Sunday 17 Jan 2010 – a deflating morning!

Pix from the top: Jon, Andy and myself on Woodmansterne Green (note absence of snow); proof, if any was needed, that I finally bought a teapot with me; and my front wheel in the hallway of my house some time before 7am this morning. I would soon discover that my rear tyre was deflated too.

Up at 6am this morning and for good reason: I had a puncture to repair. I nipped outside into the garage, took off my front wheel and walked back into the kitchen where I repaired a puncture, drank a mug of tea, got stuff ready for the cycle to Westerham (that was the plan for today) and then out into the garage to put the front wheel back on the bike.

Tyre pumped up I was ready to go. I called Andy, told him I'd be a little late, not more than five minutes, and then, on touching my back tyre, I discovered another puncture. Time to abort the cycle. Well, not exactly. Andy said he'd cycle over to me for a local route (my Woodland Trek through suburban South Croydon and then off road into Croham Hurst). Not a great cycle so I suggested Woodmansterne Green and Andy agreed.

I managed to fix the rear puncture, get the wheel back on and inflate the tyre before Andy reached me and then we set off for Woodmansterne.

Jon still had the remnants of a cold, but I planned on calling him somewhere along the Foxley Lane in Purley to see if he was up for a cycle – but he beat me to it and called me instead. Jon and I have this little game we play with each other. Basically, I call him (or he calls me) and we pretend to be out of breath as if we're on our bikes, even if we're in our respective front rooms. He did this today and I had to convince him that I was genuinely on my bike and en route to Woodmansterne Green. We agreed to meet there.

Andy and I reached the Green at 0830hrs and, while it has been a long-running joke, I finally did bring a teapot with me (see pix above) and used my tartan scarf (purchased in Dublin in 1983) as a makeshift tea cosy. Not a bad cup of tea, to be honest, but it got cold rather quickly.

We chewed the fat with Jon when he arrived, resolved that next week we would go to Boxhill and Redhill (fighting talk!) and prove or disprove Jon's assertion over the mileage from Woodmansterne to both destinations – he reckons there's no more than five miles between Redhill and Boxhill, in distance terms, from Woodmansterne Green. A fiver rests on this: I say it's more than five miles. We'll see.

Nice weather today. Blue skies and sunshine. Makes a change from the past couple of weeks, which have been cold, frosty and snowy and not pleasant if you're out cycling.

That's it for today, folks. Oh, and by the way, we didn't go cycling yesterday (Jan 16th).