Like a bear ...

... I'm putting on weight for the winter ...

... because I had a puncture cycling home from work last week, and I'm sick of them. So, although the foldable Continental Gatorskins my trusty flat-bar was shod with looked like they had a bit of life left in them (Strava tells me they'd done over 2,800 miles, mind), off they came, and on (with a hell of a struggle, a broken tyre lever and a broken Tyre Glider) went a pair of wired Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

Bottom line, I have a heavier but sturdier pair of tyres on now, roughly 50g heavier per wheel. They are grippy though, and feel sturdy. Plus they have the "Smartguard" reflective band on the tyre wall which, on my winter commuter, can only be a good thing.

The eagle-eyed amongst you (you? No-one reads this...) will have spotted the green dustcaps in the picture above. For yes, such was my ire at last week's puncture, I also fitted some Slime road inner tubes, These are much heavier than the Schwalbe Extra Light they replaced, adding about 110g per wheel. On the plus side, they felt quite comfy on this morning's commute which was a relief, as I had worried they'd be less pliant.

So after all those years of shaving every possible gram off the trusty flat-bar, I have just willingly added about 320g - more than seven KitKats! Impact? Well, I felt slower this morning, and it felt like harder work too. However, Strava suggests it has had no great impact on my average speed or top speed, so maybe it was just one of those mornings when it feels like hard work. Not getting any younger, slimmer or fitter, after all...

P.S. I tweeted (or Xed, or whatever) Tyre Glider about the breakage and they sent me a replacement, FOC, in the post. Good customer service, I would say.

Oh dear...

Remember those cycling goals for 2024?

1. Complete 2,000 miles distance
2. Complete 56,000 feet of elevation
3. Record an annual Eddington of 16 miles (requiring 16 days of 16+ miles)
4. Increase lifetime Eddington from 40 miles to 43 (requiring eight days of 43+ miles)

Here's an update after nine months (and three days):

I've already met goals three and four, as reported last month. But it's goals one and two I have to worry about. I'm still just about ahead on goal two but I've fallen behind on goal one, a side-effect of the declining weather and having been away from home (and hence bikes) a lot lately.

Bottom line? There's still a chance on goal two, just. I think goal one is going to be very hard. I'm not giving up, but...