Blackthorns and Bicycle tyres.....

I decided to go out on my touring bike the other day, I hadn't been out on it for a while because the weather was either too hot or pouring down with rain, with nothing in between.... and the hills around here are not to be sniffed at....

But this day was perfect, not too hot, not too cold.... so off I went on my bike to the garage to pick up some bread and coffee. So I slung my 50 litre backpack on, because contrary to popular belief hanging a Hovis off your handlebars is not to be recommended and off I went..... now it's only a relatively short bike ride just 5.2 miles there and back..... Anyway we have this huge hill just past the river and it's nothing short of a bugger... now when I first started cycling again I couldn't even manage to get 1/4 of the way up it, but I'm managing all the way up now, even though it's been a while since I last rode my bike :)

Anyway I digress, there I was powering up the hill back pack swaying from side to side and probably the rest of me as well, when I noticed that my front tyre had picked up a passenger in the form of a large twig or what seems like a large twig.... I went on for a bit further then thought "no I'm going to have to get rid of that" as it was clicking on my brakes as it did the rounds.... so I stopped unclipped my feet and got off about 3/4 of the way up the hill... I spun the wheel around and there was the offending "twig" ...."Ahhh it's just caught in my chunky tread" so I pulled it off.... that's when I heard the ominous "hisssssssssssssssssssssss" from the front tyre.... no it wasn't a twig or a bramble it was a blackthorn and one of it's spines had gone through not only my tyre but the inner tube as well :(

I was too far to turn back and not quite close enough to the garage judging by the copious amounts of air escaping from my front tyre.... needless to say I didn't make it to the garage.... well not on two wheels anyway the tyre was completely flat about 1/2 a mile from the garage.....so I walked the rest of the way there....

The thing that really annoyed me was the garage didn't sell puncture repair outfits.... you can get coffee, tea, gum, chocolate and practically ANYTHING else but no puncture repair outfits....!!! well it's only a garage what can you expect eh ? ...... so I had no choice but to pump the front tyre up and peddle like hell to get as far as I could before my world deflated once more... Needless to say my front tyre ran out of air just before THE HILL.... I had the longest walk back home and if you've ever pushed a bike with the front tyre completely flat you'll know exactly what I'm talking about here....back flat tyre ....no problem....front....forget it, I was all for slinging it behind a hedge and picking it up later, but I ended up throwing the whole bike over my right shoulder and carrying it back.... I suppose I have the Italian designers to thank for making such a lightweight bike.... but it would have been far more comfortable riding it !!!