I think that medium-distance bike riding rewards patience and a little resilience. On the patience side of things, in enough time, you can get all sorts of places. On the second point, you never know what might happen when you are out, but it’s never that bad.
This morning, I got Nicky to check the weather site and there was a serious wind from WSW. With this in mind, I decided to ride to Newport to take advantage of the tail wind. About three-quarters of an hours in, it started to rain. I figured one of three things could happen; it could stop, it could get worse, or it could continue raining like that. There were no catastrophic options here, so I kept going.
As I left Altona, I got to the bit where there is a low bridge across the creek. I’ve been across this before when it is flooded but it was only a few inches deep. Water like that is excellent for giving the tyres and wheels a quick clean. This morning, however, it was more like a foot or two deep. I stopped and considered my optioned. I could turn around and go home. I could attempt the waters and be fine. I could attempt the waters, fall over, and get quite wet. Again, there were no catastrophic options here, so I rode through. I did have to change down to first gear and steady myself against a bollard but I got across just fine. My shoes and socks got wet but that wasn’t the end of the world.
The train ride went without a hitch, and pretty soon I was close to home. I was only about two hundred metres from home when I noticed a steady bump from the front wheel. It looked a little chubby at the bottom but it always looks like that when I am sitting on the bike. All the same, I stopped and checked. Sure enough, the tyre was flat so I walked the last four minutes of my trip. Although annoying, it couldn’t have happened at a better time.
Half the fun of a little adventure is the little things that you work around. If everything went without a hitch that would be nice, but it wouldn’t be as much fun.