Day 83 - Buxton 54 kms ! Busted in Buxton !

After 4,500 kms of continuous cycling, if you don't count rest days, sick days & can't be bothered days, the Litchfield - Henley juggernaught has hit a brick wall in the shape of the Mtns of the Peak District and a slightly uncooperative Avanti bike !

Leaving Weston with dire forecasts of rain not seen since Noah's time, we cycled warily following our Cheshire trail along busier lanes and roads as we close to populous areas of mid England and alongside the massive M6 that on a Saturday morning had 6 packed lanes of traffic moving Nth/Sth.

I have had a slight wheel wobble for over a week and it was starting to concern me despite an earlier opinion it was just loose cones.

For this reason and the fact that we were about to enter the wilds of the Peak district, after 20 kms at Congleton i sought out a bike shop for a more detailed look.

The diagnosis was not great with the youngish mechanic suggesting it was a broken Axel and there was little that could be done other than wait around in town for 3-4 days for a replacement wheel.

Seeking a 2nd opinion Kev happened upon a fantastic bloke at Halfords (just down the road) a large bike store chain in the UK. The guy (asst Mgr) who has a full engineering degree and yet can only earn about $10 an hour doing 40 paid and 20 unpaid hours a week, worked for a solid hour on the bike indicating that while the Axel and bearings looked OK something was causing the cones to loosen - he tightened them , realigned the brakes and effectively charged us nothing for his time !

Our climb from Congleton into the Peak District was tough to say the least with signposted 10% gradient roads having section at 15% + that meant we were in for a bit of walking with both of us feeling the pinch !

This section of road also highlighted one of the problems of cycling in the UK. The verges were in terrible shape with numerous potholes and uneven sections that meant you were constantly moving off your line. Not ordinarily a big problem but these roads had a reasonable volume of traffic and narrow considerably in places meaning that to be predictable to traffic behind you sometimes have to take the bone jarring option of riding over the hole and take the risk of losing control ! A media report some months highlighted this problem (mainly caused by extremes of weather and rain in the UK and of course volumes of traffic) suggesting it would take 16 years at current rates of repair to fix today's problems !

As we climbed into the fringes of the wild and beautiful peak district it was becoming obvious that my bike's rear wheel was in its death throes. Strangely because of inertia the wheel was much more stable at higher speeds but this was something I was not tempted to do for any extended period !

Now past the point of no return and feeling like I was nursing home over the channel a 4 engine ww2 bomber that only had 1 engine left we cautiously continued though now changing plans from heading outback into the peaks to heading direct to Buxton a further 15 kms away !

With one last cautious long descent we entered Buxton with the wheel now tracking severely. As Murphys law would indicate today was a Saturday and no bike shops would now be open till Monday (3rd time on tour I have had an issue on a Sat) !

With Buxton humming, as the result of some festival we were lucky to score a b&b with just about everything booked out.

Since then we have been muling over a no. Of options. There's a good chance that the bike shops in town even when open on Monday may not stock my wheel size/type. Even with a best case scenario we will lose two days which would mean an almost impossible schedule to meet with only a week left before we are due in Inverness.

Securing a hire car (Manchester airport nearest available) may be our best option even though it brings the continuous nature of the cycle trip to a halt.. A hire car would allow us to source a wheel and also do select day loop rides on our way Nth and still meet our destination on time in Inverness !

The unpredictable nature of cycle touring !

P.s. The rain to end all rain did not eventuate but we did get very solid overnight falls that has brought about with it a drop back to normal UK temps - cool !

If this weather continues there's a good chance that we won't get beaten 5-0 in the cricket as the POMs are suggesting - a washout or two might just save our ass !