Monthly Archives: May 2010

I had big hopes for this evening. I was going to get home just after 4, wrap Ethan’s birthday present, drop that off at my parents, then head on out on a 20ish mile hilly loop south-westish of Bath.

5pm rolled round and I was still at work and feeling slightly unwell, probably due to eating last weeks lunch today, so things weren’t going entirely to plan. I got home, pumped up the tyres on the Peregrine, wrapped the present, got changed, popped outside and oiled the chain on the bike, then realised that the front tyre was totally flat. The combination of a tubeless rim and a road tyre makes for difficult tyre changes, so out came the Lemond necessitating a change of shoes.

About 90 minutes later than intended I finally headed out on the wrong bike only to discover that the saddle and cleats weren’t in the right place which made things a little uncomfortable for a bit. After dropping the present off I admitted defeat and just looped round through the University and town to at least reach a double-figure mileage.

I’ve now got to fight with the front wheel and try to get a tyre to seat on it properly. Could be interesting, but will most likely be very frustrating.

First fixed ride of the year this year, just a gentle spin out to Bitton and back in around an hour. Slightly bizarrely, the freewheel self-destructed mid-ride whilst I wasn’t even using it. Unfortunately with the tools I have at home I’m unable to remove the remnants of the old freewheel from the hub, I’ll have to drop it in to the LBS where hopefully they’ll have bigger tools, or just keep riding fixed.