A varied start to the year, first five days at work got me 5 xc commutes, damp conditions but no rain. Not bad, unfortunately I also got two more punctures, not so good. No weekend ride due to family stuff but did get out for Tuesday nightride. Late home due to puncture so I met Si, Johnnie and guest rider Phil at the pike. Got to burnt edge and was enveloped by fog, pretty low visibility on the hill. I was struggling, xmas inactivity xc commuting and nightriding after is not a great combo. Dropped to George's still foggy couldn't see ahead of you but look down the hill and you could clearly see the lights of Horwich and Middlebrook, bit disorientating. Got to the pike and the fog was really thick, no sign of lights so rode down the steps, they were slick and I was rusty, at one point I was braking as hard as I could without skidding and I was still accelerating, eek! Got to the bottom and I could hear voices and soon see lights through the fog so waited for the guys. Upto the pike and down the usual route, with lights on full a lot was being reflected right back in my face, oops, did the drops ok but the ruts were slippy as hell, I binned it halfway down as I tried to dab but there was nowhere to put my foot due to the trench next to me. This amused the others, Si came passed then he too fell, phil succumbed at about the same spot as me, Johnnie looked like he might make it but crashed before the end. Full house! Up hole in the wall and push to 2lads, this is in really bad shape now, will be avoiding for a while. We headed along George's to do ICR, still changing week by week, not too rocky this time, all down safely. I split there back up the hill and home, short one to start the year.
Another two commutes to finish the week, as I grabbed the bike to ride home on Thursday the front tyre was soft again, grrr pumped it up and blasted home on road with just 2 top up stops. Friday and i made a noob mistake, I follow the tramlines through the city centre, a fairly direct traffic free route, have to cross the lines a few times tho. At first I used to bunny hop them, but familiarity breeds contempt/complacency, hopping leads to unweighting the wheels, which leads to pronounced weight shifts which leads to barely perceptible weight shifts which leads to your front wheel sliding down the tracks which leads to you not getting your foot out in time which leads to knee, hip, hand then shoulder hitting the deck, bike flipping over and trying to land on your head, ending in sitting in the city centre with walkers around you a fair amount of pain and a lot of embarrassment, oh and ripped stealth pants. Not a good morning, forgot how much it hurts crashing on tarmac, couple of grazes and bruising. Thought my knee may seize up during the day and prevent riding home but apart from reopening the graze it wasn't too bad. An inauspicious start to the year.
Double checked my stuff today, overshoes ripped, gloves ripped at stitching and jacket ripped on shoulder, crashing on tarmac is expensive as well as painful.
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