This refers to yesterday’s ride but some context first!

I know this may sound greedy but I possess four bikes. I have one super duper carbon bike “Merlin” that is a delight to ride but has no mud-guards so when I have ridden it on our long distance rides and the weather is poor my backside can be covered in mud and grime!  I have my steady work horse “Shadowfax” a steel framed bike (named after Gandalf’s horse) that I have had for 26 years and was cutting edge technology when I got it in Autumn 94-this bike is the one I travel to gigs on with all my equipment- I also do the shopping on it to save using a car! “Gringolat” (Named after Gawain’s horse) is my winter bike that I purchased for a bargain last year (with mud guards!) Finally I have a mountain bike “Dobbin” for riding on rough ground (useful on visits to the Wildfowl and Wetlands at Slimbridge with my bird watching stuff. That is the context but yesterday showed the value in back up! Picture in the middle is Shadowfax with some handsome bloke on Clifton Suspension Bridge (it was nine years ago when David and I cycled from Exeter to Frampton.)

Merlin broke a spoke on a ride with Clare on Friday so is now in for repair. Gringolat is currently on loan to David in Exeter. So for a ride of any distance I have to go on Shadowfax. Yesterday my pals (The Old Groynes)  were on a fifty mile ride into the Forest of Dean when catastrophe struck I hit a bump and my front tyre crumpled! Roadside repairs were tentatively carried out. Four blokes fussing over a tyre probably looked comical from a distance! The rim of the  tyre had folded with impact so eventually I sent the others on because we were scheduled  to meet another friend further on (phones aren’t much use contacting someone when they are cycling!) I stayed to grapple further while calling for rescue from a wonderful woman! So at the moment I was speculating that I was down to just one bike- and a mountain bike at that! The good news is I managed to sort the tyre and with the help of the fantastic Clare I was able to reunite with the chaps and complete the ride!

So the moral of this blog is that a man needs several bikes!!!!!!!! Finally the picture below is an old friend (Sir Gawain) and I on Alpe d’Huez-this bike is now with my youngest son Peter as his commute bike. I bridled when a bloke at the top said “You got up on that?” Sir Gawain served me well-he does feature on some of the stage managed web site photos!