Milo gets new tyres.

Tuesday 19th January 2016. 

Busy in the morning but wanting to test Milo after his recent adjustments  I decided, at noon, that it was too nice a day to stay indoors despite the low temperatures and I set off for a test run. I was thinking perhaps of lunch at the Avenue G.C. After a good climb up to Medstead as I entered Bentworth I spotted these fun sculptures.

Sadly shortly afterwards as I passed the Star I felt the back tyre was going soft. Oh! No! I thought, we've not cured the problem. I was undecided as to what to do. It seemed to me there were three options.

1. Check the tyre for foreign bodies and change the tube.
2. Ring for another rescue.
3. Walk to Owens Cycles to get Owen's help in solving the problem, as it seemed there might still be a basic fault.

I decided on the third, as although it was a bit chilly, it was a lovely sunny day and it was only a few miles to the shop. This turned out to be a good choice. As before Owen was very sorry that I had had another problem and immediately set to work to find out what was the cause. In the end it transpired that the cause was a tiny flint which had penetrated the tyre. When I said I was unhappy about the number of flats I had had, he said after all it was only a puncture and they happen. However when I said I was not very happy with Milo, Owen immediately offered to replace both tyres and tubes with better ones. I accepted his offer and he upgraded the tyres to Derano Plus Etape. I was not only pleased by his response but was also encouraged by his kind words to persevere with Milo. 

I also was given some valuable tips on how to change a tyre efficiently. 

The ride home was uneventful, but I did manage a decent average speed of nearly 14 mph for that segment and an overall moving speed (Not counting the walking) of 12.4 mph.

I was home about 3.30 and by 4.30 I was sitting down to a lunch of sausages with onions, baked spud, baked beans and sugarsnap peas. To round off the meal I had banoffee cheesecake with ice cream. Well I was quite peckish by then!

Gridironman.