Team Dave

Let me just describe the scene in our room from a few minutes ago, it’ll help you understand how today has been. I’m sat in a tangle of inner tubes, some repairable some scrap, on the phone to our friend Lee Monks, apologising for taking the piss out of him in the past for his outstanding misfortune with getting punctures.

Mid morning today, riding along a debris free section of smooth tarmac, my rear tyre (again) goes flat in an instant, what’s up with that?? On closer inspection it turns out the carcass of the tyre has gotten damaged and worn through the casing and into the tube, Bugger! To limp to the nearest town of Broburn I reinforced the damaged area of the tyre with a bit of scrap inner tube and carefully inflated a new tube in it.
Got myself a new Michelin flat out fast tyre for almost 40 smackers, fitted it and up to the pressure, ready to rock!

Back out into the miserable rain we’ve had all day and get all confused round some lanes trying to get back onto route, then what do you know, I got a squigy back tyre! A staple or something 2pm wide punched a hole straight through my new tyre and tube, not 5 miles on from the bike shop! Fortunately the tyre will survive but it tests the patience. It’s still raining, we haven’t properly warmed up yet and by now it’s half 1. We stop for dinner at 2 having done about 25 mile, we started about 10:30!
Some great grub and we’re back on the road fighting to get warm. Eventually we get warm and the rains stopped, there’s blue sky heading our way too! The end of the afternoon is glorious. We reach Biggar and decide it’s too late in the day to span the big gap to the next town some 30 miles on. The tourist information sort us a B&B and in no time we’re warm and drying clothes out, 50 miles covered, the shortest distance of the trip so far!
We’ve made it south of the forth bridge and plan a longer day tomorrow to gain some ground lost today and aim to get past Carlisle that’s about 70 miles from here. Fingers crossed eh!