(re – cycle)
My bicycle has been hiding in the garage since it was lent out for the “can we cycle the west highland way?” [No!] debacle last year.
There are a number of reasons for this; some protracted ankle/knee injuries, the endless tyrany of nightshift, the wet wet wet… also Geography.
In my previous house, local shops were a little further away, and access to the bicycle a little easier. Here, almost everywhere I would need to go, is so close that it will actually take longer to bring the bike out and through the house (no better option), than to walk. Technically, this should not be an obstacle, but the reality is, I’m more motivated to use it, if it actually seems useful.
Obviously, there are places “further away”, but here too geography (social geography?) works against me. Kilmarnock is a car town. Any effort to travel beyond is going to involve A-roads which are treated like motorways, or B-roads where the appearance of a cyclist is going to be so unexpected as to cause an accident. Neither of these does much to encourage two wheeled exploration.
However, today dawned sunny and clear, looking a little bit like the summer that seems to have passed us by, and emboldened by an early rise, I determined to, at least, check I could still go on the bike.
Thighs and calfs and wrists complaining, but I don’t fall off, and managed to escape the worst traffic. So I push myself a little and meander uphill to the most distant of the (many) supermarkets. Between daily staples, and a few odds and ends, and some convenient supplies for the pending Dalmally visit (more anon), I had about three full bags of shopping.
Of course I have panniers, I know how to load the bike, and anyway, it’s all downhill, easy…
The back wheel seems “slippy”, which is disconcerting, then I see that the front wheel is wobbly and unstable because it is nearly flat. Well naturally I have a pump and various tools, however it turns out that the excesses of the Highland way, have left both tyres with slow punctures. Me alone, they can last a little while, me and the shopping – pump them up, ride 2 blocks – back to square one.
I could, maybe, nurse the bike back even so, it’s not that far, but the poor breaking in the traffic is not encouraging (I can feel the tyres slide!).
So I walk back pushing bike and shopping – this is why I drive.
Next week on IaDL – 101 songs for 101 years? (Do I know 101 songs….maybe)
Dalmallyfest the Asylum 