Up, down and pfffft!

Out for a short pootle today to try out my new reclining bottle rack on the aero bars and it started with some traffic, a contra-flow and not feeling too bad at all.  My Planet X Stealth Pro TT bike started to feel really rather exciting to ride.

The usual 3 Hills 80km route was going really well, the first hill got eaten up more easily than ever and I was down on the bars zipping through villages and lanes, feeling powerful when as I was going through the woods I hit some debris.  I thought I had a leaf caught in my wheels - there was a PFFF PFFF Pfff Pfff pfff pfff pf sound, like dry leaf stuck in a spoke slowly disintegrating.  Then FDDD FDDD FDDD FDDD from the rear wheel and I pulled over straight away.  Puncture.  The tyre was flat as a pancake and I was about 3km out from the next sharp hill and on a narrow, fast road with no pavements or grass verge.

And no mobile signal.  I walked a bit, found some patchy signal and left a voicemail for MrTOTKat who I was supposed to be meeting at the top of the 3rd hill for a cup of tea and who'd given me a 15 minute head start.  Just as I got off the phone, I heard the distinctive sound of the Jet wheels he just fitted and he sped past me... I shouted and shouted, but he didn't hear me at all and probably hadn't seen me in the shady woods.

I walked on, stopping in a car park to see if I could call again and try to use the "Pit Stop" canister, which fills the tyre with sealant and compressed air.  The bugger was that instead of pumping into the tyre, it squirted out of the sides of the rubber nozzle.  No mobile signal and a completely un-ridable bike.  So I ended up walking up Crocknorth hill and beyond until I got some good signal, left another voicemail.  And then MrTOTKat called back.  To cut a long and boring story short, I got cold, ended up walking another 2km,  had a chat with some lovely cyclists who gave me a Fudge to eat - which was most welcome at the time - and got picked up just over 2 hours after I'd had my puncture.

So.  I've changed the wheels for my Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels and fitted the right cassette back on the rear.  Just need to change the brake blocks for ones I know will work on aluminum braking surface and I'm good to go.  I am using the TT bike.  I am OK eating and drinking on the move on it.  I'm peed off about getting a puncture, but I got a 2 hour ride in and I got a really good feeling from the TT bike.

One more decision made and set for next weekend.  Hopefully I can get bits and bobs done each evening this week as we've not got Thursday off to prepare and pack this time.