Lesson number 1: Know how your equipment works

I went to the bicycle shop to buy some equipment I had to have if I wanted to ride with the local cycling club; 2 spare inner tubes, tyre iron (or whatever they call it), etc. While I was there I asked the young man serving me to fit a mini saddle bag (for my tubes and iron) and a drinks holder to my bike, which he did - great!

Then I mentioned to him that the extra groovy floor pump, I had bought when I picked up my new bike, didn't seem to be working properly and I couldn't be sure that the pressure in my tyres was correct. I explained that this was because the pump didn't show the pressure when attached to the valve and, that when I started pumping, the gauge went off the scale. He grabbed a floor pump he had been using when I arrived and proceeded to start checking my tyre pressures. That is when I recognised the little cap on the valve one is supposed to take off first before starting to pump (I had taken it off and was feeling very smug). Then I saw him unscrew the even smaller nut on the valve and say "You need to unscrew this and press it to make sure the valve is not blocked before you attach the pump" "Yes, I know" I said, lying through my teeth. It turns out I had only been pumping up the pump and not my tyres with the 'defective' floor pump! Who reading this blog is a technophobe? Dream on. I can't even use equipment that has been in use for a hundred years!

So, then the young man rang up my purchases - £35 to pay. No worries, I had my credit card in the little rucsack Clive (our Group Finance Director) had bought me for Christmas. It was declined - twice! But the young man had already fitted everything to my bike - what was I going to do? Lesson number 2: when cycling, carry cash or more than one credit card! Turns out the credit card company were running a 'random security check' on my card and I had to go back later to pay!