THE BIG 4-0

"...,take a left , a sharp left ,and another left..." *

Big ish spin out today. To all intents and purposes the same off road route as last week ,except this week I hoofed it from home . Old school. Skinny bike an'all.

Time was I never ever used the car to go mountainbiking. It takes a bit more effort on the one hand ,physically I suppose , but on the other it's such a pain in the arse making sure you have everything loaded up in the car ,putting the seats down or fitting bike racks or whatever, and then the same in reverse when you get home. Timewise for me there's nowt in it.

So I hoofed it.

Set out into a beautiful fresh spring morning. First corner the back end nearly rolled away from me . The back tyre was fairly soft. Not good . So I pull over . Pump not in Camelbak. Now if I'd gone in the car .... Hmmm.

So I hoof it some more . It's really dragging. I phone Gareth. No immediate assistance required ,but I figure if he puts in a spare pump it'll do me if I need it on the hoof home.

I'm putting up with it as only one can in this situation ,as the Dalai lama might say ," Acceptance is happiness ", when I spot two bikers up ahead. I put on a sprint ,of sorts , and catch them up and borrow their pump . The remaining few miles were sheer bliss by comparison . I'm not saying HH is wrong ,mind. Anyway .

I meet Gaz and Andy at the usual. To save me loads of time you can now simply read last weeks blog . You could substitute Jeff for Gareth ,and the dog awful weather for really nice weather . Oh ,and we went up to the war memorial at lead mines where Jeff ,sorry, Gareth , had a play on the well dodgy steps. He said you'd need to be " commited " to do them . I'll say.

We eschewed the gardens in favour of the Ice Cream Run on the way to the caff .

I had a different cake .Earl Grey ,no lemon. Then rode home.

* "Once around the block ", Badly Drawn Boy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBPYo0e5UsI