On my way to CSS I dropped the cheque for my service charge into Reed & Woods and found an old man staring straight at me in a slightly unnerving manner. After a moment or several of this we started talking bikes and if Pearsons was still in Sutton before I said I needed to head off.
The next item of note was advising new guy Paul that his knee warmers would probably work best if put under the shorts - they then wouldn't slip down and become calf warmers
Oh and a couple of new member forms coming to you, Mr Nash.Went out with the 17s and was fairly OK - not struggling as badly as two weeks ago. Just getting used to the slightly different position of my winter bike
After the 18s had gone the 17s rolled out with everyone who was left at CSS, about 16 of us but after Snowerhill, a few of the slower ones split off. Young Robin stayed with us but I did have to hold the front runners back to let him catch up and we lost him completely up Norwood Hill despite my best efforts. However Robin's been around a bit and arrived at Tanhouse just before we did, having presumably taken a short cut probably at Rusper.
After a cup of tea at Tanhouse I noticed a rider from Crawley Wheelers trying to pump up his tyre with what looked like a pump that had gone through the hot wash by accident. Offered him the use of my Zefal pump and then showed him how to change and pump up a tyre. That was after we'd found the huge hole in his 'new' tube and I'd told him it was the wrong size - probably one of his mountain bike tubes. He was then struggling with getting the last few inches of tyre onto the rim so I got out the Var tyre leaver. I think he will be getting one - as will at least one of the girls in his group as she came over later to ask to see it.
I was still there when they came out because I was just about to start off with what looked like the faster group when I realised one of our riders had his bike upside down on the grass. Sorry, I should know your name but it has slipped my mind...
Anyway to cut a long story short, it turns out the skewer was broken somehow and there was no way in hell any of us - including the Crawley guy I'd helped earlier - could shift the release on the skewers enough to get it over the little nodules on the drop outs (I really would advise filing them down). Fortunately the good lady wife had got back to him on the phone and hopefully managed to find Tanhouse to collect husband and bike.After that it was a fairly quiet ride on my own back to Coulsdon to catch the last of the club at Nonna's
