Tag: ]cycling tips

August 2nd – Today, on the way home, I was stricken by the P*nct*r* fairy. I get relatively few (touches wood carefully) such incidents – maybe 3 in every 3,000 miles or so – because I use a very tough brand of tyre by Schwalbe – Marathon Plus. On the workhorse bike, it’s 26×1.75 Marathon Plus Tour, and on the others, it 700×28 Marathon Plus. They contain kevlar bands to prevent thorns and spikes cutting through the tire and other defensive measures. They’re quite heavy, and probably don’t roll as well as the strips of liquorice the racing boys use, but if you’re below Cavendish level, you’ll never notice the difference.

Correct inflation will prevent punctures, no matter what the brand of tyre. Always check your pressures.

This bike has hub gears and taking the back wheel out is a pain in the arse, and I swore heartily at it in the centre of town. Cursing my bad luck, I found not a puncture, but the heat had lifted an old patch, deflating the tyre. That’ll teach me to be a tightarse.

August 1st – A ride out to Burntwood took me along the Anglesey Branch. I’ve been meaning to mention for a while now that if you’re out cycling, watch out in the dry weather for patches of very dry sand. Deposited by heavy rain, when it dries it’s like hitting black ice and will easily have you off the bike. This patch near Wharf Lane, Brownhills isn’t too bad, but some of the patches that gather in road margins and at junctions – particularly when mixed with gravel and other road debris – can be evil. The motorcyclist term for these hazards is ‘marbles’, because that’s exactly how it feels when you ride into one. Take care.