After Friday’s double puncture in my front tyre, today I fitted a Slime inner tube.
I fitted one in my rear tyre some while ago (never had a puncture since) and then bought another for the front tyre. Unfortunately I didn’t get around to fitting it.
Fitting it is very straightforward, exactly the same as fitting any standard tube.
Hopefully this will go some way to reducing the puncture problem. Time will tell.
First the good news – the weather was much better than anticipated, good news despite me being dressed for a cold, wet, rainy day. Second, the bad news – I picked up a puncture four miles from home.
I set off this morning to do my familiar route through Holywell Dene to Monkseaton Drive, west towards Earsdon and Shiremoor, south to North Shields, then west along Route 72 to Newcastle Quayside.
The sixteen mile journey outwards was pleasant and straightforward and culminated in a coffee stop at the Cycle Hub.
During my stay the cloud cleared and sun broke through to give a beautiful autumnal afternoon. Heading east, I caught up with a group of twelve cyclists from London who were within five miles of completing the Coast To Coast Cycle Ride. I accompanied them for a mile or so until I reached the turn for the Reivers Route which takes my northwards and home.
Shortly after joining that cycleway I became aware that all was not well with my front tyre. I stopped to inspect it and discovered that it was soft. I had a puncture but the tyre was soft rather than flat. I was within four miles of home so decided, rather than fit a new inner tube, I would pump and ride. Despite having to stop a further three times I managed to limp home successfully.
Today’s ride of 32 miles brought my total for the week to 114.51 miles, comfortably achieving my target of 100 miles per week.
Today’s ride was a repeat of yesterday’s only on this occasion I was joined by Chris and Ian. Chris met me near Seaton Sluice and we cycled up to Seghill to rendezvous with Ian near The Spoon.
Eat For England Spoon
Ian was having his first ride with new clipless pedals so we set off at a steady pace to complete the route. In contrast to yesterday the weather was cloudy and cool with a brisk South Easterly wind.
On reaching Blyth Quayside we called in at the River Cafe for coffee and a scone. When we left, just after 3 pm the light was fading fast and rain was threatening so a brisk ride through the dunes got us home just before the weather broke.
Ride Stats
In contrast to yesterday, which was cold, cloudy with heavy overnight rain, today was fine and sunny with temperatures reaching 15 °C. I decided to do the Seghill, Cramlington, Bedlington, Blyth route I’d done a fortnight previously. I’d recorded the route on my Garwin 800 so my first task was to convert it into a course which would give me turn by turn directions. This was important for finding my way through Cramlington which is a maze of pathways. I downloaded the .tcx file from ridewithGPS.com and installed it on the Garmin. This proved successful and I only strayed off course twice and was able to quickly find the right direction without getting hopelessly lost.
Thursday’s Route
The route is a mixture of cycle paths, bridleways and waggonways. Parts of it were quite wet and muddy which was hardly surprising given the amount of rain we’ve had over the last few days.
Since I was riding on my own I took the opportunity to take my camera and record some of the more interesting features of the route. the results can be seen in Gallery 2. In particular I wanted photographs of the Wildspace Network Art Trail.
Eat For England Spoon
By the time I reached Blyth Quayside the sun was beating down and suspecting (correctly as it turned out) that my usual coffee stop would be closed, I chanced upon a new venue for cappuccino and cake before I headed for home.
Seaton Sluice Backpedalers 