My Poor Bike

Gibbo checked my bike for me this morning and pumped up the tires. The poor old girl hasn't seen any action for over twelve months. Disgraceful that I haven't ridden for that long. Even more disgraceful is the condition I've let her get into. I can't believe I've neglected her so much - these photos show the level to which I've ignored her. She has lived in the gauzed room, leaning up against the wall. I suspect she's been wee-d on by Poofy, a multitude of mice will have been all over her, spiders have nested in the crevices, there was a wasp nest in the tool bag, and she's rusty in places. How awful.

I've dragged her out because I'm contemplating doing a week long bike ride in September. I haven't entered yet; still waiting to see if a few other things come together but they're only minor speed bumps. This year there's really no excuse not to do it.

So off I went. It took me three goes to get my shoes in the pedals and get rolling. I couldn't remember which levers changed which gears; I had to experiment all the way up the hill. I only went out for twenty minutes on the road down the front of our driveway - and along came five cars and a truck! I got down to the highway to turn around just as it started spitting rain. I was only slightly damp when I made it back to the car but by the time I threw the bike and gear in the back and headed home it was bucketing down. I met Gibbo on the road - he was coming to find me, imagining that I'd been caught out in the downpour and stranded somewhere. I wondered if this was a sign of things to come in September; are the cycling Gods trying to tell me something? How much am I going to want to ride all day and erect and dismantle my own tent if the weather is like this!!!??!!

On a brighter note, I seem to have my sidebar back - well, sort of. It disappeared on me a couple of months ago. I've deleted it and re-set it but it doesn't really want to go where I want it to. If I look at sliprail on the laptop, the Archives are at the bottom of the page; if I look at it on the iPad, they're on the right hand side. I don't really mind where they sit, just as long as it it's somewhere.

In the shape of things to come, this week marks the beginning of my 4 and 1/2 day office working week. Let's see how long it lasts.