Odd Tyres?

Yesterday my former trusty steed of student days (well until the hols between 2nd & 3rd Year when McDs money purchased a new mountain bike!) went in for an overhaul after being mistreated in my parents shed for many years (they scuffed her paintwork and dented her chain guard) at those very knowledgeable people at Portsmouth Cycle Exchange so it will see service on the roads of Portsmouth again ... well until we get over one hiccup.

I delivered the bike into the cycle exchange on the run into work today saying I knew it needed new tyres ... and to be told that my bike has odd tyres that are hard to get hold of ... but there would be sources on the internet... its would seem my lovely Peugeot 'Tradition' Cycle is subject to a french quirk ... the tyres.

They take what's known in the cycle world as 650Bs which the french loved .... when the rest of the world seems to prefer 700s. But all is not lost ... the french quirk has a french friend which has limited stores in the UK ... Decathalon is the easiest place to obtain such tyres... so this weekend while loitering in the posh bit of Kent (aka Sevenoaks) I will swallow hard and enter Essex (LOL a comment I saw made me giggle as a Maid of Kent; Kent is the Garden of England, Essex is its compost heap) and Thurrock industrial estate (and maybe also a side trip to Ikea while there!) to obtain the tyres needed to get this much loved steed on the road again (and maybe this time she won't loose all her gears as I leave Fishbourne IOW car ferry terminal as I try to get up the hill .... I was left with 3rd gear of a 3 gear bike for the rest of the trip ... the cycle exchange nursed her back then as well). I did a bit of a ride from the shop to where the car was parked ... I forgot how high up you sit on it... and it was good to have wind in hair again! I think after being in Amsterdam in June my love of the traditional style of bike is back .... I just need a wicker basket (the original one was past revival on exit from shed) to stick shopping and work bags in and we're all go!

.. well sort of, the reason I have both my bikes down here now is in the aim that maybe I don't have to drive and park all the time ... and that maybe we can cycle into town or down the seafront... but first we need to teach Dr T (who will now use the male style mountain bike, he has no adult sized bike) to cycle on the road, he never learnt to do this as a kid... but do you know how hard it is to find adult cycling proficiency? So we'll start of with some short rides on quieter Portsmouth roads and cycle paths, fortunately we do some easy harbour side cycle rides, before the ultimate aim of cycling into the city centre shops/ work (which involves a major road that you need to be confident on before tackling...).

I'm looking forward to being on the Peugeot again ... and if its gets used lots it will get a new toy next time I head to Holland ... some funky dutch pannier bags!