Monday 1 August 2016

B group ride to Lets Eat at Dones Green, pumped up and pumped.

Anthony Bowles feeling happy.
                                                                       B group ride to Dones Green
I went down to the town hall for the 9 am meet, at nine I was on my own.No one at the town hall so I set off to Four lane ends, a picking up point for others on that side of town. Approaching the secondary meet I saw Peter Moore already there and just in front of me, Brian Timms. 
On the way up noticed my back tyre felt a little soft so I took the brief stop to put a bit more air in. Try as I might I could not get any air into the tyre, rather the pump was letting air out. Puncture I thought, spare tube inserted I began to pump away, again same result. Whilst pumping was taking place Peter Lane arrived, like me he had been suffering a very bad cold, three cheers for the B group and the easy Cheshire ride.
On learning that Dee Hall was meeting us at Howe Bridge down the hill, Peter Lanevolunteered to ride down to meet her as we continued to try and get some air in my back tyre. Peter Moore's mini pump came to the rescue, both mine and Brian Timm's large frame pumps failing to inflate. Pumped up we were off, finally.
Approaching Leigh Peter Lane was heading back to us, no sign of Dee, after a did she didn't she conflab we just had to resume the ride anyway, off we went.
A surprisingly buffeting wind made itself felt as we made our way to Hollins Green, our obligatory toilet stop but the sun was shining and the cool start to the day gave way to welcome warmth. Peter Moore bade us farewell here leaving just three of us to continue to Dones Green.
It was a pleasant ride through the lanes and all was going well until about eight miles from our destination Brian suffered a flat. We pulled up outside a farmhouse and Brian did a quick innertube change while Pete went to find a handy hedgerow. Meanwhile a friendly cat wandered between our legs looking for a stroke or two as Brian was busy with the repair. Repair done, wheel back in, newly pumped up tyre rapidly deflates, the cat is delighted, more attention guaranteed.
Brian does another quick tube change, fine but this time his large pump is troublesome, refuses to inflate. Peter Lane, like Peter Moore has a mini pump and after 299 strokes enough air is in the tyre, enough to get us to the cafe at least. A good bye to the friendly cat and we are off again pleasantly aware that if you have to have punctures then a nice sunny day is the time to have them.
We reach the lane with our cafe stop in view, a mere half mile away, another shout, 'Puncture'. Brian's misfortune continues as we hit a rough patch of road with several potholes, this time he suffers snakebite. Snakebite is when hitting a pothole the innertube is trapped against the wheel rim giving the two holes instead of one.
Brian is becoming an expert at removing wheels and putting them back, he could well do the job of service at the tour de France at this rate.
Double puncture double trouble, Brian's last replacement tube turns out to be already punctured, here's where club riding come in handy. Peter Lane hands Brian one of his spare tubes, and the mini pump, another 299 strokes and we are at the door of the cafe.
Usually on a day like today the place is crammed with cyclists and motorists, unusually there is no queue and we are served at once.
Of the three other cyclists there, one is an old friend, Cyril Wynne of Stretford Wheelers, a legend of time trialling at 84 and still riding them. Recently his name had been linked to a semi pro team but when I asked him about turning pro he informed me it was a mistake.
Well fed we start the return home opting for a slight deviation to our trip, we would go via Great Budworth, the village had hit the headlines recently accusing cyclists of bad behaviour, not us guv. We left the village as we had found it, still nice and picturesque.
Broomedge, Warburton Bridge then back into Hollins Green where we took a break, Pete went up the road a way for a natural break as me and Brian soaked up the sun awhile.
Dam Lane came and went and as we entered Holcroft lane the troublesome gusty wind vented itself on us, it's a long time since the four mile drag was such a struggle, notorious as it is.
Brian complained of tired legs by the time we reached Leigh, he wasn't on his own, my cold had left me with the same complaint but I didn't say, well you don't do you.
Once home I investigated my non pumping pump and discovered that it was in fact a pump that someone had swapped, I was flabbergasted. The housing for the washer seal that Peter Lane and myself couldn't budge had in fact had thread sealant inside, a fact I found as I removed it with a pair of grips. Brian's pump, the same as mine had an easily removable seal. I had my pump from new and never put thread seal near it. Another thing I found was the locking device that locks the pump onto the valve was almost adrift, the pin holding it in place was almost completely out, once back in place the pump worked faultlessly. Another indicator of some hamfisted work was there were thread sealant traces on the pump handle, unfortunately, no fingerprints. So there we have it, a day of pumped up hilarity on a super sunny bike ride with the B group. Brian is visiting Geoff Smith's bike shop tomorrow for new inner tubes!