Here I am with Mark, my Human Sat Nav for the journey from Taunton to Bristol.
He offered me a choice between a 50 mile route or a 65 mile, hillier and prettier route... I took the 65. I'm glad I did because the route was a beaut. But... we were only around 12 miles shy of the end when I suffered a rear wheel blow out. The inner tube was ruined
And so was the tyre...
And because I was travelling at some speed when it happened, the rear wheel itself was suddenlt dragging along on the road and that was ruined too.
Luckily, because this is a tour as well as a bike ride, there's a van carrying my Tour Manager from venue to venue and I threw my old bike in the van just in case my lovely Boardman bike met with any serious disaster. As this puncture wasn't just a puncture... it didn't just need a new inner tube but a whole new rear wheel as well I wouldn't have been able to carry on the journey on the same day without switching to the spare bike.
Here I am, with the spare, about to ride over the Clifton Suspension Bridge...
And here's Mark about to do the same...
And here we are, at the Day 5 finishing line; Colston Halls, Bristol:
Which was the starting line for Day 6. Here I am, with Dai, Tim, Richard and Andrew; my guides for Day 6.
And here we are at a pub-stop along the way.
I wouldn't have thought cyclists were the target market for kebabs but here's me doing what the sign tells me...
Here we are at the Day 6 finishing line... The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon...
Which was the starting line for Day 7. Here I am with my Human Sat Nav - the fab Andrew as well as my mate Lloydy Junior who joined me on the ride for a couple of days...
Andrew knew the perfect spot for some lunch...
Apparenly they filmed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang over here...
Here's me and Andrew congratulating one another on a successful ride to High Wycombe while Lloydy Junior looks sheepish and tries to pretend he isn't really in the photo...
I'm exceedingly lucky because a lovely chap called Martin had been in touch to offer me a free service on my bike. Martin runs a mobile bike repair service and I arranged to meet him at the venue in High Wycombe. I developed a slow puncture in my front wheel about 3 miles out of Wycombe. If you're going to have a puncture, I recommend doing it when you're on your way to meeting Martin...
This is the inside of Martin's van...
As you can see... it's a bit more organised than the inside of ours...
10 comments:
Flipping Heck Dave, you really wasn't kidding when you said you threw the bike in the back of the van, were you! Looking forward to seeing you at The Lowry!
Take care,
Love Saph
xxx
Fab verification word - Woo Tour!
Ah. I see the tyre damage now.
That's not actually too bad.
If you get hold of a 'tyre boot' (Park Tools make/sell one), you can use it as an emergency repair (in lieu of a fresh tyre), and stick a new tube in.
If you don't have a tyre boot, you can use anything at all that you can stick on the inside of the tyre that will stop the inner bulging through.
Doesn't account for any rim damage. But, should be okay enough to get to you the nearest shop/etc.
Keep up the good work, Dave.
Yeah, I know. We talked about making a cardboard one but I don't think it would have carried us the 12 miles to Bristol and bike-shopness especially with a screwed up - and sharp - rim.
Really enjoyed the show in High Wycombe. Still having conflicting thoughts about the second half... but it was outstanding (perhaps even a masterclass in the art), so all is forgiven :)
My boyfriend thought you looked a little tired (tyred tired), so we hope you're getting some good rest along the way.
I knew I recognised that farm shop... looking at your sat nav trail, you can see the detour down to them.
Having local guides is turning out to be a cracking idea. Maybe there's mileage in a website for people to meet up and do this sort of thing - a bit like ride-sharing sites for cars.
Hi Dave,
My brother and I thoroughly enjoyed the show in High Wycombe, looking at the route you took you rode past his house and my flat, had we known you could have popped in for a cup of tea ;)
Anyway, thank-you for signing my copy of America Unchained after the show, I must admit to being a little star-struck and forgot to wish you luck for the rest of the tour! So I'm doing it now. Good luck!
We've already booked to see you when you come back to "Hiwycus" in March, this time with my sister-in-law who was jealous she didn't get to see the show and was even more annoyed when we said we'd promised not to reveal any details either!
Thanks again, it was a great night :)
Mark
There's always one so here goes...
All in a day's work for...bicycle repair man.
From the clean slice of the tyre it may have been the anti-puncture tape that caused the sidewall to fail.
My pleasure Dave! I enjoyed the show and It’s great what you are doing, You are cool bloke.
Keep peddling.
Martin
http://www.cycle-tech.co.uk
I used to live in Bristol and the suspension bridge was one of the first places i visited as a student as everyone at university were telling me to see it! Bad luck about the bike though =[ Did you enjoy Bristol? It's a very busy pretty city =]
Post a Comment