faff-a-rama

I met up with Chris for what I was hoping to to be a fast ride (me playing catch up obliviously). I'm in desperate need of a kick start to training, having remained in 'holiday mode' for the past 3 days. However, things didn't start well. Embarrassingly Blackie hasn't been touched since 'puffer. So brake blocks needed changing, sprocket switching, chain removing and swapping due to a high level of corrosion. Oh, and I had to find my cycling kit which has been buried under a pile of winter walking attire.

Then there was the small matter of having to call Chris to come and solve the the chain slipping problem. He then discovered that the bottom bracket was completely loose. With everything now tightened and a chain on the short side we where ready to go.

After riding for about 15 minuets I realised that I really didn't have enough layers on and even though riding quickly would warm me up the wind chill wasn't helping. But I decided to not to mention this. Once at the woods we found a mixture of sheet ice, slushy mud and crispy hard snow. It was very slow going.

Then Chris had a puncture. We got colder. I noticed my handle bars were also loose. We had some whiskey. It was time to head back. The huge amount of faff, admittedly mainly mine, is so disproportionate to the length of ride I don't think it can even count as training. However, it was lovely to catch up with Chris. I promise to be more organised next week.