The first official Wheelers ride of the year had amassed an impressive 18 riders by the time the original throng - which started at the Green Bridge - had picked up the Hackney contingent at a quick tea stop at Springfield Marina Cafe. No doubt all eager to set the tone for the year.

It wasn't a bright day but was dry, a pretty cool 10 degrees, and with a slightly blustery tail wind for most of the way. There had been recent rainfall so patches of the route, most of which was off-road on towpaths and cycle/walking paths, were certainly a little slimy and sludgy in places. But what better way to prove you've had a good day to your neighbours and co-habitees than to return with splattered legs and a bike whose underside is caked in clay mud.

We followed the tow path along the River Lee and Lee Navigation up to Tottenham Hale, where we switched to the wider asphalted route a few yards west of the old tow path, through Tottenham Marches and up to Pickett's Lock. This is where the puncture monster took his first victim - rather cruelly in the hazy mist of the fragrant air of the nearby sewage works. We should have sensed then what he had in store for the rest of the day.

As we cracked on along the Lee Navigation towpath, following National Route 1, it took us away from the Lee and Lee Navigation through Enfield Island Village and Gunpowder Park, where we briefly joined the cycle lane alongside the A121 to cross under the M25 at Waltham Abbey and in to Waltham Marsh. Route 1 picks up Horsemill Stream as it enters a complex arrangement of waterways, ponds, marshes and ditches, through which it weaves. On a path that, though tantalizingly close to our lunchtime stop, dished out an annoying handful of punctures.

A leisurely lunch at Hayes Hill Farm right before we tackled the only significant hill of the trip - about 140ft over 1.2 miles. Easy enough for this hill-averse author to handle. And for every up there's a down. Both literally and emotionally as we descended Clayton Hill via a meandering path, apparently incurring the wrath of the Puncture Monster again. This time one of his four targets was one of those practically-impossible-to-get-off 16" Brompton tyres. As we waited for that repair, it transpired two others - already afflicted by punctures earlier in the day - had further air leakages. The frenzied repair activities did uncover the find of the day:

As I had a search around for a container to improvise a little water bath - to find the puncture in one of the tubes - Nicola proffered what I thought was a little box of mints. Hardly the time, I thought to myself, but very sweet. Only it wasn't a box of mints but of polystyrene balls! The tiny translucent plastic box had a wire mesh base which allowed air in to the chamber of balls. So as we waved it over the hole which Florian had pretty much already pinpointed, the balls bobbled around in the box in response to the jet of air escaping the tube - confirming the leak. Neat, huh?

We started to lose count of the punctures as we continued northwards, only to realise one of the patches (one I had made) wasn't as good as it might have been and poor Jo was almost instantly back to an airless rear wheel, and after the third repair to the same puncture, she opted to head off to Broxbourne station. The rest of us re-grouped at a little cafe alongside the Lee Navigation at Dobbs Weir, where further puncture repairs were under way.

Back on to the River Lee towpath we picked up some pace. As we passed through Rye House, we found ourself sandwiched between the River Lee and another water course familiar to many North Londoners - the New River. Carrying on north through Amwell Quarry Nature Reserve along National Route 61, at Ware we opted to press on a further four miles through to Hertford East station which we reached just as the sun set and in time to catch a quiet 16:39 train back in to London.

On the train back Caroline totted up the punctures. Eleven she reckons.