Back on my bike - finally!

 Halfway through autumn last year I embarrassingly shredded a tyre on my trail bike.

Once I'd managed to get and fit new tyres and tubes (we were having supply chain disruptions for bike parts even then), my plan was to keep riding through winter and into spring.

Well, basically that didn't happen. A combination of a wet winter and spring, J's two surgeries, two new cats and various covid related lockdowns meant that I never actually manged to get out on my bike.

What decent days there were mostly spent trying to keep the garden tamed, which was enjoyable in itself, but did mean that other things like cycling didn't happen. 

Well this morning dawned cool and clear despite a night of heavy rain and a run of sticky humid days, so I decided that today was the day, so it was off up Finch St, round into Church Street, off down the hill past the servo, across the creek and into Mellish Street, and then out along the bike path following the old railway line to the end of Balaclava Road.

Last summer, when I was riding regularly, I would normally extend my ride a bit either by riding up to the old water tower on Havelock Road, or else round the back of the golf course to the mountain bike track. 

Today was the first time out and by the end of Balaclava Road I was feeling it a bit, so I cut my ride short, looped back round the cemetery and home. Took me nearly 40 minutes suggesting that I wasn't as fast as I had got to be last year, but it was fun, I enjoyed the ride immensely.

So I guess the trick now is to get riding regularly and keep going through winter this year (and finally get my old Kuwahara fixed up to use as a round town bike, especially in winter)