Another sunny day, another ride

No punctures this morning and we had a uneventful 34 km ride out through the Lincolnshire countryside.  After all that exercise I felt it was okay to stretch out on my sun lounger and reward myself with an ice cold gin and tonic and a few nibbles.  

Bike Ride

 

It was a beautiful morning when I took Rick out for his walk, still a bit misty with the sun just starting to break through. I planned to go for a leisurely bike ride after giving Rick his breakfast and Paul said he would cut his gym ride short and come with me.  I felt quite energetic as we set off and managed to get a personal best time climbing the steep Ahoy There! Hill out of the village. I did it in 55 seconds (Kat does it in 30!).

The cycling felt more like pleasure than exercise, although we had to to be careful to dodge potholes and loose gravel. It was still early so there wasn't much traffic about. Plenty of birdsong and crazy pheasants running around; we saw two hares in a field, they must have been mature males going by the size of them.  All was going well until, about 13 kms into the ride just north of Brandy Wharf, Paul got a puncture. “No problem,” he said, “I've got a spare tube with me.” But unfortunately he had forgotten his bicycle pump so that most definitely was a problem. 

missing bicycle pump

I left Paul at the roadside while I continued the ride towards home alone, another 13 kms or so, to collect the car so I could return and rescue him. Rick was delighted to see me so I decided to put him in his crate so that he could come for a ride in the car. It was only as I approached Brandy Wharf that I realised there wouldn't be enough room in the back of the car for both the bike and the crate!

No matter, the crate is collapsible and Rick was more than happy to sit in the footwell at the front of the car on the return journey. What a palaver!