A spot of homework

Today's bike ride was in the fells to the west of Kirkby Stephen. We started out on frozen ground but during the day the temperature rose, melting the soil surface.

Mountain bikers have as many words for mud as Eskimos have for snow, a fact I have just made up. We managed to find some builders' mastic; it coated our knobbly tyres and turned them into wide, brown slicks with little hope of traction on even the gentlest gradient.

Hence the homework. Strip down and clean. Then the bike.