a heavy duty chain that would be immersed in the concrete, and to which I'd chain the bike. The flower pot is supposed to be frostproof and shatterproof as well (that is, if I've interpreted the icons on the label correctly). To mix the concrete, I got the smallest and cheapest wee garden shovel thingy. Oh and lovely pink rubber gloves.

Getting the stuff home took 2 trips, the first one in a taxi. I was kinda reluctant to try carrying a 25 kg sack on my new gorgeous bike, and also, the flower pot would have been hard to transport that way too. Anyway, the second trip was much easier and done on the bike.

Part III - The Making of Concrete
I wanted the chain to be in the middle of the pot, but I couldn't figure out a way to hold it in place, while the concrete hardened that did not involve me actually holding the thing. So it ended up hanging over one side of the pot, but I think it'll be okay anyway. It's definitely stuck.

The mixing went fine - you have to mix sand and cement first, and then add water. I put a LOT of water in it, so it has taken nearly two weeks to dry out completely, but it sure made the mixing easier. Hehe.

The pot has been covered with plastic until now, as it sometimes rains in Ireland, and it sure didn't need more water to be added.

*The End*