Here we are again, the start of December and the first 5 windows on my advent calendar are already open! The end of another year is fast approaching, but there’s still lots of things in the pipeline before we get there.
That’s not going to help with subject matter for this week’s blog though, and unusually I’m a bit stuck for words. It’s not that I’ve been sat around doing nothing, it’s just that what I have been getting up too, isn’t very interesting. Friday afternoon I replaced the final bits of front suspension on “The Emmas” Peugeot that I hadn’t done the other week. Like most things, replacing the worst bits just highlighted things further down the line that were worn, so whilst my previous efforts made a vast improvement, it still wasn’t perfect. New Anti-Roll Bar bushes and Shock Strut upper mounts have finally seen an end to the creaks and groans that would be expected of an 18-year-old car though, and it now sounds better than it ever has. Helpfully, she waited until I’d finished, got changed and put all the tools away, before telling me that the horn’s stopped working! I suspect that’s an electrical issue, and that can certainly wait until it warms up a bit before I start fiddling with it!
There’s not much to say on the running front either. I’ve been running obviously, but it’s been the dull and boring sort (road running) in an effort to get as many miles in over the next few weeks as possible, and the easiest way to do that is up the number of days I run to work.
Covering 10 miles each way, it’s easy to rack up some good numbers. Although, dragging myself out of bed before 05:00, to be out of the door before 06:00, isn’t much fun, and neither is the run home after a full day’s work. It serves a purpose though, which will become clear as we approach the end of the year, and it’s all miles in my legs which will pay dividends in the future, so I'm not complaining!
The most interesting bit of news from the weekend was the The South Of Bucks Winter Warmer Audax, 200km of chilly bicycling fun from Beaconsfield, down to Alton and back, via the outskirts of Basingstoke and the Oxford services on the M40. Even that didn’t go quite to plan though!
Having pottered around with “The Emma’s” car Friday afternoon, it was dark before I loaded my bike into the van, sorted out my life and headed up to Beaconsfield ready for a relaxing evening and an early start on Saturday morning. The drive up was fine, with my late departure meaning I missed the worst of the rush hour traffic, and by 21:00 I’d stopped at the chippy for some tea and was just settling down with a pre bed beer when I thought I’d better check that my saddlebag was good to go for the morning. And that’s when it dawned on me. My saddlebag, complete with puncture repair kit, tools, inner tubes, pump, spare batteries, first aid kit, and all the other necessities that I lug around with me, but rarely use, wasn’t where it normally is, tucked safely away behind my bike, it was on the side in the garage, 60 odd miles away! That’ll teach me for packing in the dark and not being better organised. What now? Well, I had a couple of choices.
As I sat there sipping my beer, with the van heating blowing warmly on my toes, the start of another idea started to creep into my mind. Thinking about it, it’s less than 10 miles to Maidenhead which is right on the route, and Maidenhead’s got a Halfords, which opens at 08:00. That’s a more realistic destination. Whatever happens, it’s only ever going to be a 5-mile walk, whether that’s back to the van or on to Maidenhead where I can stop off and get a cheap puncture repair kit and pump. Granted I don’t really want another cheap pump, but puncture repair kits are always handy, and it might get me out of a pickle! Having slept on the idea, I still wasn’t convinced that option b, wasn’t the best idea, but eventually managed to drag myself from my nice warm bed and got myself to the start in plenty of time. By the time I’d collected my Brevet card, had a quick chat with the lovely ladies manning the control, and said hello to a few other cyclists and familiar faces, all thoughts of not starting had been firmly banished, and I was raring to go! It might have been dark, it might have been cold, and there might be a vicious headwind to contend with later in the day. But I’m an adventurous type, not the stay at home, chicken out at every opportunity type. Not start? like that was ever really an option!
By 08:00 we were on our way, first stop Winnersh for an info control, or in my case, first stop Maidenhead!
As I’d hoped, the miles to Maidenhead passed without fanfare and, as the rest of the pack went straight on, I diverted off route to find Halfords and my saviour. Not for the first time they came up with the goods too! Halfords get a hard time, but they’ve saved my bacon before, (a new wheel at Carlisle during my LEJOG and a new tyre at Newbury when fully laden with camping stuff) so in my opinion that’s unfair. Yes, they may not offer the best product line, or be the most knowledgeable, but for customer service, value for money and getting you out of the brown sticky stuff, they’re great in my opinion! Anyway, 10 minutes and £12 later, I’ve got a cheap pump taped to my top tube and a puncture repair kit, complete with tyre levers, taped under the saddle and I’m back in the game. Thank you Halfords at Maidenhead! Back on the road, there’s not much to add for the next few miles. Not only have I done this ride a couple of times before (2019, 2020, 2021) but it’s not the most interesting route either. As is usual for this time of year, the route tends to stick to fairly major roads. The advantage of which is that they will normally be rideable, no matter what the weather decides to do, but on the flip side, tend to be fast, have rough, worn, potholed surfaces, and encourage getting your head down and just pushing on! So that’s just what I did. Through Winnersh and on to Alton, which was dispatched without fanfare, and onwards towards Basingstoke. In fact, before 12:00 I was on the outskirts of Basingstoke and debating what to do. Should I divert into home to pick up my saddle bag, or just push on with my new puncture repair kit and hope I didn’t have any other problems? Sense soon won, and passing within a couple of miles of home I once again diverted off route and swung in to collect my bag and an extra pair of gloves (it really was surprisingly cold). I didn’t linger at home, grabbing my bit’s, said hello and goodbye again to “The Emma”, grabbed a cold crumpet from the cupboard on my way past (surprisingly disappointing) and pushed on again. From home it didn’t take long to make my way up to Pangbourne for the next control, where a cashpoint receipt provided proof of passage and then the long slog of a climb up Whitchurch hill to test the legs and get the heart rate up again! The next leg always seems a bit of a slog and today was no different. The wind, which as forecast, had picked up was blowing straight into my face, coupled with the rolling terrain and steadily increasing tiredness in my legs, I had a few moments of “what am I doing here” as the afternoon progressed. Feeling sorry for myself wasn’t going to get me to the end though, and through gritted teeth I slogged on, eventually rolling into the garage forecourt at the Oxford motorway services to join a couple of other Audaxers who were busily enjoying the now familiar delights of service station sandwiches and lukewarm pasties. Fed, watered and refreshed after a brief stop, things got easier from here on. The route flattens out and that wind was no longer in my face. Picking up the A40 which is now almost deserted, with most of the traffic diverted onto the motorway, it was a case of head down, get comfy on the Areo bars and tap out the remaining miles as darkness gradually descended. A brief pause in Marlow to get my head torch out and note down the answer to the info control, and then it’s only 8 miles back to the start. But not before the brutally steep sting in the tail at Bourne End and the climb up Kiln Lane. Smallest gear, legs spinning, lungs bursting, out of the saddle on the worst bits. Is that another rider ahead in the dark? Keep climbing, chasing the red taillight ahead. Onwards, ever upwards, one more ramp and I’ve caught them, dismounted and steadily pushing uphill, a brief greeting between ragged breaths and I slowly inch past, on my way up that interminable climb. Eventually though the top comes, and I gather my breath and push out the last couple of miles. Finally coming to a rest, back where I started from, nearly ten hours previously. Check back in with the lovely welcoming committee and get my brevet card stamped and then back to the van, where with cold fingers and toes it’s time for a brew and warm up. The feeling slowly returns to my toes as I put dry socks on and sit with my toes in front of the heater, whilst wrapping my hands round a hot brew and reflect on the days adventure. It may have been cold at times, it may have been a struggle into the wind at times, the roads may have been busier than I would have liked at times, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, and to think, I even considered not starting this morning. Idiot! Oh, and I didn’t need that puncture repair kit or any of the other stuff I picked up on the way past either. You can guarantee that if I hadn’t got one, I’d have needed it though!
Just before I go, what's this all about. I noticed these on my way past as I cycled home from work on Friday.
Now I know it's warmer down here in the tropical South. But Lambs in December, what's that all about?
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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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