Training hits a hole...pothole to be precise

I am trying to build up my fitness slowly but surely for the summer ride. Unfortunately I hit a bit of a snag yesterday in the form of a rather large and wide pothole. I was cruising down a stretch of road called Hemp Lane on the way from Wiggington to Aldbury when I hit a rather large pothole. I only just saw it before I hit it and it was so large I didn't have chance to swerve to avoid it. My shoulders were a bit jarred but lightning came off worst with a front wheel puncture and some serious shredding on the rear tyre.

Having rolled to a stop and taken some deep breaths (and muttered a few choice swear words under my breath, followed by some more thankful words for the luck of not being thrown over the handlebars) I found a large gateway in which to fix the tyre. I replaced the inner tube on the front wheel and then reinflated the tyre. Not sure whether lightning sustained some damage from the pothole but just didn't seem to be able to get the tyre to sit right. Decided to cut the ride short and ease lighning to the nearby Tring train station to head back to London. I had only done about 26 miles so it wasn't the 70 plus day I had in mind!! I have booked lighning in for a full service this Thursday but in the meantime I think I shall have to just rely on the spin classes at my gym for some fitness building.

A thought struck me at the time - I am OK with the physical challenge of this ride so long as there is no serious mechanical problem. Although I can change a puncture etc, if I do something a bit more serious like break a spoke or snap a brake line then I wouldn't know how to fix it. I had only really thought about the physical training I would need to do to get ready for the ride but hadn't really considered the huge gaps in my knowledge of all things bike mechanical. If I had more time I would probably try to get on an evening class or similar. In the meantime I will just have to follow the example of Blanche from 'A Streetcar named Desire' and rely on the kindness of strangers should anything go wrong with lightning during the trip. Let's hope any problems happen somewhere with a bike shop and friendly bike shop owner...