I thought I'd share my bike riding experiences this weekend, just to show it isn't all paradise.
I had big plans of putting my head down and going as far as I could, then heading to the closest train station after my legs gave out. No such luck.
Firstly, my first ever effort to put extra air into road bike tyres ended in tears. I didn't really know how robust or fragile the tyres and valves were, and in trying to do it one handed with the bike standing up against the wall, the bike moved, I bent the valve stem, and created a leak. After taking a very long time to work out the best way to remove the tyre and tube, I said goodbye to that tube, and fitted a new one. This all took so long that my plan for a long ride was out the window.
So a short ride was all I had time for. During that ride along the Hume Highway freeway, some idiot threw a plastic bottle out his car window at me. It missed, but I still can't believe what a stupid act that was.
I arise on Sunday to see the same tyre dead flat. I'm slightly more experienced in changing tyre tubes this time, so I get the tube out without too much trouble. I can't see or hear any leaks, so I blow the tube to full capacity. I then give it one more spurt, AND BLOW THE TUBE APART! Another tube down.
Tube number 3 gets installed without further drama. I set off, get no more than 500 metres, and then I actually hear that tube burst. I don't reckon I overinflated it, so I'm hoping it was just one of those unlucky things. I don't have any more tubes, so that was the end of the bicycling weekend. I couldn't find the energy to spend another 30 minutes or so pulling out the tube to see if it can be patched.
The bicyling gods giveth, then they taketh away.