Clyde ride

Another lovely day for a ride by the Clyde. Summerlike but nippy enough early morning and in the shade to justify gloves and a fleece headband (which, in fleece terms, is an antique but still good). I don't go in for cycling 'kit' clothing because I'm happiest in natural fibres like cotton and wool. Cycling tops with pockets at the bottom of the back are a good design but even the ones advertised as being made of merino wool are only about 37% wool; the rest, putting it bluntly, is plastic. Clothing manufacturers can blether on about the breathability of modern fabrics as much as they like but in my experience nothing beats wool. Having clothing skin tight, which competitive or fitness conscious cyclists want for the streamlining effect, also reduces breathability. For me cycling is just another form of strolling so my guernsey or another wool sweater with a bum bag if required will work just fine. Toad took some pics of me at the end of our ride.

When we got home we strung my bike up to a woodshed beam to do some fine gear adjusting. I also adjusted the angle of the brake levers in relation to the handlebar grips—it takes a while to get to know a bike properly—and I bought a gel saddle cover. I just tied a cushion onto the saddle of my last bike but I wouldn't want to embarass Toad too much! Oddly, in my youth I never had an uncomfortable saddle and I 'went through' several bikes. I'm beginning to wonder if, despite all the high tech designing that goes into them nowadays, somehow old saddles were usually a better fit for human anatomy.