The Cycling Mayor has no broadband and is NOT amused.  Especially after two days of dealing with the non-uk based, hidebound, routine fixated, Orange customer service centre.  I wrote this on the laptop to add later, and since I’ve just managed to turn my HTC Android into a wifi hotspot, it looks like I get to add it now.  Which if I was more of a geek would probably be very exciting.  Oh who’m I kidding?  I’m a geek and I’m thrilled to be back online! *grin*

So with no broadband, the sun shining, and the wind being no worse than expected, it was time for a stress busting ACG ride this morning.  It was not the usual ACG ride.  It was one of those rare occasions when we try get as many ACG people together as possible – from the usual ACG group, to the Leisure Group, with three generations of my family in to boot.  Yes – me, miniMe and Dad.  With as many official ACG tops as possible too.

The ride out was a two group affair – the 5 faster folk were off, and after the odd attempt to let us three catch up, wended their own way whence we were going.  Leaving the the aforementioned generational grupetto to find our own way to Sweets Peat Museum café where, as it turns out since the fast group had taken the long way round, we were the first to arrive.  Well that’s not strictly true, the Boy Wonder, having gotten his timings in a twist as usual, had missed meeting up with us in the Square and had sprinted to and fro to find us before going straight there, so he was waiting inside reading the paper.

The four of us moved to sit outside and were basking in the sunshine when first the five fast folk, and then the Leisure Group, pulled in to join us, making a total of 17 cyclists sat in a row.  Or a circle around two tables more to the point.  Which is a pretty good turn out.   There was a fair degree of hilarity as various exploits and tales of derring do were recounted, and plans for the Tour of Britain spectator ride were discussed.  Good company and good conversation in the sun.  Very nice.  In fact one of the main reasons we’re a Group in the first place :).

However this is the Axbridge Cycling Group, not the Axbridge Coffee Group, so it was time to go and do what we’re supposed to do.  Well let’s face it, how else were we going to get home?  Although various variations on the return route were taken on the way home, we all ended up in the right places eventually.  I have to admit to having resorted to some very juvenile behaviour from time to time, but I can’t help it, I do like sprinting :).  I like that putting your foot down and hurtling away bit, and then the totally knackered feeling afterwards when you just can’t do anymore.  I made it on to the front and up to 29.6 mph on the straight back from Wedmore – which was mighty close to my 30mph goal for that stretch, but there was no cigar.  OK, so the others weren’t really racing, but it was a whole heap of fun for me. 🙂

We were blessed with the weather, if you ignore the wind, which let’s face it was also a blessing across the Levels so it would be churlish to complain about the times when it was less than helpful.  It was way better than forecast, and at this rate, it may be the last time we see the sun before next Spring!  MiniMe did his best, and I can’t wait for the day when his best is a little faster.  He coped really well though, and it was good to have Dad along to keep him company when I couldn’t keep my coiled spring legs coiled any longer.   I tried, I did, honest!  But the fact that I dragged my first half average of 14.something up to 16.0mph on the way home shows that I wasn’t doing a very good job of it by then. 😉

Cycling time: 1:51:18 hrs
Distance: 29.58 miles.
Avs: 16.0 mph
ODO: 10054 miles

Courtesy of the Eurobike Demo Day I have some fancy new Pearl Izumi tailorable shoe inserts that I tried out for the first time today and that did actually make my cycling shoes more comfortable.  They may actually have helped my knee which did little more than twinge a couple of times today.  Having support under the arch of the foot was a weird but not unpleasant feeling but I guess time will tell whether they’re really helping.

PS:  did you like the atypical alliteration?