After a stupid and pointless overtake by the very first car I encountered this morning, I decided to go for the Wandle Trail again, though this time on fixed. I've done that before, but I was fitter. Ah well, never mind.
Even Friday legs would have helped, but I did enjoy the ride. Bit of a problem about half way along, though. I got a stick caught in the gear cable (S3X, remember), and then I caught my foot, so the cable was ripped through the retention bolt, which would have stuck me in top gear. I didn't fancy riding rough surfaces on 90", because I'm not as nails as Teethgrinder, so I stopped and readjusted the disintegrating cable. It was OK, but as it settled in (I think the flattened, de-stranded part stretched out a bit), the middle gear slipped, so I had another go. This time, it was just fine. I had feared that the BB guide, which is only glued on, had come away, but fortunately that was sound. Anyway, three cyclists passed me while I was fettling. Only the third, a woman, actually asked if I was OK. As it happens, I was just putting my spanner away when she asked, so I smiled and let her carry on.
To the top (ish) of the Trail, then through the byergh of Wandsworth to the riverside path then backstreets from the Heliport to Battersea Park. realising I was short of time, I realised it would be quicker to ride over the Thames and back to avoid the delays at Vauxhall, so I did that, and tried hard to keep up with a very fit woman on an aluminium Trek, who blasted away from the rest of the peloton on Embankment.
At Lambeth Bridge, and with a heavy heart, I turned back towards work, but I did enjoy the trundle past the IWM and SBU under the shade of the trees.
Ticked over to 25km just after I entered the street where I work. A real disappointment to have to stop.
