It's been a month.....

Aha... so I have just written this blog utilising bloggers new interface and it didn't save and lost the lot. Rubbish. Although I have no excuse for not blogging recently! I am not back to the trusted previous interface and have successfully "saved" this so far... so I shall continue!!!


Have you ever had one of those training sessions which just weren't meant to be? I think sometimes you can take "signs" to mean something like "stop" or "forget this and try something different".


Yesterday was a prime example... honest...


I had planned a 2.5 - 3 hr bike (with some hills for fun) and then a 20-30min run off the bike. The weather forecast was for grey skies and bright spells and the remote possibility of occasional light showers.


So I looked outside whilst getting my bike stuff together to note there were grey skies and wet roads but no rain. Still I took precautions and put on my shower proof light bike jacket just in case. I stepped outside and it promptly started to rain. SIGN 1.


I took my usual route out of Finchampstead, through Arborfield Garrison and up on to the A327 which can be busy but usually not too bad. Just going up a slight incline a lorry decided that this would be a good place to overtake me. Given there was a white van parked on our side  of the road towards the crest of the hilll which we were approaching fast, I wasn't so sure. To compound this a 4x4 appeared from over the hill and thus left little room for either a lorry or me, and certainly not both. The lorry driver thankfully realised that squashing me wasn't such a good thing and backed off until the crest of the hill (and white van) and overtook - I'm glad he could see more of the road ahead then me as I didn't have a clue what was coming. Still sort of close but not really but enough for SIGN 2.


Just after the lorry went past I felt a gradual squishyness of my rear tyre, luckily there was a shop with some parking spaces up ahead so I glided into the car park and indeed my rear was flat. So I calmly set about replacing in the inner tube. It was still raining (ie this was no quick "shower")... SIGN 3


Having reinflated my inner tube (quite successfully using a gas cannister which is a first for this year), I discovered a rather deep and long gash in the tyre. This was the sort of thing you can't ride on without a puncture happening. I guess I must have rode over some glass or something. Despite the face that I still had another spare inner tube (I usually ride with 2), I decided that this was the final sign to head back home. Having ridden for a whole 11mins!


Rather then riding straight back the way I had come I decided to "risk it" and take a rather circulative ride back and managed to get in 30mins. I then headed out for a quick leg stretch around the local "new" park/ woodland for a nice 3.4k 17min run... and then for good measure got out the turbo for a rather boring 30mins.


So my 2.5 - 3hr ride + 20-30min brick turned into a 1hr ride with a 17min brick. Oh well.


Less then a month to Vegas so still time for  some more panic training :)