After food, a shower and, crucially, BEER! I've decided not to sell the bike. Sorry Adrian.
The good news from today's recce:-
- the roads haven't deteriorated since last year and a few of them have been improved
- the section between Ribchester and Scorton (and beyond) is just lovely
- Tottington to Shadsworth would probably also have been excellent if it weren't for the rain and the puncture
Other things that I noticed:-
- parts of this route are very busy in daylight: Cheetham is like the Wild West and the Grane Road is like a race track
- Whitebirk McDonald's has the most expensive coffee of any McDonald's that I've been in (and I visit a lot)
The ride.
It started off well. The rain had stopped before I left home and I got to Albert Square about 09.50. The Manchester Jazz Festival is on (nice) so there is a lot of fencing in the square. We should meet outside of it in line with the town hall entrance and near the taxi rank.
The route out of the city centre is still OK and we cross the tram tracks at a right angle.
Up towards Cheetham Hill, through Whitefield and into Bury (a nod to Alan S/jogler) was also as expected although it seemed to be hard work.
The light drizzle turned to heavy drizzle and then proper rain as I climbed out of Tottington so I stopped to put on my waterproof. A few hundred metres later, I stopped again to pump up a softening rear tyre. It wasn't going down very quickly so I figured that I could make it to the McDonalds with one or two further re-inflations. As it happened, it made it with just the one although the tyre was bumping on the rim by the time I arrived.
The wind on the tops above Crowthorne and then going down the Grane Road was quite something and the rain was probably at its hardest at this stage.
A coffee at the McDonalds lifted morale (the veggie burger didn't) and I fixed the rear puncture. Since I couldn't find anything in the tyre, I had to put a new tube in and hope for the best. Before I left, I grabbed a load of paper towels and wiped the table and floor (I'd dripped a lot and there were still bits of sealant from when I was running the tyre tubeless) and then I found the mop and did the floor again. The cleaner still looked pissed off with me despite everything being cleaner than it had been when I arrived.
Out into the rain again and the bike was running like a dream, thankfully. The descent to Ribchester was great; so nice to do it in daylight and not to be out-riding my lights. The rain had also stopped by this stage and I stopped to take off the waterproof on the climb to Longridge (I should have removed it before I started climbing).
The next bit of the ride:- Longridge-Inglewhite-Scorton-
Condor Green- was just lovely; swoopy lanes and terrific views (we'll be doing it in daylight).
Even the 1st bit of the coastal path from Conder Green was great but then I had a front puncture.. Despite lots of looking and pumping of the tube, I couldn't locate a hole and there was nothing sticking through the tyre so I put a new tube in. It pumped up OK so I put the tools away and was about to replace the wheel when there was a pssssst and the tyre went down again.
I didn't fancy my chances of finding the hole in the new tube and a host of bastard flies were plaguing me (one did manage to get a bite of my calf) so I decided to bike hike to Lancaster reasoning that, if I got a move on, I'd make it for my train. I got there with 5 minutes to spare.
Back at MCR Oxford Road, I took the tyre off again and managed to find a hole in the tube. It was on the rim side and was caused, I think, by the rim tape moving and allowing a spoke hole to make contact.
I couldn't slide the tape because it was too tight and it wasn't possible to remove and replace it because it was joined by adhesive. I legged it to Harry Hall's cycle shop, not easy with a bike on one shoulder and a wheel and tyre in the other hand, and got there 10 minutes before they closed. New rim tape purchased, they let me fix the puncture while they cashed up (the mechanic even showed me a tip for getting the tyre on more easily) and use their track pump.
Problems sorted I thought, home in 15 minutes. That didn't happen, another front puncture after about 2 miles. Wheel off, tube out and the patch that I'd previously applied looked to be bulging although I couldn't feel or hear any air coming out. I got one of my other tubes, found the hole, patched it, replaced everything and then set off. One mile later, it was flat again.
Bike hike again, this time all the way home. I'm not sure of the distance.
ICn'tBA to investigate the problems when I got in so it'll have to wait until tomorrow pm.
On the way home from work I'm going to pop into
Decathlon to get some of their sealants (they've worked for me in the past) and for more tubes.
Then I'll be having a good look at the front wheel. I might be using a spare on Friday night.
As I said up-thread, I'd like to think that I've suffered so you don't have to but it doesn't work that way.
Fingers crossed for drier weather and a less "eventful" ride.
I had expected to be saying that no Strava PBs were affected during the making of this production but it seems that either my legs were working better than I thought or, more likely, there really was a tailwind.
In other news, battery charging has commenced.
I'll post an updated ride list tomorrow.
Sorry you can't make it Kim.
