Training - Tuesday 25th May

I'm not sure if it was the tailwind, a couple of leg recuperation rest days or the dried prunes I ate before I hit the mountains but I flew up to the Sally Gap last night.  Anyone who rides up there via Cruagh or Kilakee road knows that there are some steepish climbs for roughly 13kms (with some flat bits thrown in as well).

I went around by Powerscourt mountain, and Luggala peering over at Lough Tay en route to Ballinastoe.  I had covered around 40km in the first hour and a half when i noticed my back tire had a slow puncture.  Damnation! The sun had given me a false sense of security in terms of the temperature, so when I stopped to change the tire I realised that it was only around 10 degrees.  I cursed and shivered as i realised that the BBB tubes that I was carrying didn't fit my Richie wheels!  Luckily enough, along came John Lynham from Laragh and sorted me out with a tube.  Life saver.  I dont think a bicycle tube from one of the many mountain bikers around there would have done the trick... 

After fluting around for a protracted number of minutes in the cold, my schedule was thrown off so i headed for Enniskerry and back to Dublin.  Just wanted to thank John for stopping and giving me a dig out.

Here is the route I took: