Sunday to Saffron Walden

I went out on the club ride today - setting of at 8:50 to get to Much Hadham for a 9:30 start. It was really tough at first and I was really struggling, until I realised my back brake was rubbing against the wheel and slowing me right down. Once that had been sorted, it was like riding a different bike. Still I missed the start and set off to follow the group heading north. After about 30 mins I caught up with everyone near Stocking Pelham. Luckily I caught them there as just after that the route turned off the direct road to Saffron Walden to begin a northerly loop. It was quite cold and there was a northerly headwind, and I cooled down a bit at the slightly slower pace of the group. We did pass Audley End which I had never seen before and it looks impressive. One day we may visit there or go to a concert in the grounds. Then we arrived in Saffron Walden and the Cafe Mocha where I had a ciabatta bacon and egg sandwich and a large capuccino. Heading back it got a bit drizzly and it was quite hard work over the top between Ugley and Ardley, but I got back to Much Hadham by 2:15 - no punctures by anyone, and headed home with Steve, Barry and Paul, slowing down a bit through tiredness, getting home by 3 pm.

turbo trainer tuesday night

Went to the first Tuesday night turbo trainer session. Only one other person was there but I enjoyed it all the same, riding for 40 mins or so at high speed indoors.

Black Ice

Not such a good day today. Yet again I had to fix a flat before I set off as my valve exploded when I was about to top up the pressure in my front tyre. So I contacted Peter to say I would meet the group at Clavering Lakes and he told me that answering his phone made him fall on the ice. Anyway I set off and it was a bit cold and icy, so I was being careful. With hindsight I should have stuck to main roads, but I got as far as Wareside turned left, and after another couple of hundred metres, hit black ice and went over - bike ending 10-15m in front of me, lying on the cold icy tarmac, hurting on my left side. I lay still for a half a minute, and then gingerly got up. Phoned home to ask for a lift back home. A few mins later I was feeling much better, and the bike was ok (handle bar a little knocked out of shape but ok) so I turned back for home and carefully set off. This time I hit more ice going back out of Wareside up the hill (that I had come down 10 mins earlier) and hit more ice going over on my right side. So after a short while on the ground, I walked to the top of the hill and waited a couple of mins for Montse and the girls to collect me. I got home, had a long shower and checked for more damage - just hurting hips/thighs and a grazed hand and knee so far and an ache all over for the rest of the day. Lesson - don't risk it when there is ice!

New Year ride

Jan 2nd - ready for a new year of cycling. This year's aim to cycle Paris to Geneva (in June). Back to today, I got ready and went to the bike just after 9 ready to go to hertford for the start of the run to find my back wheel had a flat. Lesson of the day, always check your bike the day before. 20 mins later with a new inner tube in place I was almost ready to go, only had to get the final bits and bobs ready, called ahead to say I would be late and set off to try to catch the group. I got a phone call coming out of Hertford saying everyone was in Bramfield. I thought I was a few hundred metres from Bramfield but was actually 2 miles away! Peter hung back and I caught him 10 mins later and we rode together. We rode a fairly fast pace in the cold but dry weather and all was going fine until I punctured. Lesson no 2 - always check that you have the CO2 cylinder pump with you before you leave! We fixed the inner tube and cycled on, but then Peter called me to stop. Lesson no 3 - always close the saddle bag to stop inner tubes falling out and remember to pick up the tyre levers when you have finished a repair. So being cold and not sure of the exact route, we headed for the cafe stop at the Tea Green Golf Course arriving at the same time as the main group. A good english breakfast later and we set off for home, past Luton airport (where someone punctured and we sat at the end of the runway watching several planes land). After that the journey back was fairly uneventful arriving home just after 3 pm to find Montse and the girls in the rugby club carpark on their new bikes.