There’s no doubt about it, the Summer’s definitely over, and that’s for certain. I know it’s over because this weekend was the Petworth End Of Summer 200Km Audax. Oh, and the clocks went back. But that’s a minor point when there’s bike riding to tell the passing of the seasons by. I’ll get on to the bike riding fun in a minute, but first there’s a couple of other things to catch up on. The first of which is the stupid van, which occupied most of my time on Friday afternoon. It’s been well behaved recently, but coming home along the M3 last weekend the God of nuts and bolts decided that the bolts retaining the Number 1 fuel injector should just undo themselves for no apparent reason! There I was happily pootling along until the normally rattily engine sound was replaced by the chuff chuff chuff of escaping cylinder pressure. I Chuffed along to the services where a nice man from the AA produced the only tool I didn’t seem to have with me (an Allen key) and tightened it back up again to get me home. The only problem with that is there’s a little copper washer which seals the injector to the head, and having been loose once it was never going to seal properly again, so now needed replacing. Luckily there was a break in the weather Friday afternoon, so I spent a couple of hours stripping it down, cleaning everything up and replacing the little washer, so hopefully we're back in the game again. The strangest thing is that it’s been fine for 10,000 miles since I replaced the engine, and the others are all still tight. So why that one decided to come undone I’ve no idea. Hopefully it's not a portent of some catastrophic failure that’s just around the corner, because I really don’t want to be stripping that down again, and with push bikes trying to bankrupt me I can’t afford to either. While we’re talking about things breaking, my commuting bike needs a new front wheel. Well, I say it needs a new front wheel, it’s actually got a dynamo hub fitted (as have all my bikes) which is brilliant. But the wheel bearings aren’t adjustable or replaceable (we’ll see about that) and the bearings are on their way out. Strangely I’m not having much luck with bearings at the moment, this is the 3rd bearing failure in a short time, none of which have been replaceable (Washing machine drum at the start of the month, bottom bracket a couple of weeks ago, and now front wheel hub). I suppose I shouldn’t moan too much as it has done over 4000 miles through 2 winters in all conditions, so it’s probably done well to last this long. But like the washing machine and bottom bracket, a bit more thought in the design process could easily have made these replaceable items, prolonging their life and reducing waste. I suppose when you're in the business of selling new items, that’s not a shrewd business move though is it. Either way, to even get the hub apart requires all the spokes removing, and while I’m more than happy to do that, it’s not a ten minute job, and I haven't got a spare Dynamo wheel that will fit that bike to swap it with to get to work next week. I priced up the cost of the parts to build up a new wheel, which will mean that I can swap them over and look at getting the other one apart, and it’s actually only £10 more to get a handbuilt one from my usual parts supplier, so that’s a no brainer. Although there is a 2 week lead time, so I need to nurse this one though at least another 250 miles of commuting and that's another £150 that I wasn’t planning on spending. All of which adds to my argument that it’s actually more costly commuting to work by bike than it would be by car. We’ll save that argument for another day though, and when the new wheel gets here I’ll get a few photos of stripping the old one down and we’ll have a look at swapping the allegedly unreplaceable bearings! Anyhow, I suspect none of you are here to read about me pottering around fixing things, whilst moaning about the cost. So what else have I been up too? Well, Saturday didn’t look too promising on the weather front, so I came up with a cunning plan to try and make the most of the day without getting too wet, which unusually worked out quite well. Saturday morning I pottered around at home and wandered up the allotment for a couple of hours, before rendezvousing with ‘The Emma’ at home for Bacon Butties for lunch. You can’t say we don’t know how to live the high life, there might not be any posh restaurants, or exotic holidays here, but who needs those when your having Bacon Butties for a lunchtime treat. And a rare treat it was too! Anyway, the actual plan for the day was to head down towards Midhurst, ready for Sunday’s Audax fun, whilst trying to take advantage of a forecast break in the rain by getting in a few running miles along the South Downs Way in the afternoon. By the time I got down to my planned start point at Cocking, the rain had indeed stopped, and although the clouds looked menacing, it was at least dry. I got a real result too. I only did just over 8 miles as part of my slow return to running (that’s 18 for this week, up from 16 the week before and 12 the week before that), so I was only out for just over an hour. But it was raining heavily a few minutes before I set off, and within 5 minutes of getting back to the van, the rain had returned and was in for the night. 8 miles and I didn’t even get wet, it’s not very often that happens, maybe my luck is changing for the better! Joking aside, those 8 miles along the South Downs Way were bloody brilliant. I mentioned last week that I’ve really missed running these past few months. The sense of freedom, the exploration, the feel of the ground beneath your feet, the open spaces, the landscape opening out in front of you, the peace and quiet and the opportunity to be at one with yourself and the world. The little tracks that just cry out to be explored, the birds flitting from the hedgerow as you approach, the muddy puddles that block your way until you give in the inevitable and run straight through, the cold muddy water splashing your calves, and your breathing, ragged and short, as you climb yet another hill to take in the view from the summit. Oh yes, I’ve really missed running and I’m desperately hoping and praying that by taking it slow I can keep going, even if I never get any further than the 8 miles I did Saturday, that’s a million times better than no miles at all! Sometimes I should just keep my big mouth shut, and Sunday turned out to be one of those days. After a cosy night in the van listening to the rain beat down endlessly on the roof, Sunday didn’t actually look that bad (I don’t think it stopped raining from the time I finished my run, until about 07:00, and that includes the extra hour courtesy of the clocks changing). But Sunday morning looked considerably better than it had been overnight. In fact when I checked the forecast as I sat in bed having a brew, the forecast was for a dry morning, with some heavy rain showers later in the day. I can handle heavy showers, and if they could wait until later in the day would be even better. Getting wet towards the end of the day is far better than starting the day wet! So things didn’t look too bad for the Petworth End Of Summer 200Km Audax, which made a change because I’ve done this ride a few times before and it’s been more normal to start in the pouring rain than it has to start in the dry. Pre-ride rituals completed, we were on the road bang on 08:30, heading for the first of the day's checkpoints at Liss. The roads, wet and puddle laden after the night's rain, were quiet as we headed out of Petworth along the A283 before turning off onto quieter country lanes. Rounding a bend in the road approaching Lickfold I had the first indication that the day may not turn out as planned, as the road suddenly disappeared into a lake sized puddle, complete with stranded car and a runner wading his way slowly through! The wading runner confirmed that A) that wasn’t his car, and more importantly B) that the water was only knee high, but the current was quite strong on the corner where the river had burst its banks and overflowed the bridge. By the time I’d debated my next move a couple more riders had arrived to survey the scene, and taking solace in numbers we all plucked up the courage to go for it. The jogger was right too, it was only knee high, but that's deep enough to fill your boots full of icy water and, the current was quite strong on the bend too. Safely across the ocean I pushed on with water squelching between my toes and dripping out of my sodden boots. Not pleasant, but not the end of the world and all part of the adventure.
By the time I got to Liss the weather forecast had been proven incorrect, and a steady rain was falling, a rain that got heavier and colder on route to the next checkpoint at Petersfield. Stopping for a “proof of passage” receipt at Petersfield I took the opportunity to add another waterproof layer under my lightweight jacket whilst debating the weather forecast with a couple of fellow riders. We all seemed to be of the opinion that the worst of the weather was due in the afternoon, and it was already pretty bad! How much worse could it get? As I made my way towards Chichester the rain eased off and things started to dry out. In fact as I started working my way back towards Petworth for the lunch stop I was actually quite enjoying myself. That wasn’t going to last though, and by the time I started working my way back over the South Downs the rain had returned. Not too bad at first, but by the time I started the descent from Duncton hill it was throwing it down. This wasn’t part of the deal. The rain stung my eyes, poured from the rim of my helmet, soaked into my boots and chilled my legs, whilst the cars continued to stream past inches from my handlebars, giving not an inch, despite the deteriorating conditions and reduced visibility! Hmmmmmm this isn't much fun! It’s not very often that I consider quitting. But today, there was an ideal opportunity, as the route passed back through Petworth and the safety of the dry, warm, van. If the forecast was right and this was going to continue all afternoon, another 5 or 6 hours of being soaked to the bone wasn’t going to be much fun, and for what gain? So that’s where my, and most of the others, ended our day. I dropped back into the start to say my thanks to the organising team and let them know that I was calling it a day, and slunk back to the van, where the rain continued to fall relentlessly for the next couple of hours as I had my lunch and a brew. 51 miles in the rain then, a big puddle and a first Audax DNF (Did Not Finish). I can’t win them all though, and that was a sensible decision. There’s no point in getting pneumonia, riding down an invisible pothole in the rain, or getting knocked off by some inattentive driver who’s not prepared to slow down despite the conditions. Sometimes it’s better to say enough is enough and come back to play again another day! But most importantly, a massive thanks to the organiser for putting on Sundays ride, and a huge “Chapeau” to the 7 hardy souls who pushed on and finished the 200km day despite some atrocious conditions!
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Paul PerrattOld enough to know better, young enough to still feel invincible, stupid enough to keep on trying the same thing again and again. Cyclist, Gardener, Runner, Hiker, Cook, Woodworker, Engineer, Jack of all trades and master of none, Anti social old git and all round miserable bugger. Archives
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