Last night was our regular weekly night ride.

Or rather, in this case, my weekly night ride, everyone else was unavailable for one reason or another, which was rather disappointing. Originally I had been planning an all night Solstice ride culminating in a karmic sunrise at Holmbury Hill but couldn’t get myself or others organised in time.

One thing’s for sure, it would be a whole lot more pleasant than a Winter Solstice!

Anyway, whilst out on my own giving my Orange Five it’s first work out, appropriately enough five things occurred to me:

1. Riding on my own makes me go fast – waaay too fast really. I ended up covering 19 miles at an average speed of 10.8 mph and paid the price. The last three miles were awful in a drunk/stoned/zombie way!
2. Exercise involves pain. The more effort you put in, the more it hurts. I don’t like it, but sometimes I quite enjoy it.
3. Riding with UST tyres puts a whole new perspective on things. I know they’re not bulletproof but setting out knowing it’s unlikely you’ll get a puncture is a novel experience.
4. New bike, new fork, new shock. Now there’s a combination to guarantee that your new bike doesn’t feel quite right! I need more miles to bed everything in and tweak the air pressures etc.
5. I’m starting to loathe the first 50 yards of bridleway at the start of any and every ride. All the world’s lazy dog owners seem to visit to make their dog crap in that first stretch, usually right in the middle of the path. What goes on in these people’s heads? Fortunately I missed it all but we’re not always so lucky.