Thorn In My Tyre

You know that's all it ever was - but it brought me to a stop. Luckily I had me a spare tube. This is going to be fun, I thought. Anyway, I got me to a safe bit of road, dropped out the rear wheel and within five minutes I'd swapped over the inner tubes, wheel back on and ready to inflate. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Annoyed at having punctured but definitely pleased with the tyre change.

Then it all went to cock. Could I reverse the reversible presta schrader fitting on the pump? Could I f@(%. Needed bloody long nose pliers to pull out the middle bit. Only one problem, I wasn't expecting to need pliers and so didn't have any with me. For ten minutes I tried to tease out that bastard middle bit without success. It was epic fail. At least I was only a mile from home and with a light bike. Cue hoisting to the shoulder for the slow walk home - looking like a twat, I should add.

There's a lesson here. When using a pump with reversible fitting make sure you set it up for your tube type BEFORE you go out for your ride. I was a little bit Mr Angry by the time I got home. Grrrrrrr. Don't say a bloody word!

Oh, and to top it. My bloody GPS turned off during the first mile and it wasn't until a couple miles in I thought to check whether it was all working properly. ARSE. One day I will manage to record the whole of my ride...