Thought I’d do 15 after work to see how I’d cope with a shortish ride without taking a day off. I intended to do the first seven of the ride I did yesterday, then the same seven back. Nice enough weather but unfortunately those first few miles are a bit urban in that direction, and I had rush hour traffic to contend with. It was a bit blowy as well.
I did get knee pain from the off but nothing serious, and they coped OK.
Anyway once I reached the 7 mile point I decided I wasn’t coming back the same way, so I took what I thought was a detour but in fact ended up being a slight shortcut. Certainly more pleasant though, for the couple of miles until I was back on the same track then it was back to the dust and traffic.
Not much fun really, and to cap it all the bike seemed to start handling a bit funny a few hundred metres from home. I weaved left and right a bit to test the steering and sure enough it had gone slightly anarchic. Closer inspection revealed that I had a front puncture. So I hoisted the bike to shoulder height and clogged home in cleats, taking a short cut across the village green.
Could have been worse! Gave the front wheel a few revolutions under careful scrutiny and it’s still spinning true, so I don’t think running on a flat for whatever distance has done it any harm. The road didn’t even feel particularly rough, funnily enough.
Anyway – a tragically truncated 14.52 miles. 15 miles is the arbitrary point at which I excuse myself rowing machine duties, so that’s unfortunate.