A thorn in the side..

Partway through our route across the fields from Woodham to Quainton (I believe it was the 3rd or 4th field in) I couldn't help but notice a distinctive rubbery-squeaky noise coming from my rear wheel. A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed my suspicions so I declared myself as temporarily out of action and shouted "PUNCTURE!!" to ensure the others and anyone within a 10 mile radius were aware that I was going nowhere quickly. So.. all the Belles gathered around as I tipped my bike onto its saddle and tried to set about resolving the issue.

Vicky & Sian proudly produced a brand new innertube. Ah! Perfect! This would take two minutes to change and we'd soon be on our way. Whilst Vicky and I were wrestling with my tyre to get the punctured inner tube out, Sian quietly pointed out that my rear wheel was not in any way quick release and our complete lack of spanners (the tool variety) may cause a bit of a problem when swapping the new emergency inner tube for the old one. Despite our best efforts with my miniscule multi-tool, the bolts refused to budge and so the only way to get going again was to find the hole in the current inner tube.


We pumped the inner tube back up with Sian's handy pump and found the puncture with ease - because it was huge! Alex and Sian fitted a 'scab' over the wound which set within minutes whilst Vicky and I ran our hands around the inside of my tyre to make sure that the offending object had been dislodged. Vicky's "AH-HA!!" informed us that it hadn't been dislodged at all, and she produced what I think is possibly the most gargantuan thorn I have EVER seen:

Re-fitting the inner tube was a delicate procedure as we tried to avoid pinching it around the rear brake pads at all costs, and it took a further removal of the tyre to get the valve sticking out at the right angle for Sian's handy pump. What a palaver! Finally, after 20 minutes of standing in gale force winds, plenty of help from all 3 Belles and a self-setting 'scab' I was back in action and ready for whatever the rest of the ride could throw at us...