Practice makes perfect

Kate's racing in the 6-hour ladies Dawn to Dusk enduro race tomorrow. And today we're at the race site for a practice.

A practice for Kate and a practice for me.

We're in deepest darkest Wales, somewhere near the Brecon Beacons, and the terrain is a terror for tyres. Bits of flint will puncture a tyre in no time, so we're trying out mousses (a solid inner tube that won't puncture), and it's my job to fit them. But despite the very best in tyre fitting kit, could I get the mousses fitted? Nope. So we brought the partially fitted mousse to the race site, where an expert fitter did in 2 minutes what I had failed to do in 2 hours. "Practice makes perfect" he said. And after watching him skillfully pop the tyre in round the rim lock, I shall definitely be practising and practising.

Kate was practising too, with the mousse tyres, and she managed to get round the practice track without mishaps. She's all fired up for tomorrow, and so am I.