11 days to go - explosive training

Get ready: I'm about to have a rant.

I had planned to use this weekend as a 'dummy run' for the actual trip. I wanted to cycle to Thetford forest, camp overnight and then return the following day - a 120 mile round trip. As well as being beneficial physically, the trip was intended to make sure I have everything I might need in terms of camping and cooking equipment, and to figure out how campsites work, to avoid any surprises.


However, it took me far longer than expected to do some last-minute shopping in Cambridge on Saturday morning. The shops were busy, I needed a strange selection of items, and I didn't really know where each shop was. So I got back late afternoon. I decided to postpone the long trip by a day, have Saturday evening off, and then set out on Sunday (today).

I got up early and loaded the bike with sleeping bag, matress, tent, cooking equipment and so on. Everything was going fine and I was feeling good until about 20 miles into my cycle ride and the rear tyre came off the rim. As I was removing all the baggage piled up at the back of the bike, the inner tube exploded, making quite a loud bang. Lucky, then, that I bought a couple of spare inner tubes yesterday.

At the side of the road it took me about 30 mins to remove the back wheel, take off the tyre, change the inner tube, and put the tyre and wheel back on. I didn't pump up the inner tube to even the lowest recommended pressure of 60 psi to make sure it wouldn't push the tyre out of the rim again. Luckily, I managed to 'limp' home, cutting short my trip. Tommorow I'll go to the bike shop that fitted the 'special' tyres (that are apparently designed not to pop out of this type of rim) and see what they have to say of themselves.

I was hugely frustrated and this turned to anger when none of the 8 cyclists that passed me as I was struggling with the wheel at the side of the road stopped to ask if I needed any help. I have lost the last opportunity to do a dry run before the event so I won't know whether or not I'll have the stamina to do more than one full day's cycling, until I start the actual 1,200 mile ride in a week and a half.

More bike problems

In addition to the tyre/wheel issue, the new gears are sounding very cluncky. I had the bike shop add an extra front cog so hills would be more feasible. The difference is huge, and even the steepest hills are now possible, albeit slowly. Despite thoroughly cleaning the chain and gears, and then lubricating them with a good quality lubricatent designed for the purpose, the clanking noises are still there. It sounds like the front and back cogs are not in line and the chain is struggling to get round them. But looking along the chain, you can see it travels in a straight line, so that's not the problem. I have severe doubts that this will last 1,200 miles.

And to top all of this off, on the way to the shop just now, the saddle tilt right back because the seat post (supposedly a decent one I bought with the saddle) cannot hold the saddle strongly enough. I do remember tightening the hex bolt very tightly the other day, so I'm wondering if this seat post is just poor quality. 

Nokia camera phone, GPS and more frustration

I have long thought it would be a nice idea to take pictures as I ride the end to end route, and then upload them as I go so you can follow my progress with photos displayed on a map of the UK. I did my research and learnt that the low-cost Nokia 5230 touch-screen camera phone has a feature to do just this. So I bought one. But it doesn't work. The camera works, the GPS works, and it is possible to take geo-tagged photographs. But the Flickr uploader application that Nokia ship pre-installed doesn't work. The alternative Ovi photo application does work, but only allows you to 'share' your photos with a private photo album. Nokia call this feature "Share Online." The online bit sort-of works, but but you can't make the photos public by default. To do that, you need a laptop. I'll take this pointless device back to the shop tomorrow and ask for a refund.

Tent damage

I bought the Terra Nova Laser Competition tent at a hugely discounted price direct from the manufacturer, intending to sell it after I've finished with it in a few weeks time. It was 'Grade A' standard - a display tent in full working order. I put up the tent the other day and it looks very clean and new. Apart from one of the seams (the one above the zip) has not been sewn correctly - the stiching has missed the reinforcing pad - and the lightweight fabric takes all of the tension and has laddered slightly. I called Terra Nova who swiftly told me that because this was a Grade A tent, it's not covered by any warranty. I pointed out that I had paid for a fully working tent with no damage and after a slightly heated exchange, they agreed to take the tent back and fix the seam and send it back to me ASAP. So I'll pack it up and send it off tomorrow, hopefully I'll get it back in a few days.

All in all, an extremely dissappointing and quite upsetting weekend. I really wanted to do a long trip to put my mind at rest, but it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. Not much else could have gone wrong.