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Starting all over again…

Well… that’s what it feels like.

Over the last three weeks, I’ve hardly done any “serious” riding. Sure there was a bit of commuting and the odd RRR, but there were no lung busting climbs or pushing the boundaries of traction between rubber & dust. The first two weeks were just too-darn-busy. That was followed by injury.

BUT…

I managed to get back on the bike this weekend.

Twice in fact!

Annnnnd now I’m hurting.

Honestly, three months ago, following my 1000km November, I would have eaten these two rides for breakfast and backed it up with another 100km. Today, I feel like rolling over and going back to sleep.

Gah!

Has been a rather slow week for me.

Walking to work on Tuesday, I stepped off the curb and rolled my ankle on a chunk of *something hard* that was sitting in the gutter (I think it was a chunk of loose cement, but it could have been a rock).

I tell ya!

Walking is dangerous business!

It definitely wasn’t the worst damage I’ve done to my ankle, with all of the high impact sports I played (and to a much lesser extent – still play). None the less, it has kept me off the bike and generally less active for the last few days.

Gah!

Three days on, and a week off the bike, I reckon I’m feeling more tired than I would be if I was actually riding. Need to find an outlet for this energy…

(Okay, it’s not really marketing this time)

One of the many usefulless newsletters that I regularly receive via email is a health newsletter. Honestly, it doesn’t really interest me most of the time (yet I can’t bring myself to unsubscribe) given that it’s mostly aimed at the middle aged corporate types with families who, as a result of our company’s health check program, have realised that something’s just NQR on the inside.

There just aren’t enough articles in this newsletter about training by heart rate, training plans, carbo loading and the use of beer as a recovery drink, so for the most part, I just delete it.

But something in today’s edition caught my eye…

The email subject just seemed to be a little bit at odds with the first article…

… do it properly.

Had my first puncture for quite some time this morning and wow was it a good one.

Cruising along on the way to work this morning, enjoying the crisp, cool weather, following several scorching hot weeks. Really enjoying riding the folding bike (more on this another time) at the moment.

Was setting quite a decent pace when suddenly…

*PSCHHHHHHHHHHHHH*

That’s quite a serious puncture…

*FFFT* *SCREECH* *FFFT* *SCREECH* *FFFT* *SCREECH*

What the heck is that?!

I found a lamp post to stop under and hopped off to see the damage. Was quite worried that the screeching sound was a major failure of something, given that the folder isn’t actually mine.

Nope.

Just a puncture. A good one at that.

That’s the 1.5 inch nail that I pulled out of the tyre. I think (hope) that the screeching that I heard was the sound of the nail being dragged over the ground each time it rolled around, but I’ll have a proper look at it this evening.

Anyway, to work… must fix puncture.

Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better set of circumstances…

It was a nice cool morning, not too hot and not too cold. I was perfectly rugged up, so didn’t really feel it. The nail in the tyre meant that I didn’t have to spent ages fiddling around trying to find a tiny piece of glass in the tyre. Also, 20″ tyres are a snap to pump up – which didn’t actually matter because I had the good fortune to flat opposite a petrol station which had one of the old style pumps which actually works on bike tyres.

Awesome :D

Back on the road in minutes.

If only all of my flats could be in such circumstances.

Of all of my bikes, the one bike I really haven’t upgraded much is the road bike. Honestly, I can’t understand how much technology can go in to a road bike. It’s light and has wheels, which you move with some pedals.

So you know, I’ve got the usual decent stuff on there, a decent set of mid-range wheels, nice pedals and upgraded brakes to match the rest of the gruppo. That’s the sum total of my upgrades.

For the last couple of years, I’ve felt perfectly happy with this bike. It’s fast and comfortable. It strikes the right balance for my purposes between keeping up with the pack and riding all day.

Why upgrade?

It works…

Well this morning I realised something as I ascended the last major climb of our weekly loop to claim the KOM. I was actually cranking the bike hard enough to lose my cadence reading.

Yikes!

Talk about frame flex! I mean, it’s not like I care about my cadence when I’m riding at full up-chuck pace up the hill, but heck, I wonder how much power I’m losing through flex!

Honestly I can’t afford a new frame, but gee this gets me thinking…