Last pratice and more repairs

Steve and I went out on our last practice run last saturday and Steve brought along a friend of his, Rob. Rob was convinced we should be able to do the entire ride in 3 hours and that we were taking it far too easy. 5 hours later when we got back I think he was a bit surprised. I found that when building up to the last trek there would be a few people that didnt think it sounded like much of a challenge and surely if they can do their weekly 5 mile ride in 30mins on nice smooth roads then surely that just multiplies up and 30 miles is doable in 3hours. It was nice for one of the doubters to see the reality. It takes a lot longer when on rough hilly towpaths, dodging walkers and trying to navigate at the same time. Trip computer showed our average speed to be about 14mph which I thought was pretty good for all day. On top of which its a lot more tiring than 5 miles and you have to get up the next day and do it all over again for 8 days. Getting on a bike in the morning with a sore backside isnt much fun.

At one point we went past a large group of cyclists just setting off who, a short while later, went whizzing past us. Then we caught up at a junction where they were unsure of the route. I think they were following NCN route 4 same as us. This happened a couple of times until we stopped at our usual rest point to take on water.

Just about to set off from our pit stop Rob noticed our now had a flat. After a little close examination I found a rather large thorn that had embedded in the tyre and pushed through to the inner tube. Fortunately I had a spare but it prompted me to get a couple of much more resilient tyres for the trek which I will have to fit tonight.

I'm hoping all the rain we are having will be over by the end of this week and give us a few days dry riding during the trek next week, fingers crossed.