Blimey, that was a bit eventful!
Googie and I rode this route on Tuesday night. It takes us from Bicester straight up Brill Hill and back. It’s a short run but it’s pretty steep. Rarely have I heard of such a wrongly named hill! There really isn’t much that is brill… I presume whoever named it must have done so from the bottom after freewheeling down!
Regardless, it seems to be a regular thing now on a Tuesday, well that’s the second time Googie’s done it and, as he didn’t moan as much as the first time, I suppose we may as well make it a regular thing.
We started at about 18:30 and it was getting dark. It didn’t take long to realise that Jeremy’s candle, sorry “Bike Light” was rubbish. “I’ve put new batteries in there” came the plea of innocence… Time for a new light then I think!
As he would probably have gone off the road before seeing the kerb, I thought that he would be better off using my Helmet light on the front of his bike. My fellow riders keep “extracting bodily fluids” out of me regarding the amount of things I’ve bought for my bike, but, one by one they seem to need something I’ve picked up.
Anyway, after cycling up the hill that isn’t “Brill”,we started our decent. Near the bottom of the hill, and travelling at 38.3 miles per hour I hit a pothole! Boy did I yelp! Googie thought I was a goner… I hit it with such a whack it launched my bottle out of the cage and into the road as well as losing my pump. It was a good job that I was going in a straight line at the time. Mind you, if I had my helmet light I would have seen it, but I would have lost Googie as he’d have probably been in a hedge somewhere.
I carried on for about four miles but I knew something just didn’t feel right with the bike, I pulled over in Ambrosden and checked my cleats (that the bit on my shoes that “clips me in” to my pedals) but they were fine. I pulled away and the whole pedal arm fell off and bounced into the middle of the road!
The jolt of the pothole must have dislodged it somehow. After a not so quick roadside repair, off we went again. I took it easy for the last 3 or so miles and my bike made it home in one piece.
Lesson of the week….. Make sure every nut and bolt is tight!
Now, where are my allen keys? Oh yes, under that big pile of "useful stuff"...
Come back soon to www.5blokes-end2end.weebly.com and please donate as much as you can at www.justgiving.com/5blokes-end2end
All the best,
Nathan
Googie and I rode this route on Tuesday night. It takes us from Bicester straight up Brill Hill and back. It’s a short run but it’s pretty steep. Rarely have I heard of such a wrongly named hill! There really isn’t much that is brill… I presume whoever named it must have done so from the bottom after freewheeling down!
Regardless, it seems to be a regular thing now on a Tuesday, well that’s the second time Googie’s done it and, as he didn’t moan as much as the first time, I suppose we may as well make it a regular thing.
We started at about 18:30 and it was getting dark. It didn’t take long to realise that Jeremy’s candle, sorry “Bike Light” was rubbish. “I’ve put new batteries in there” came the plea of innocence… Time for a new light then I think!
As he would probably have gone off the road before seeing the kerb, I thought that he would be better off using my Helmet light on the front of his bike. My fellow riders keep “extracting bodily fluids” out of me regarding the amount of things I’ve bought for my bike, but, one by one they seem to need something I’ve picked up.
Anyway, after cycling up the hill that isn’t “Brill”,we started our decent. Near the bottom of the hill, and travelling at 38.3 miles per hour I hit a pothole! Boy did I yelp! Googie thought I was a goner… I hit it with such a whack it launched my bottle out of the cage and into the road as well as losing my pump. It was a good job that I was going in a straight line at the time. Mind you, if I had my helmet light I would have seen it, but I would have lost Googie as he’d have probably been in a hedge somewhere.
I carried on for about four miles but I knew something just didn’t feel right with the bike, I pulled over in Ambrosden and checked my cleats (that the bit on my shoes that “clips me in” to my pedals) but they were fine. I pulled away and the whole pedal arm fell off and bounced into the middle of the road!
The jolt of the pothole must have dislodged it somehow. After a not so quick roadside repair, off we went again. I took it easy for the last 3 or so miles and my bike made it home in one piece.
Lesson of the week….. Make sure every nut and bolt is tight!
Now, where are my allen keys? Oh yes, under that big pile of "useful stuff"...
Come back soon to www.5blokes-end2end.weebly.com and please donate as much as you can at www.justgiving.com/5blokes-end2end
All the best,
Nathan