Half Wheeling*

Why when I clean and oil my bike ready for its French adventure next week do I forget to put on plastic gloves so that my hands now look those of a garage mechanic?

The product Muc- Off does quite a good job of removing most of the grime from the bike before being rinsed off with water. No doubt passers by were intrigued to see me apparently watering my bike with the watering can as you do.

Neat detergent and the nail brush takes off the oil and top layer of skin from my hands leaving them rough but cleaner.

With the tyres pumped up and everything drying in the sun, the front wheel produced these shadows on the patio.

There have been no square eye watching of the Olympics as yet today. Instead, after the bike cleaning, a little light dusting, bed changing and reading in the sun.

Tomorrow is Wiggins and my big day, with Wiggins on the saddle and me on the settee. It will be an exhausting time.

* half wheeling is a term used by cyclists when cycling two abreast and one person rides with their wheel slightly in front of his/her neighbour's, thereby encouraging an unwanted increase in speed.
I was often pulled up for that, although it was always done unconsciously.