You are reading a single comment by @zanda and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@zanda
solo'd to Cambridge saturday after my buddy bailed on it.
hoping he'd have a change of conviction and due to much faffing I didnt leave till ten. nearly forgot my pump but only got as far as earl's ct before realising. turned around and grabbed it.
then got lost getting out of london and managed to turn circa 60 miles into circa 70 via haverstock hill. trying to conserve battery in the phone, and not use google maps. eventually conceded but only succeeded in getting more off track.
then somewhere around sunny enfield I managed a pinch flat avoiding a bus on a particularly un-fantastic bit of road. started pishing down.
Quickly realised you need more than a pump and a spare tube to fix a tyre if it's clad with gatorskins. 5mile walk to halfords. lost my gloves somewhere.
halfords charge £7 or £8 for a set of fricken plastic tyre levers! Joke!
rode back looking for gloves after refusing to pay £16 to halfords for their crap ones. realised I wasnt going to make it in the rain/hail without them though - and couldnt find the ones I dropped. So turned back around and went to the large sporting superstore (next to Halfords).
eventually rocked into cambridge just after four. after the way the rest of the day had gone, I didnt much feel like risking an extended stint in the dark on tired legs, so bit the bullet and caught the train back.
lessons learned:
1) riding extended distances fixed on adamo saddles gets moderately uncomfortable after about 60 miles. maybe it's the fact you can't rest, maybe it's the constant localised pressure.
2) pack the night before. make a list or keep a saddlebag.
3) 3 muesli bars maketh not a lunch, even if you do have a large brekky.
4) Halfords is a ripoff, even though everything about them screams minimum service, minimum price.
5) I need to get a garmin with a route guide. or some mates. or both. probably both
6) I suspect that baby p isnt the only baby to be abused in Harringay (sp). There is probably more to report if a baby isnt beaten there.. pretty miserable place. Maybe it was just the hail.