Pictures are from http://radfahrerverein-biblis.de/rvb/radtouren/rtf/weschnitz.htm#
PJ & I set off at about 9:10 at a gentle pace, to let Phil warm up. Very few others, most had already started so nobody to chase down and make us go too fast. Cruised along to Bensheim a bit too slow for me but PJ kept same cadence & gearing up towards Lindenfels so I was soon working too hard and had to get him to slow down. Nevertheless, quickly came to 1st control. Ate half a banana & continued on our way. Lovely downhill through and after Lindenfels, only marred by having to slow a bit for a Dutch Volvo on the corners.
Joined by a young German runner in Assos kit on the way to control 2. We seemd to get there really quickly. Ate another half banana and headed onwards. Felt strong and towed PJ, Assos and a couple of others on the flat for a while. Also preferred to be in front of PJ on the climbs to stop him going too fast :-) and keep the pace steady. One of the other guys took over from me on the front in a town on our climb to the 520m point. He quickly picked up the pace with PJ on his wheel. I was working hard to keep up and felt Assos man dropping off my wheel. The other German came up from the back and told his mate to slow down, and told me he knows the climb well and likes to have some fun on it. Soon after we waved goobye to Assos as he took the shorter course, as planned, at Kreidacherhoehe.
I was on the front again on the next bit of a climb, then dropped to the back just before the downhill - I don't think I realised we were just about to start a really sweet downhill - from Siedelsbrunn. Quickly passed one of the Germans who was pretty slow on the corners and relaxed behind PJ & the other German looking for some overtaking options. Luckily there weren't any 'cos the next thing I felt was the air coming out of my back tyre and I shouted & stopped. All 3 kindly stopped for me & we sent theGermans on their way, and put my spare tube in. Couldn't find an obvious cause for the flat. I remembered that I'd slow-flatted on my previous ride, so was a bit worried because I had only one tube and no puncture kit. PJ had a puncture kit, hopefully I wouldn't need it (my aero rims need long valve stems so a standard tube won't fit).
Set off again & briefly stopped after 500m - the Germans were stopped with a flat! A couple of kms later I flatted again and road on the flat through a village and stopped opposite a one stop store. Investigated cause of flat & realised that it the rim-tape had moved slightly partially exposing a spoke hole. Mended the punctures while PJ did a brilliant repair to the rim tape by taping over the rim tape with Sellotape bought in the store opposite. He told me that he always tapes his rims with Sellotape - brilliant!
Note to self: get a valve extension and another spare tube.
Finally set off again but we both had problems getting a good pace again after the total of 54 mins stoppage for both punctures. I also had to fiddle with and finally restart my Polar 'cos the heartand speed monitors had switched themselves off during the long stop.
Anyway, the rest of the ride was event free. Unfortunately for him, PJ never got back on the pace. I felt strong and led the last 20km? on the flat from Heppenheim to Biblis into an energy-sapping headwind as hard as I could, wondering where the hell was Biblis.
Joined by a young German runner in Assos kit on the way to control 2. We seemd to get there really quickly. Ate another half banana and headed onwards. Felt strong and towed PJ, Assos and a couple of others on the flat for a while. Also preferred to be in front of PJ on the climbs to stop him going too fast :-) and keep the pace steady. One of the other guys took over from me on the front in a town on our climb to the 520m point. He quickly picked up the pace with PJ on his wheel. I was working hard to keep up and felt Assos man dropping off my wheel. The other German came up from the back and told his mate to slow down, and told me he knows the climb well and likes to have some fun on it. Soon after we waved goobye to Assos as he took the shorter course, as planned, at Kreidacherhoehe.
I was on the front again on the next bit of a climb, then dropped to the back just before the downhill - I don't think I realised we were just about to start a really sweet downhill - from Siedelsbrunn. Quickly passed one of the Germans who was pretty slow on the corners and relaxed behind PJ & the other German looking for some overtaking options. Luckily there weren't any 'cos the next thing I felt was the air coming out of my back tyre and I shouted & stopped. All 3 kindly stopped for me & we sent theGermans on their way, and put my spare tube in. Couldn't find an obvious cause for the flat. I remembered that I'd slow-flatted on my previous ride, so was a bit worried because I had only one tube and no puncture kit. PJ had a puncture kit, hopefully I wouldn't need it (my aero rims need long valve stems so a standard tube won't fit).
Set off again & briefly stopped after 500m - the Germans were stopped with a flat! A couple of kms later I flatted again and road on the flat through a village and stopped opposite a one stop store. Investigated cause of flat & realised that it the rim-tape had moved slightly partially exposing a spoke hole. Mended the punctures while PJ did a brilliant repair to the rim tape by taping over the rim tape with Sellotape bought in the store opposite. He told me that he always tapes his rims with Sellotape - brilliant!
Note to self: get a valve extension and another spare tube.
Finally set off again but we both had problems getting a good pace again after the total of 54 mins stoppage for both punctures. I also had to fiddle with and finally restart my Polar 'cos the heartand speed monitors had switched themselves off during the long stop.
Anyway, the rest of the ride was event free. Unfortunately for him, PJ never got back on the pace. I felt strong and led the last 20km? on the flat from Heppenheim to Biblis into an energy-sapping headwind as hard as I could, wondering where the hell was Biblis.
1 comment:
Good post.
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