G, Cav, and me

It's been warm. Dry too, with little in the way of rain until last night's downpour. What remains of a pool at a local nature reserve tells the story:

The high temperatures don't half bring on a thirst riding the local chain gang. Off the back of a third place finish at the tour, Geraint was in fine fettle.

Cav missed the split. With it being every man for themselves, we didn't wait up. He had to make his own way home. He lives in Italy, I think - quite a cycle.

Ah yes, the Commonwealth Games' Road Race passed close to home. A circuit of 10 laps - I watched the start on TV, cycled out to Hatton to see a few of the middle laps, and made it back home to see the finale on TV.

The Surly has undergone a major change - no more it is 700c but rather 650b. I bought a set of the Cycle Clinic's hand-built BORG22 Disc wheels with a SON dynamo (I must buy a light) and shod them with Rene Herse Babyshoe Pass 650b tires (standard casing).

I've had good experiences with their tyres: Bon Jon Pass and Steilacoom have cushioned many rides in the past. They were called Compass back then, in fact that name is still on the tyre mould - see the sidewall. Expensive to have a new mould made but not to have different printing of the company name. Performance-wise, I don't use a cycle computer or power meter to be able to objectively judge - they felt plush, that'll do me.

There's a set of fluted Honjo mudguards sat waiting in the garage. Riding bikes with mudguards virtually all the time, regardless of the time of year, the Surly does look somewhat naked to my eye.