2/8 Tubbies In The Mist

It had been raining all day and although the rain had stopped we were enveloped in a damp mist as we met up for Tubby Tuesday Training. A lot of the regulars were missing (put off by the weather?) but there were still five of us.

Peter Br is even more cautious a descender than myself but post descent there was no sign of him at all. After waiting a while, myself and Mick rode back up Battery Hill hoping that Peter was near the bottom rather than the top of the climb.We found him punctured at the top of 'little Battery'. Amazingly this is Pete's first ever puncture but he was well prepared with a new tube and a gas cylinder so we were soon heading back down to meet up with the others.

Mick made for an amusing sight as his rain jacket was trapping the air making for a good impression of the Michelin man. It was also acting as a parachute which significantly slowed down his progress for the entire ride.

Tubbies in the mist

The weather was such a contrast from just two weeks ago when it was so sunny and hot that Marcus became overheated. This time it was so dark we all needed our front lights on, the wind was quite strong and the mist was making everything damp. 

The climb did us good as the heat generated warmed us up and helped dry us out a bit. We stopped for a bit of a chat at Broad Oak but Derek soon complained he was getting cold so off we went again. 

By now it was fine rain rather than mist so descending the potholed strewn cottage lane was a scary proposition made worse for myself and Derek as our specs were covered in water droplets. Underneath the overhanging trees it was almost pitch black. I could barely see the road surface but knew that if I kept to the middle of the lane I would miss the potholes. Finally the road began to flatten out and I was mentally congratulating myself for a safe arrival when there was a familiar ping. Another spoke had broken in my rear wheel, the second one in two weeks! These wheels that came with my CAAD 8 are rubbish, the rear one will now be given away to anyone that wants it. The wheel was now badly out of true, despite fully releasing the brake, the blocks were rubbing a bit on the rim

With the wheel rubbing on the rim I expected to be struggling to keep up on the climb up to Westfield but Mick's back was playing up  slowing him down even more so I need not have worried. 

It was a relief to make it to Stonestile , from where myself and Malc headed straight to the pub. By the time we came out it was proper rain , so I had to endure a very cold wet descent back to the old town with only the front brake to slow me down. Despite the wobbly rear wheel, my Cannondale still handled brilliantly, those Cannondale engineers sure know how to make a good frame.