Following only four hours sleep and an unusuallyintense 12 hour shift, including dealing with a crisi right at the very end, I was releived to be able to mount my pushbike for the ride back to Cardiff to Caerphilly last night. However, as I was coming off the Taff Trail at Taffs Well I became aware of a reduction in pressure in my front tyre. Undaunted I dismounted and swiftly pumped it back up, hoping that it would only be a slow puncture, and would thus remain inflated for the remainder of the journey. Alas, this was not to be. I had just passed Tongwynlais and back on the Taff Trail for the last stretch home when I once again felt the metal of my front wheel come into contact with the ground. No matter! thought I, I shall once again pump it up and probably have to continue to do so around every mile or so. At this point my pump decided to seize completely, rendering itself utterly useless! Now I was unable to reinflate the tyre, fix the puncture, or change the inner tube for the spare one that I always carry in my heavy laden rucksack! I had no choice but to walk the five miles to Gabalfa Tescos where I was able to purchase a pump so I could finish the last mile and a half on my journey by bicycle, although I did have to stop once more along the way to reinflate it. At least it was no longer raining heavily, and I was able to walk the five miles in less than fifty minutes, although I was absolutely bathed in sweat at the end of it. I was reminded of a line from Moon Fleet by J. Meade Faulkner, in which the young protagonist after traversing an unbelievablke distance on foot calmly announces The exercise was beneficial! Such stoicism is always to be admired. Upon reaching my home one and a half hours later than anticipated I was able to lay back in the dubious comfort of my draughty flat and amuse myself by the sectacle on DVD of Bear Grylls deliberately exposing himself to the most difficult and perilous situations,and being needlessly macho in the frosty Caucuses. All for the sake of entertainment and under the pretext of imparting survival skills to his audience. How admirable this is I am not so sure, but it is fun to watch nevertheless.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 16:34:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015