This evening's ride was well attended but seemed doomed from the start. Gavin broke a valve at the start and had to buy a new tube from the garage. Then Keir had a chain problem just after Green Lane, and Jaden fell off on some gravel while going back to find him. Hot air balloons kept us entertained while repairs were effected, and then we did actually manage to ride a couple of fun tracks from Halsworthy to Parkfield.

Unfortunately Keir picked up a long thorn on the final track, then rode down the lane with a flat tyre. None of the youngsters had a spare 26" tube (they will bring them in future), and when we started fixing it in the darkness we discovered that the thorn had worked its way around the tube leaving a row of well-separated punctures that would have taken more than an hour to fix! Gavin rode home for his car while we limped homewards, hoping for a better ride next week!