One day I came out for a spin to find I had a flat tyre. I took the tube out but couldn't find any leak. Deciding not to waste too much time I fixed my spare tube and headed out.
20 minutes later I was walking my bike, again.
I don't know if its the tyres, the tubes, the patches, or the wheels themselves but I had to do something.
Buying a new bike is an extreme way of resolving a puncture but that is the ultimate plan. There are other reasons for a new bike but there are other priorities first.
These are supposed to be puncture resistant, but not Kevlar lined - those ones would last 4 years and I plan to have the new bike by my birthday. If these puncture it must be the rims. It could be the tyre levers I use to get the tyres on and off the rims. That would be ironic, wouldn't it?
New tubes and tyres in and pumped to designated pressure. Now for a worthy distance.
Since we were both on holiday and it was a beautiful day, an all day cycle was on the cards.
We would go north along Cycle Route 7 and head towards Lochwinnoch.
We knew the first part of this route - normally we would turn East in Kilwinning and go to Eglinton Park, or go west to Saltcoats. Today we would continue north and see how we fare.
The route crosses the Garnock River on a fantastic viaduct which must have followed an old railway line. After that point we got a few sharp rises and falls. We descended into Glengarnock where we had our sandwiches in a play park and then headed back home. The sight of the climb back out from the park was a bit daunting but not that bad in fact.
We ended up doing almost 40 miles in beautiful weather. Fiona got to show off her Pink Lady cycle outfit - a Christmas present, and I got to test my new tyres.
