Another day when if people weren’t expecting me I’d have gone to the gym instead, as it was wet and very windy.  Hardly a surprise since yesterday, when I wasn’t riding, it was warm and dry.  Typical.

However today was an ACG ride, to which all but 1 of the expected riders turned out, making us a group of 5 – including GB, DM, BW and Mim.  We were supposed to be going to Brean Down, aren’t we always?, but rumour has it the supposedly open café isn’t, and the wind was coming from the south so…Glastonbury it was.  Out into the wind, back with it at our heels.  Sounded like a plan.

I don’t know if it’s a testosterone thing – I have to blame something – but put GB and BW together and let the half wheeling commence.  I did try and keep up for a while but no sooner had we turned over the bridge in Cheddar to head out to Wedmore and I was dropped.  Sod this 3rd cat, 2nd cat stuff, I’m thinking relegation zone…  I resolved not to sulk and just to get on with doing things my way.  PMA, remember?  Of course the down side to this is that DM got to choose the route and flat isn’t in his nature.  Luckily there aren’t many hills between here and there but he did ensure we did Mudgeley Hill both on the way out and back!  Plod plod plod…

To be fair the lead group did charitably stop and wait for me from time to time, and after a while Mim dropped back and we chatted the rest of the way over to Fairyland, which stopped me feeling quite such a Billy-no-mates and  made the slog into the wind a little more bearable.

Well of course there was wind.  And as expected it was a headwind.  Or an earwind.  In that there was so much of it blowing past your ears it was hard to hear yourself think let alone carry on much of a conversation.  Standing in the usual café ordering my regular dose of rocket fuel I swear I was shouting slightly, like the after effect of spending the night in a noisy club and then stepping outside into the quiet street afterwards.  Not that I get to do that these days.  Ho hum.

The coffee and the lucozade jelly beans (which were consumed because there was no carrot cake) meant I got off to a fairly flying start on the way home.  That and the aforementioned wind now being behind us.  My cycling computer was playing up – the sensor having moved when all the bikes were locked together – but I reckon we went back in half the time at twice the speed!  Which, Mudgeley Hill not included, was mostly a lot of fun.  Especially the last stretch 🙂  I did my best to lead the peloton home, but BW still did the Cavendish thing and left us all for dust just to prove he could.  Nowt new there then.  Did I mention testosterone? 😉

I could moan about the weather.  And I’m sure I’d not be alone.  But after Thursday it was actually an improvement.  Yes, it was windy, but the rain was not torrential, and the roads weren’t flooded so actually…  Besides which I’d got the layers just about right and I could still feel my feet when we pulled into the Square 🙂

That makes 3 times a week for the last 3 weeks.  Not bad.  Be nice to think I was getting better, but only time will tell…

Distance: 33 miles
ODO: 7119 miles