Tyre + Broken Glass = Puncture

I was out on a training ride with Ian yesterday - we are training to ride the 145km 2XU Great Ocean & Otway Classic Ride - the fella needs a fair bit of work to get back in shape for this ride. If we do the Classic Ride at yesterday's pace, I guarantee we will be told to get into the back seat of the neutral car service for going so slow... :P To be fair, it's only Ian's second ride of 2012.

When we pushed off from Southbank, we saw plenty of broken glass strewn along the roads. As we were making our way along Beaconsfield Parade in St. Kilda:

Ian: Oh shit!
[I hear something crunch under my rear wheel]
AK: What was that?
Ian: Glass. I didn't see it until the last minute.
[Maybe I got away with it. The Kevlar protection in the tyre should help. That was wishful thinking...]

A kilometre or so down the road, a girl on a Parlee (I heart Parlee) pulled over to the side of the road to check her tyres. Shortly after, my rear wheel felt really spongy and I couldn't accelerate. Ian confirmed the rear tyre looked flat. So, we pulled off to the side of the road to fix the tyre.

I have never had to fix a flat tyre or a puncture while out on a ride but it was bound to happen sooner or later...

Pic taken by Ian M

The first time I changed a tyre, it took a whole hour. The second time I changed a tyre in December, it took 30 mins. This time it took about 15 mins and I got to try out my CO2 pump, 0 to 120psi in 2 seconds flat. No mini hand-pump required - win!

On a similar note, yours truly has just completed 4045km. Total distance travelled so far in Jan 2012 - 629.6km - probably looking at 680km by 31st of Jan. Total elevation climb in Jan 2012 - 7527m.

On a completely unrelated note, there is plenty of non-cycling related content coming up soon. Aperture 3 has not yet been installed on the missus' laptop (I know, I know...), but it has at least made its way out of the cupboard onto the desk. So stay tuned... No promises, but it will happen sooner or later... :P

Riding in the Rain

So the rule goes something like this:

"if it's already raining, stay in your bed; if it rains when you are out, well, shit happens..."

I rode to work this morning - first bicycle commute to work for 2012. It started drizzling 500m into my 4.5km ride. I will admit I did consider going home to trade the bicycle for the car, but I couldn't be bothered to go home, change, get into car, etc. So, I pushed on... The heavens stopped spitting a kilometre or so after and I arrived at work fresh, pumped and happy.

We have been a touch slack with updates on the blog. I will endeavour to get Aperture 3 installed on the missus' laptop this weekend. Hopefully, that will signal more regular blog updates soon-ish.

And I promise, not ALL future content will be bicycle-related. :P

In other words, just because...

3034km

  

For a person that has done absolutely zero cardiovascular exercise in previous years, I'm pretty chuffed that I have just completed 3000+ kilometres of cycling this year on Sunday just passed. It is a long time coming - if it wasn't for the minor crash in October, 3000km would have been surpassed in October 2011 itself.

My personal goal is to crack 4000km before Dec 31st, 2011. Stay tuned, but don't hold your breathe just yet... :P

Birth Year Wines

The post-processing of photos that make it onto our blog are performed on the missus' laptop as it is way more powerful than the hubbib's (even though he is the house geek) laptop. Alas, the missus' laptop suffered a massive Mac OS X crash and it has only just been rebuilt, so iPhone Hipstamatic pictures will have to suffice until all is sorted IT-wise.

These wines were consumed last year and I have been planning to take pics of these bottles for keeps sake but alas, I have never got around to it. But, as they say, better late than never.

I have never been into drinking very, very old wines or birth year wines for the sake of drinking birth year wines. For one, old wines can get pretty expensive (especially if you're born in 1982) and partly because I cannot afford 82' Bordeaux anything... :)

These wines were pretty much forgettable except for the fact that they are as old as the missus and the hubbib. Way past their best...