Day 12 - Nipple Nuisance

Mozart piano duets, and the essential bacon and eggs all taken care of, we then say our goodbyes to the lovely Jane, Steve and Ewan and prepare to head off towards the English/Scottish border en route to Melrose...

It suddenly occurs to me that it would be a wise idea to pump up our tyres after the epic cycle the day before. No big deal. Out of the SV2 comes the foot pump and off with the nozzle cap on tyre number one. Pump pump pump...Good air pressure. Sorted. Now, there is a small nipple at the end of the nozzle which is released during pumping and needs to be screwed back on after pumping (is it me or does this start to sound vaguely pornographic?!). So, I am securing this aforementioned nipple back into place when it snaps off in my fingers. Nipple is now in fingers and not secure on nozzle and the more I try to put it back on, the more the tyre deflates. Whoops! Ok, no big deal - change the inner tubing: New nozzle, new nipple, pump, pump, pump and we’re away. If only it were so simple. Little did I know that all nozzles on inner tubings vary in length. Alice’s bike, the legendary ‘Little Gold Beast’ requires a 33mm nozzle. Susie’s tenacious bike, ‘Stanley’ requires a 60mm nozzle – whoever said that size doesn’t matter? All the inner tubings we have with us in our repair kit are with 33mm nozzles so ideal for the LGB but hopeless for poor Stanley. The more we fiddle around with the tyre, the more we realise Stanley isn’t going to get back on the road.

Yep, I am a failure. Stanley had to be taken on the car to Hawick (pronounced hoik) to be fitted with the correct tubing, nozzle and nipple, which also means Susie had to be taken by car to Hawick. I can’t express my frustration and sadness at not being able to cycle over the English/Scottish border with Alice and the LGB. Tears of infuriation welled up in my eyes but I hope all you readers don’t see these absent 25 miles from my journey as an unaccomplished mission? There was simply no other option.

However, every cloud has a silver lining and once we got to Hawick, we found Teviot Cycles – a super little bicycle shop owned by Doug and Vera. They were practically waiting for me with open arms as the car approached and couldn’t have been more keen and willing to help. Doug deftly fitted Stanley with the correct tubing and I was soon ready to be back on the road. Just as we were leaving, I asked for a couple of spare tubings and guess what? Doug gave me them for free as well as offering me a big ‘good luck with the rest of your journey’ hug. Once again, I was bowled over by the kindness of people we have encountered on this trip.
I then cycled back to meet Alice as she was cycling into Hawick so at least I felt like I’d cycled a part of this leg. Nozzles, nipples, tubings and tyres all erect, pumped and functioning once again...