After the crash!
The trouble is, I’m committed to the London to Brighton cycle ride on 17th June. I’m looking forward to it generally, but the thing that’s been tough recently is the weather. It’s been awful. Every week my friends and I have tried to get on the saddle, but each time the rain’s set in. So it was a week ago I bought a fantastic coat. Waterproof, breathable, set up with reflective markings, and so light as to be hard to feel. And on 18th May at last the weather broke. Four of us set off on a ride to loosen ourselves up. And I found a lovely bend that was fast, flat, clear of gravel and rubbish, and pelted into it. I knew it was ninety degrees. Easy.
And then it sharpened a little more. Before I knew what was happening, I was skidding along the ground – yup, in my nice new coat. It’s still breathable. In fact it’s VERY breathable indeed! But the waterproofing’s a little damaged. As is the poor little bike. There’s a chip in my beautiful paintwork now, the two gear changers/brake levers are badly knocked, and the handlebar tape’s been ripped. Well, the tape’s been replaced already – I did that this afternoon. The coat is a little holed, but I think it’s still usable, and the bike went on to do another (nearly) twenty miles after the smash, so that’s all right. The real damage was to my ego (as three “close” friends tried hard to be sympathetic between gasps of hilarity), my glasses, and my body. I have not bled so much in many a long year!
Ah well. Next time I’ll be a little more wary about corners that appear on entry to be ninety degrees, but which turn out to be more like a hundred and twenty or so!