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republicapresente · 11 years

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La Ronde Infernale ...

"Buono Estente,"

In addition to my almost totally incomplete Supermarket French, I also know this phrase from a 1960s Le Mans video referring to the famous 24 Hour race as the infernal roundabout ...

This thought occurred to me as I set off on my night-time lap of Madrid via the Anillo Verde Ciclista (Green Ring for Cyclists) along with quite literally "some" other cyclists ... the trip overall was very enjoyable, it was only the slightly chaotic initial kilometres, coupled with my later mechanical misfortunes, that brought the infernal roundabout to mind.

Having met near the Manzanares at a still darkening 10pm, we divided into two groups for those wishing to travel at different speeds ... somewhat logically the slower group was dispatched first, theoretically ensuring a closer finishing time and overall cycling experience. In reality it merely worked the same way the run and jump starts of Le Mans did, by randomly putting the faster people near the back and letting them work their way past ... I did so slowly and by the edge of Casa de Campo had arrived near enough to the front and with a good group of people travelling at a similar pace - accounting for the differences between my road bike's speed on the flat or slopes, and their mountain bikes' ability to keep up the same speed over the obstacles along the way, and at times a desire to stay with a group rather than race off on my own, as this was supposed to be a cycling event and I cycle on my own a lot ...

We stopped at about a third distance for a little rest and to reconvene, and unfortunately after we set off I ended up with the group intent on going really quickly for the part of the journey where I knew I had to take care of my road bike as the path isn't in great condition in places and there is a lot of mounting and dismounting pavements to be done ... I was racing to keep up so that I could take it a bit easy over the bumps, but eventually hit a big join in the path that has separated and fragmented and created a large hole - no problem for a mountain bike but at speed, I knew the hit was going to be tough for Beryl's tyres and was not surprised, if a little saddened when 500m later I felt the rear tyre going flat ...

I had the back wheel out of the frame before a the group I had been with previously arrived and asked if I needed any help ... I asked merely for company alone on the path on a Saturday night, and so that I wouldn't be continuing alone when the puncture had been fixed. A small group kindly stopped and accompanied me until the job was done and the tyre re-mounted.

Their pace was comfortable for both Beryl and I, and I felt inclined to repay their kindness in stopping by staying with them - especially as knocking the rear brake pad loose when re-mounting the wheel had created a strange sensation when braking that made me paranoid of another impending puncture ...

We continued in this manner up to and past the half-way point and I eventually diagnosed and fixed the problem at two-thirds distance when we departed from the full circle of the Anillo Verde due to the overnight closure of some parks through which it passes ...

Our new route took us by road and alternative parks back to the riverside, where, very close to the end, I misjudged a large pavement mounting for a small one and was relieved that my tyre hadn't gone flat ... for about a kilometre when, coming round a bend, I again felt the back tyre go flat.

The imapct had knocked the initial repair and caused a small leak from the patching. Two of the same riders stopped again to accompany me, and we discussed the state of my inner tubes which I was hastily applying still further patches to ... these inner tubes had already seen their share of night time puncture repair after a similar pot-hole incident one January in Somerset that required 14 punctures to be repaired a 1am.

Unfortunately my efforts to repair this one were proving futile as laying patch over patch inevitably leads to a greater possibility for gaps, and though ever smaller, some air, though less and less, was still escaping and so we decided to simply pump up the tyre and ride until it went flat ...

Beryl made it to the end of the cycle route without further servicing, and most of the extra handful of kilometres needed to get me back home - mostly uphill and sometimes stuck behind a rubbish lorry on narrow streets with no passing place, which caused the recurrence of my thoughts of the Infernal Roundabout ... especially when clear of the lorry, I had to stop again with less than a kilometre to go and re-inflate the tyre ...

Despite these punctures, it was a very enjoyable ride with a great atmosphere and lovely to see so many cyclists taking part, and the camaraderie of those who stopped to help me ... we were even treated kindly by motorists who let us pass in large groups and cross altogether, even when traffic signals were in their favour - for a city still coming to terms with cycling as a mode of transport, this was very nice ... there will be another night time ride in September and I very much intend to repeat the experience, remembering to look after Beryl a little better, as I had intended to this time before letting my enthusiasm for speed get the better of me.

I am going to treat myself to a new inner tube or two before then, but I still intend to repair my long-suffering and battle-scarred tube for one final ride rather than see its eventful life end in a manner somewhat ... deflated. The alternative would be to leave this as its final effort, it may have been broken and beaten but it got me home ...

I am perhaps too sentimental when it comes to my bicycle, but cycling is and has been a big part of my life, I enjoy my cycling adventures along with my bicycle, and therefore a certain amount of sentiment can be considered natural ... mmm, isn't it? Possibly, don't quote me on this, marvellous ...

Boutros, Boutros-Ghali,

Owain.

#Cycling #Madrid #AnilloVerdeCiclista

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