The Punture Fairy rides again...

I woke up earlier than normal at about 0445hrs so I thought I'd get a wiggle on rather than fidgeting around in bed. (I'd say tossing and turning but that'd just Tee up too many wise cracks from the usual suspects).

I was just passing the Orthopedic Hospital at about 0520hrs when my back wheel went all lairy and I was squirming all the over shop. Bugger! Puncture! So, being the proverbial Boy Scout, I whipped the back wheel off, got the tube out, swapped it for a new one and proceded to pump it up. I have to say at this point that the Topeak Mountain Morph Pump is a fabulous bit of kit, I can't recommend it highly enough, it's like having a track pump out in the field. And it is very portable despite what some reviewers have said.

Tyre pumped up, back on the bike. Now why won't the back wheel go round? Hmm, puzzle, have I put the wheel in asquew? Nope, it's seated right. Are the brakes catching? They can't be, I haven't connected them yet. What the f**k is going on here? Did I buckle the wheel when the puncture happened?

What a total muppet! I hadn't checked to see if the tyre was on the rim all the way around and it was off the rim by the valve. So tube deflated, seat the tyre properly, pump the tyre back up, (have I mentioned how good the Topeak Mountain Morph Pump is?) connect the brakes, kit away and off I go. 20 minutes of buggering around because I'm a dozy idiot! In my defence it was really early and the street was very poorly lit. Those are my excuses and I'm sticking to them.

The pedal home last night went swimmingly, poor choice of words when I'm pedalling along the cut, but I broke the hour again and no-one tried to kill me. I will be doing a park and ride tomorrow which means all things being equal I'll have pedalled 108 miles for the week, getting my first ever Century in. 108 not out, if only our proper batsmen were that good...