This has been a strange couple of weeks for me. It was my birthday on the 29th which should be a happy thing, but never seems that great since I lost my wife.
Thanks to the people who have helped me over the last few years I am coping with it better each year. Maybe by the time I am 50 I will be able to enjoy the day properly.
It didn't help that the day before I had a puncture on my bike. The second in as many weeks. And both caused by hitting holes in the road, rather than sharp objects or wear and tear. Which is annoying because that is just down to rubbish road maintenance by Surrey County Council.
Not surprising since even after a fatal accident on Bridge Street in Guildford, last February, which lead to a petition of 11,000 people calling for immediate change to protect pedestrians nothing has happened.
Only last week I was a passenger in a car being driven over Bridge Street at 20 mph and we had an impatient 4x4 driver angrily tailgating us. That road is so dangerous the way many people chase along it.
Anyway. To add insult to injury I had a spare tube with me but after replacing it by the side of the road, I found that my pump was broken so I couldn't inflate it. Had to walk home :(
But a few days after my birthday Guildford was totally gridlocked (again) so I got a reminder of why cycling is sometimes the best way to travel.
