Finally!  It feels like forever since I rode my bike.  I know it was actually only last Friday, but even that was just a ride squeezed into a gap in the lousy weather.  Since then it has rained.  SO much.  Non-stop.  Constantly.  Heavily.  Unavoidably.  As I’m sure I’ve said before, I don’t mind (much) getting rained on when I’m out, but I do mind actually setting out in it.  But before you call me a fair weather cyclist, it’s not like this was just rain, it was wind too, and plenty of it.  So we didn’t ride on Sunday.  The weather was still awful Monday so I didn’t ride even though I was able to and I wanted to.  It didn’t clear until too late on Tuesday so I had to go to the gym.  By this morning I was climbing the walls…!

I won’t pretend today dawned sunny and bright, but it did dawn grey, dry, mild, and by the looks of it, not too windy.  That’ll do me!  Monsieur le Météo had kindly put together a weather report for those considering riding today.   Our man on the ground, aka BW, who has ended up on the ground yet again of late, had issued a warning on the state of Cheddar Gorge post deluge.  My weather station told me that it was 11C outside, and the BBC reckoned it was going to hit 15C later.  I was a well-informed woman, no?  Plenty of information at my fingertips.  Not that this stopped me faffing.  Especially since my new Cyclosport kit turned up yesterday (just to remind me I couldn’t ride presumably) so my options have increased and it being that bit warmer opened up a whole new world of possibly permutations *grin*.

Here’s what I went with, working from the bottom up.  Shoes, summer socks, blue legwarmers, summer shorts, Cyclosport s/s jersey, arms, Cyclosport gilet.  Want to see my shiny new jersey?  Here you go then.  I took it in the mirror, so the text was in reverse, but that’s what you get for taking photos in the mirror!  It has however been pointed out to me that this can be flipped, and that removes the issue…so here, have the real thing.

It’s a lovely jersey, fits really well, etc.  Which is quite impressing, considering that it’s men’s kit.  The rear view is quite different, which was rather hard to photograph on, as you might imagine, so…

As you can probably tell, if you look closely, it’s a little on the see-through side.  Which can be a little difficult for various reasons that will become apparent (transparent?) if you have to ride behind me for any length of time.  But let’s face it, I’m usually the one wheel sucking, not vice versa, so it’s not really a problem ;).  Besides which, with the gilet over the top, layering becomes once more the choice of champions.

Right.  Sartorial decisions made, time to actually ride the bike.  Apparently the wind was from the NE, so it made sense to head out into it, and get any slogging into it over and done with early.  Having been warned that Cheddar Gorge is awful, but knowing that I have to ride up there on Sunday, I thought I’d go check it out for myself.  I’m happy to report that at least for going up, it’s no worse than usual.  That gravel that has collected seems to be mostly on the downside, so be warned.  I found the Gorge pretty good going overall, which is good for the PMA.  The Somerset Hills Gran Fondo is long (111 miles) and quite hilly, and a tad daunting, so I need all the mental help I can get!

Considering the state of the road going down, I opted to head for a nice big main road descent, rather than Burrington Combe or Old Bristol Hill.  I went through Priddy, and all the way across the top of the Mendips, to where the aerial was disappearing into the clouds, that were still lurking around, amidst patches of some oddly coloured sky…

It’s a lovely tree lined road at the end up there.  If we were in France it would probably be called a Boulevard.  Boulevard Gambetta.  LeClerc. Haussman.  Etc.  One of those frequently reused road names that they seem to have in every french city.  Boulevard Priddy?

I nailed the big descent into Bristol.  Oh yes.  Much better than usual.  Even with a lorry lurking behind me.  Once he’d realised that he wasn’t getting past me, he backed off and let me get on with it.  Many thanks Monsieur le Camion, I had a whole heap of fun :).  I swear being in team kit makes me better at such things – I feel all professional and capable *grin*.

You get some interesting views of the Cathedral coming into town from that way which I keep meaning to photograph and this time I actually did.  Or should that be into city?  Size doesn’t matter remember…because if it did Axbridge would be a village ;).  It’s all history.  Axbridge has been a Town for 455 years, since King Philip and Queen Mary chose to make it so.  Wells has been City since 1205.  So there.  And if you want to argue about precise dates and so on, go do it on wikipedia.  Or down the local pub.

The sun was breaking through intermittently here, warming the colours of the stone, and me.  It was also market day, so the random wandering pedestrian factor was high, but it did make the place feel busy and alive.  I kinda like Wells, I just don’t get there much other than on the bike anymore.

I hadn’t really made a plan before I set off, but by now I’d decided to come home via Mark and the Webbington, just because I’ve not done that for a while.  It was going to take a bit longer than the usual two hours, which did make me consider changing my route, but then I realised I could be out for as long as I wanted, that I was enjoying myself, and that I could do as I pleased.  So I did.  Having said that, after a while, even with what wind there was behind me, just hurtling along on the flat did get a bit boring…

The rhynes around the Levels were pretty full, but there was only once place where they’d overflowed and the road was totally under water.  I guess they’re kind of managed flood plain, and lots of water is nothing new to them.  It’s one way to wash mud off the bike right?

I came home past the Webbington as planned, without really feeling the hill, and enjoyed the fact that the views were actually visible!  The descent at the other end was slightly ruined by the presence of a horse rider on the bend, but at least I saw her in advance and didn’t just discover her there whilst hurtling past.  Having seen her also meant I got to warn her I was coming through, which generally horse riders seem to appreciate, and she was no exception.  All good then 🙂

That just left the last little stretch up to the Town, and the swoop home.  Back home, dry, happy, and even happier to discover that the postman had been and left me lots more lovely cycling goodies.  The road surfaces had been way better than I’d expected, the bike was feeling good, and apart from the odd twinge in my knee, so was I really.  Actually the knee is a little worrying since I’ve been told not to take ibuprofen as part of the low FODMAP lactose free diet that I’ve been put on, so treating that is going to be difficult.  Paracetamol is all very well, but it’s often just not enough…especially if I’m taking paracetamol to treat the tummy pain!  Hm.  Could be interesting.

Cycling time: 2:29:11 hrs
Distance: 39.99 miles
Avs: 16.1 mph.
ODO: 13394 miles

Anyway, I felt much better for having had a couple of hours of that head space that I only get on the bike.  I missed my bike!  I guess the addict got her fix *grin*.  Here’s what Bella has to say on the matter.  Now, on to the shopping:

I now have these awesome new arms that I bought from Minx to replace my existing black now rather baggy ones, and I bought new summer socks whilst I was there, as you do.  Whilst buying a new white sports bra at Sheactive to cut back on the see through issue – which is not here yet – I also picked up a new sleeveless jersey on sale, and finally I have one that fits properly!  ‘Rah!

Finally, want to see something funny?  I mean, it’s not like we’ve even had that much sunshine around here!  That’s me for the season then – marked as a cyclist for all to see.  I wonder if there are mitt aficionados out there who can identify what brand of mitts you have by the shape of the sun tan mark?  Or is that a step too far even for cycling geeks? 😉 *Grin*.