Have learned a few things over the last week.
Thursday I did a 30 mile ride home from work and got a puncture at around the 20 mile mark. This was the first puncture I have had on the road since I started riding back in January 2011. I have ridden over 3400 miles over these last 18 months. I was riding with some Specialized Nimbus Armadillo tyres for the first 2200 miles and whilst these where almost invincible and still have plenty of life in them they did have a hefty weight to them and I have been using some lightweight Schwalbe tyres for the last 1200 miles so think this to be a fair trade off in terms of puncture resistance to weight at the moment. I got the puncture from a 1 inch piece of flint in the road which sliced through the tyre. Lesson this day was to look out for flint stones as encountering them does not always lead to a gay old time!
On Saturday, Joy and I cycled out to Ripley to watch the men’s Olympic road race pass by. It was a great experience to see them and to feel the positive vibe that came with the event. We cycled on to Guildford once the peloton had passed by to look at helmets to see if they had one in Joy’s size. Before completing a 30 mile loop back home (Joy did fantastically and I had to remind her to reduce the pace a couple of times when she took the lead). Saturday’s lesson was how Joy’s head is so small that she can get a child’s helmet (pink with cartoon rabbits & carrots) on!
I cycled 10 miles to Stacey’s via Mytchett and Farnborough on Sunday morning. Stacey and I then did a nice 30 mile loop, during which it went from glorious sunshine to pelting with very heavy rain back to sunshine in the space of half an hour. After a Graeme Obree recommended energy fix (Jam Sandwich) I then did a 20 mile route past the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice to complete a total 60 miles for the day. 2 lessons from Sunday, 1) it is worth stopping to take your socks off and wring them out when you have been drenched. 2) do not under any circumstances attempt to dry the touchscreen of the Garmin 800 with your hanky whilst it is switched on as you can inadvertently press the buttons to delete all previous activities (all the rides over the last week) and the confirm button!
I cycled to work on Monday and come the evening I started off on an intended 30 mile ride home. All was good for the first 18 miles especially as Paul Finning joined me for the first 12 miles but then around the 20 mile mark it started to feel exceedingly hard work to keep any momentum going, at first I thought it was just the effect of cycling for three days on the trot but I then realised that it wasn’t my muscles complaining that was making it hard and how I was not cycling in a straight line! Having now realised that I just had no energy I cut the ride short and headed straight home. This is the first time I have had such an experience and whilst it is a potential concern as my “slight” build means I have no reserves I am glad to learn about this now so I can make sure to carry something (jam sandwich / flapjack etc) going forward.
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