You know, generally speaking, I’ve always found that breaking rules is more fun than following them, so why it should be so important to obey the velominati rules is slightly beyond me…  But it is what it is, and today I shall mostly have been obeying rules 1, 5, 6, 9, 10, 21…  I could go on, but you’re bored now.  I could also list the rules I was breaking but…*yawn*…I’m bored now too ;).

Today was a day for hills.  Well if the weather is going to be crap, and there is going to be wind, then you might as well be going uphill right?  It keeps you warm, and is frequently more sheltered than the Levels.   You can see my precise route here – c: 40 miles, with 1049 metres of climbing.  Not too shabby I’ll have you know.   That’s nearly as much climbing as the Mad March Hare, but over less distance, so hopefully I’m well prepared for that now.  Less than two weeks to go and the sportive season will have officially started, which is quite exciting if you’re me :).

First hill – Shipham, of course.  I decided to actually try and push it up there for a change, and as I got near the top, you could possibly have heard me shouting at myself to push a little more.  Hey, it may sound nutty, but I guess it worked, as I beat my previous PB by 2 seconds.  13:53!  Get me!  How cool is that?  Yes I know it’s only 2 seconds, but every second counts! :).

Second hill – Burrington Combe, and as I neared the top, the rain started.  There were also some interesting wind tunnel effects going on which made the bottom section more challenging than is necessary.  Is going uphill not enough I ask you?  Up on the top the wind was, predictably, strong, gusty, and mostly sideways, leading the bike to do that dancing around like it’s on hot coals thing.  Not somewhere I wanted to be spending too much time – and I cut across to go down Harptree Hill.  I took the descent down very carefully, better safe than sorry as ever, and then pootled my way around Litton and the like to Chewton Mendip.  Interestingly enough it was about 2 degrees colder the wrong side of the Mendips, which made the rain that little bit more unpleasant.

the cattle grid to mark the start of Burrington Combe

going up Burrington Combe

the cattle grid that sadly does not mark the end of Burrington Combe! And as you can see, there was rain...

Third hill – the long climb up the A39 to the top of Bristol hill.  It was proper raining by now, but crawler gear was firmly engaged, the legs were going round, the wheels went around, and the descent the other side was much fun, even into the rain and wind!  I nearly managed to avoid braking altogether :).  However I decided to take the right turn near the bottom for Wookey Hole, for which braking in the pouring rain was then a little interesting.  Once that was safely negotiated I had to stop, put on my gilet, and swap the mitts for winter gloves, as I was soaked to the skin and getting colder by the minute, even if it was that bit warmer being back the right side of the Mendips again.

the view, in the rain, down to Chew Valley Lake

That pretty much covers the hills – there’s the lumpy bits around Wookey but compared to the first three hills, they don’t really count!  From there it was back across the usual flat roads to home.  The extra layer and winter gloves did the trick and meant that I got home still in touch with all my extremities, albeit soaked to the skin.   And for one blissful stretch on the Wedmore road the wind was behind me, Axl Rose wanted me to know how sweet I am, and all was very well with the world… 🙂

Cycling time: 2:35:08 hrs
Distance: 39.80 miles.
AVS: 15.3 mph.
ODO: 12096 miles

All in all I’m pretty pleased with how that went.  PB, hills, miles, time…tick tick tick tick :).  I was really pleased with my form – and I felt good out there.  Imagine how could it could have been if I really was on form and the weather wasn’t crap? 😉 *grin*.

Me - clearly a little damp, but happy 🙂