Monday nightride

I took a couple of hours out last Monday night to give the new tubeless tyres a test. Chinley Churn was muddy and nasty, but the skies were clear and the moon was almost full. The views over Manchester were pin sharp, and the thought of all the drones sat in their Barrett homes watching Eastenders gave me a smug satistfaction. I put some earphones in and cruised my way over the tops and down to Hayfield on a happy high.

The tyres felt a little strange. I could easily feel the ‘thin-ness’ of the Racing Ralph on the back, which was unnerving, but it hooked up really well (except for the muddy sections). The front Nobby Nic was little different to usual, just a bit softer. I held back though, not wanting a blow out and crash up on the dark moors on my own. Apparently Racing Ralphs will give out quite quickly used tubeless like this, the sidewalls can’t take the Peak abrasion. We’ll see.

Towards the end of the ride, spinning along the Sett Valley trail, I startled an owl out of the trees right over my head. It dropped off its branch, spread its wings and glided directly ahead of me for a couple of seconds, lit up by my headlight, before doing a lazy turn and swooping out of view.