My enthusiasm for riding in this weather is waning a little. On Sunday, yet again on wet roads, I suffered my fourth puncture in seven days. The offending item, a piece of glass. I'm a reasonably philosophical chap, ride good tyres and generally consider myself to be on the positive side of the glass fairy's ledger, but this run of punctures at the moment is just plain aggravating.
On reflection it's been quite some time since my last puncture, and shortly after I'd effected the most recent repair I met, and rode with, another rider who had suffered three punctures in the preceding week.
There is a huge amount of broken glass about on the roads at the moment, and coupled with the constant wet weather, leakage is an inevitability.
Today is the Winter Solstice, so the days can only lengthen, unfortunately for me, and entirely due to the tilt of the planet, the sun actually rises a few minutes later over the next week or two. The sunsets are later, and the net effect is a lengthening of the day. Little benfit for me, who is a pre-dawn rider through the week. Thankfully the new, LED light that I purchased from Planet Cycles has meant that I can go pretty much anywhere. I even taken the Bethalls Quarry loop in the dark. Only the nasty little descent of Duffy Road, with it's 24% and sharp corner caused any anxiety.
Writing of things steep, I discovered a piece of true misery in West Auckland yesterday, it is well hidden, but is truly a heart pounding, handlebar chewer. Sometime soon, I will slip it into a ride on the unsuspecting and wait for the squeals.
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