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Today it looked like it would remain dry so I decided to try a long ride. And a point ride as well. Point rides are rides where you ride out to one point, turn around, and follow the same way back home. Contrary to loops this kind of ride will usually find me far from home at the turning point, so care is to be taken. You can be surprised by foul weather which means that you have a long way to get back home in rain or wind, or when you have a mechanical problem or a flat tyre, you also have to get it fixed unless you want to take a taxi home. On loop rides there is always the possibility that you are not TOO far from home so cutting a ride short is easier. Not so on a point ride.
I had a look at my tyres before riding out and I was a little worried when I saw the state of my rear tyre. It looked like at some points that it had worn through the outer layer and the protection layer was visible. This tyre was in dire need of change.
But I decided to risk it and started out over Kop van Kessel Lo and then followed the Leuvense Vaart past Mechelen, Battel and Willebroek where I passed the Zennegat and rode on until I was in Boom, my furthest point for today . Here I counted 48K and made a turn back along the same way whence I had come. All the time my mind was with my tyre. "Please don't flatten, please don't flatten" x 1000.
But it did not flatten. In all I am very pleased with the Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp Pro tyres that came with the second hand pair of Campagnolo Neutrons I bought off Gregory Joseph when I was building up the Vortex. Even though Gregory already rode with them, and I since added more than 4500K on them, the front tyre is still fine but obviously the back tyre needs to be changed. I have a set of Continental GP Attack and Force tyres lying ready and I will put them on today.
I had a good LSD ride today, it remained dry and with an average heartrate of 123bpm I managed to get an average speed of more than 28kph which is not bad considering I rode alone. There was no wind to speak off and the temperature was just above 20 degrees C , in short a great day for a long point ride.
Endomondo track
Ride Stats : 101K and 190/245 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h34mins
6815/62040
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