The ride I led today, had 6 riders signed up last night, then 5, then this morning 4, and by half way we were down to 2. Maybe wasn't meant to be!
I asked the ladies to ride into this view above,and I would take another photograph and then it all went quiet. Linda got a puncture. Seconds before, we had to squeeze past a tractor and unfortunately Linda ended up going into a puddle, so dare say, that her tyre got pinched in the pothole.
So, we then had a serious of errors, from which we can all learn. (Did that sound positive?!!) Always carry your own spare inner tube. Always carry a pump which fits your own inner tube. Never touch the brakes once your wheel is off if you have disk brakes. Have a back up plan of how you are going to get home.
Other than that, ideally learn how to change a puncture. We got so far, but failed to get the tyre back on. As we struggled and cursed for several minutes, the wind was gusting like mad and the blue sky had gone.
Julie & Linda R road from home to meet Sue and myself at Woosehill, and within minutes it started to almost sleet. We decided to head for my house, and within another 2 minutes it had stopped so abandoned that idea and carried on with our ride. We headed through the lanes around Hurst where we saw a field with loads of spring lambs. Blue sky and sunshine by this time.
We rode via Waltham St Lawrence and Shurlock Row, then across part of the Knowl Hill Bridal route where the big views are always looking good.
I asked the ladies to ride into this view above,and I would take another photograph and then it all went quiet. Linda got a puncture. Seconds before, we had to squeeze past a tractor and unfortunately Linda ended up going into a puddle, so dare say, that her tyre got pinched in the pothole.
So, we then had a serious of errors, from which we can all learn. (Did that sound positive?!!) Always carry your own spare inner tube. Always carry a pump which fits your own inner tube. Never touch the brakes once your wheel is off if you have disk brakes. Have a back up plan of how you are going to get home.
Other than that, ideally learn how to change a puncture. We got so far, but failed to get the tyre back on. As we struggled and cursed for several minutes, the wind was gusting like mad and the blue sky had gone.
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| Here comes the rain again |
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| We all tried, but no luck. |
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| 4 cyclist and a wheel |
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| We couldn't get the tyre back on so took turns at wheeling Lindas bike vertically back to a point where she could be collected. |
My knight in shining armour, who by this time had abandoned his own ride due to rain in the Chilterns, was back home and kindly came to collect Linda, but I think his shining armour is starting to loose it's shine. Julie decided to take a lift back to Bracknell too.
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| Taxi arrived aka John. |
Sue and I peddled back, skipping our planned coffee break at White Waltham.We came back the shortest route, rather than the planned route, and by the time we got to Dinton, decided to stop for a drink. It was 12.30 by this time.
Hey Ho. Sometimes doesn't work out quite as planned. I find changing tyres difficult, VERY frustrating, time consuming and unless its done quickly, spoils the ride for everyone. Although determined to learn to do this at least on my Hybrid, there is no way I can change a tight tyre. Everyone's bike is different, so can't worry about having the responsibility of fixing others. Plan B in future will be for each rider to call someone to collect them, even if that is a taxi, so that the ride can continue. That sounds to me like a much better plan! The only issue is that if I am one with the puncture, will anyone else know how to get back home?!