My every intention this morning was to join my good cycling mate 'Big Steve,' for 40-50 miles of wit and banter at a steady pace. Well that's how he advertises his Sunday ride! I got up, got everything ready and then time just wandered off and I ended up leaving the house late. So when I arrived at C&D Cycles it was 9:05 and no one was there! On the way in I got a friendly wave from the KCC lot sat in the bus shelter.
No time to say hello, goodbye. I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!
This was possibly for the best because Steve and I would have stuck to the plan and smashed out a half century. That wouldn't have been a ride to write home about. Parts of the UK are experiencing a month's rain in two days and parts of my body are currently experiencing a month's worth of calories consumed over the same two days. So all things considered the little 24 miler I did was a good result all round. My kit was just starting to fail as I got home. Water was starting to get through my gloves, my feet were getting damp and my rain jacket had reached the limit of it's resistance. Much as I like to observe rule #9 I also don't really enjoy being cold and wet.
Below is the Ise running just south of Arthingworth, it's little more than a brook most of the year so that show's the rain we've had. I think today was probably a better day for a canoe.
We really shouldn't grumble though because parts of the UK are in a terrible state with many people losing their homes to floods. That rarely happens in Northants with the last time being because the council forgot to open the flood gates!
Jimmy's End Northampton 1998
I also doubt very much that cyclists have had much fun in the north of England with famous cycling areas sitting under water.
The picture above is a bridge in Cumbria which is part of a CTC route. It was destroyed on December 7th. In another part of Cumbria people are having to use a cycle route because the road has gone, here's a link to the Road CC article Road CC. Have a look around if you follow the link, I wish I could build a site that impressive.
On my return home I noticed my back wheel rubbing again. I think it has a problem as the same loose spoke is causing the buckle. That combined with a bit of play in the front wheel suggests those faithful hoops need a bit of TLC. Not a massive surprise as they've done over 8000 miles. There's a quick solution here. The wheels on my Giant Propel can go on Clive whilst I get it sorted. If my back wheel is ready to retire I've got a spare so it's all OK.
Which leads me to my thought for the day. Having been bought my dream bike I straight away began to desire better wheels for it. What a spoilt brat! I'm not Fabian Cancellara what do I need better wheels for? I'm sat here in my very comfy house, in front of a lovely fire, typing this on my laptop with the cricket on my massive TV. I've got a great bike, I've got other bikes too. I'm enjoying a week off work with my family. People in the UK have been flooded out of their homes, millions are living in poverty and I'm worrying about wheels! Sorry if that's a bit miserable but I always get like this at Christmas. I just think at times we should stop and grateful for what we've got before thoughts drift onto what we want next.
Enough of that, back to cycling. I've got a lot of work to do if I'm going to complete the Festive 500. However it looks like much better weather during the week. look below there's a strange yellow symbol on the forecast!
Happy Pedaling
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