TYRE PRESSURE

It's a truism to say that bicycles are dependent on air pressure. But that fact was brought home to me today with a vengeance.

On Tuesday I did 30km with the club at an average speed of just over 30 km/hour. However, I was struggling at times, even though there was little wind. I thought my tyres were a bit flat, so before today's run, I went round to a fellow cyclist and borrowed his foot pump, which has a manometer on it. Instead of the usual 7.5 bars on the front wheel and 8.5 on the back, mine registered a measly 2! It was if I had been running through treacle.

After pumping them up to the proper pressure, I was rolling. Not only did I have no difficulty in keeping up this evening, but I was even pulling at the front on occasion.

Walter Blotscher