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A Tale of Two Punctures

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... More commuting into work on my road bike this week in the fitness drive saw me cover 90 miles. The feeling of being able to ride every morning and evening is great and I am now getting used to zipping in between the queues of traffic and racing ahead of buses at traffic lights etc.

However, Friday evening it was raining and shortly into the 14 mile ride home puncture number 1 was caused by a razor sharp piece of flint. I then discovered that I had forgotten to pack both the spare tube and the repair kit - bugger. I ended up walking about a mile and a half until those great guys at Psubliminal in Balham Road rescued me. To them, it was just selling an inner tube to some guy 5 minutes before closing time but to me it was a lifeline.

On to Bank Holiday Monday (5th May) and Paul, Richard and Keef start out from Epsom Downs heading towards Leith_Hill.

Now what's the best way to recapture those first feelings you ever had when off-roading?

You know, the feeling that you were totally out of control, your teeth were about to rattle out and you were about to die.

Is it to constantly search for more challenging terrain?

No, it's to get back on your rigid frame and go back to some fairly ordinary XC route. You guessed it, the Apollo made another appearance as the spesh underwent some serious surgery on it's rear linkage.

Paul and Keef were keen to get to Leith_Hill and were up for a big day out. The Apollo was making me think twice and after making it up Box Hill, puncture number 2 stopped me half way down the other side (I had been crawling down in the other guys wake anyway).

This decided it for me and after fixing the tube I headed for home. that's enough miles for this week....

7th May Richard, Keef, Paul, Jeff and David W.

...Although as that was Monday, it was really only the beginning of my mileage this week. The road trip of 28 miles a day to work and back is really clocking up the mileage. 120 miles on the road this week - so what do I do on Wednesday evening? That's right, go out to Belmont_Downs for a quick spin.

Still, it was worth it to see David back out on his bike. He went over on his ankle a few months ago playing football with the kids and tore some ligaments as well as dislocating his ankle. He is still tender but desperate to get back in the saddle as he has only ridden for 4 hours THIS YEAR.

I only manage 6 miles before I head for home. I feel a twinge in my left thigh and don't want to push it with all the riding that coming up for me.

Turning to other matters, I am very disappointed with Cycleopedia in Surbiton at the moment - I ordered the replacement bushings last week which have failed to materialise leaving me the option of riding rigid again this weekend (no chance) or riding the spesh with the rear shock up shit creek (suppose I will have to).

11th May Rich, Keef, Paul and Mike form part of a 21 strong group following the MBR killer loop of the North_Downs.

The riders

A meeting of like-minded individuals has been arranged by Mike and Mark who realised we rode the same routes whilst both lurking on Singletrackworld.

The turn out exceeds our expectations with 19 riders meeting at Newlands Corner early on a Sunday morning that promises mixed weather. 2 riders who happen to be in the car park at the same time ask if they can join us making 21 as we set off around the killer loop.

The route

The first few miles pass without event however a couple of early crashes and several
punctures make us realise that the group is actually too big to manage as we all start to get bored and cold whilst hanging around waiting for flats to be fixed etc. This gets worse as first Keef (new chainrings required) and then Mike (creaky bottom bracket) head off to Nirvana Cycles who are doing brisk business today. Six of the riders leave us at the top of Leith_Hill making it slightly more manageable whilst the rest set off for Holmbury Hill after waiting for Mike to return.

Holmbury Hill proves to be the best riding of the day as we go off-piste to tackle 'Reservoir_Dogs' and 'Barry Knows Best' because, well he just does.

There's just time for a few more punctures before we return to Newlands Corner (why did we start the route at the top of a bloody great big hill?) far too many hours after setting out this morning

The riders

I didn't manage to even speak to all of the riders, never mind know all their names but special mentions must go to Dave (The Vulture) who regaled us all with stories of how he had been shitting though the eye of a needle all week and then managed a spectacular over the handlebars effort at the end leaving us all worried about whether he was going to get up again.

Mike (the Bike). Not satisfied with the ride from his Litespeed_Kitsuma, he has formed his own bike company (dialled bikes). He already has a number of prototypes including jump bikes, BMX frames and the steel-framed XC bike he was riding today kitted out with the kind of bike porn we have come to expect -you know, a mix of XTR/XT kit, Easton stuff and hydraulic disc brakes.

19th May 2003
After four hard weeks of riding to work I decided to take a rest this weekend. My legs have been feeling really heavy for the last seven days and I seemed to have no energy. I was seeing other riders going past me who I would normally blow away (this is not me being big-headed, just that if you are averagely fit, on a road bike you can beat almost everyone who is commuting on an mtb).

The rest did me good and this morning I was back on form - feeling great, loads of energy and I equalled my best time for the journey.

Things I have noticed on a road bike:

1. As already mentioned - you go much faster than on your MTB
2. Not all roadies are miserable - in fact most of them chat to you quite happily.
3. From the other side of the fence it seems like mtb'ers are miserable. A couple just sneer / stare blankly at you even when you say hello at traffic lights.
4. The feeling of raw power is unbelievable - you stand up, stomp down on the pedals and the power transfers instantaneously into speed - try it!
5. You feel unsafe on those ribbon like tyres for the first week or so but after that you get used to it and stepping back onto an mtb is like using tractor tyres.
6. It's really easy to do track stands when you go back to your MTB and those fat tyres
7. You understand why road lids don't have peaks
8. Did I mention you go really fast? What's that? Oh, okay, I already said that.

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