March Ride with occasional sun

Off we went again, this time starting in Liestal at the station. I picked up Companion 1 and we cycled to  Sissach. After the station, the first short punchy climb took us towards Thürnen where we picked up Companion 2. With our small group now complete, we set off at a good pace towards Hauenstein. The weather forecast was promising after yesterdays "Scottish" weather - rain, sun, rain sun - repeat all day.

It started as predicted, temperature was cool and the sky was overcast.

At Hauenstein though, the view opened up and we could see to the mountains. I always find it magical every time I see the Alps.  We said goodbye to Companion 1 at Hauenstein as she took the road towards Ifenthal and made her way back to Liestal and Basel, while we continued on down the hill to Olten. My gears had been set up by my local genius bike mechanic (me)and I realised they skipped in the smallest cog. This meant I couldnt use it and had to pedal faster than normal to keep the speed up. The result was still just 3s slower than my fastest time so I was very pleased. I was in front going downhill and could tell Companion 2 was close behind by the noise from their freehub. It turned out that we had the same make of wheels and both sounded like a swarm of angry bees - buzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzz. 

Here they are resting against a bus stop on the road out of Olten on Soloturnerstrasse. There was some rain, but it soon stopped - phew!

Next stop Teufelsschlucht and up the hill to Langenbruck. A quick stop to put on a jacket against the cold, another to put a chain back on.... then push the biggest gear in the world ooef! on to the main road and wheech down to Balsthal. My wheels were working well, cadence was up up up and I had my fastest time on the downhill. We stopped at the station for refreshments and facilities :) before heading towards Mumliswil to see if the road back to Langenbruck really was closed.  Luckily for us, it wasn`t. We climbed the road parallel to the main road (which is closed), some of us may have walked..... and once we got the the sawmill, left turn on to the normal road and all was well again.

There was very little traffic, partly due to it being a Sunday afternoon but also, I`m sure, because there are lots of signs to tell everyone the road is closed.. hee hee hee. Great fun. As my companion 2 is smaller, younger and fitter than me - she sped off into the distance. I made sure to tell her to stop at the Welcome to BL sign and not the T-junction at the top - got to get the Strava segment. I managed to take a photo before she disappeared.

At the top, we ate some food, spoke to the calves and decided how to go home. There was no need to go back to Liestal as had been the plan as we both live in Gelterkinden, so we changed the route and would go all the way down to Hölstein. The main road was quite quiet but we still had one very close pass from a car. I rarely ride here, now I remember why. So right turn at Hölstein and conquered the last hill before left to the farm road again, avoiding Diegten and home.

Excellent fun with great company.

Distance - 93km

Climbing - 1320m

Avg speed - 20.8km/h

Post Script:

When cleaning my bike later, there was a loud POP! and hissing sound. My rear tyre lost all pressure. When I investigated I found there was a huge hole in the inner tube. The cause was that the wheel rim tape was damaged and no longer sealed one of the holes for the spokes. I think I had pumped the inner tube and it stretched into the hole. This weakened it and it simply stretched too far and burst. I consider my self very lucky that this didn`t happen when I was riding the bike. New rim tape is now on its way, thanks to Velofactory.ch.