An hour in the afternoon

With the weather and exams, I haven't had the opportunity to get out since last I posted.

Learnt a valuable lesson with the presta valves - don't buy cheap pumps. I've always been fussy with tyre pressures, and was trying to get the tyres pumped back up. The poor finish of the pump head managed to rip the heads off both valves, so it was off to the bike shop to buy some tubes and a decent pump.

After some mucking around, got both tubes changed over - hate doing that, I'm a bit prone to pinching tubes, so I was super-careful to make sure the tubes were seated properly in the tyres. Back on the bike, full pressure and no sign any bubbles or hissing, so good signs.

I'd picked up a couple of things for the bike - small saddle pack to hold a puncture repair kit, some tire irons, an Allen key, my phone and some money, plus a water bottle holder (with water bottle) and a pump - so took the opportunity to set the bike up in said 'touring' configuration

Got out just after 3:30 Saturday afternoon for pretty close to bang on an hour, heading out from home to Pittwater Road, over to Lane Cove National Park for a lap of the Striders 10k course (well, if you started from the top of Scribblys) and back home.

Gears were playing up a bit - I think the derailleur took a bit of a knock when I had my second tumble last ride - especially the lower gears, which was a pain in the backside on the climbs with the chain slipping. After I got home I made a quick adjustment, and the moment I released the pressure of the chain the derailleur clicked back into place, so hopefully that's fixed.

So, the hour covered 25.6km, which included some good climbs. Fitness is definitely suffering - last exam is Monday night, so hopefully I can start getting out a bit more regularly. Need an indoor trainer, too.