Author Archives: Jay Trotman

On and on, does anybody know what we are looking for?

…and repeat…

Another Easter Holiday day. Another KOW Leisure Centre Activity Day. Another day when not to ride would be wrong, since that’s having the time to ride was half the reason I booked them into the scheme in the first place.

But I have to say I wasn’t massively up for it. The weather is just the same as it has been for a while. However attractive it occasionally looks, it’s actually cold, variable, and distinctly windy. Riding on your own can be very lovely, but I’m a bit bored of riding all the same roads all by myself, and due to a logistical hiccup it turns out that I’m also riding Saturday’s sportive on my own. It’s just as well that, after my old mp3 player finally gave up the ghost, I have a shiny new replacement ipod shuffle to at least provide me with musical accompaniment. It’s engraved and everything. Feel free to try and guess what it says ;).

Anyway, Rule 5! MTFU woman! Or is that WTFU? Time to play with my toys and plot myself another route. In order to reduce the boredom level and make it a little interesting I threw some hills in again – something I don’t seem to be able to stop myself from doing at the moment. Well I’m not going to get any better at them otherwise now am I? Today’s hills were, in ascending order (yes, another pun)….Notting Hill, Winscombe Hill, Mudgley Hill, and the biggie for today – Westbury Hill. I didn’t beat any records. I did nothing more than get up them, as there wasn’t a massive amount of oomph in the legs. But I still got up ’em, and that’s all that counts.

main road descent after Winscombe Hill

brow of Notting Hill

It’s always, well nearly always, better out there than you think it’s going to be. It’s a good time of year. The new greens haven’t faded yet, the flowers are coming out, and it’s frequently very pretty. Think of it this way – some people come to Somerset on holiday. I get to live here. Could be worse :).

pretty garden

The wind was annoying me today, but it was at least essentially behind me for my stretch across the Levels if nowhen else. I really wish it was easier to capture that area photographically so that you could get that wide open space feeling, the dome of the sky, the greens and blues, the reflections in the water…it really is lovely. Unless there’s a headwind in which case it s*cks big time! *grin*.

Having conquered Mudgley Hill again, I headed cross country to Rodney Stoke, where the church was sitting pretty by a field of yellow buttercups. And/or dandelions. I knew the big hill was coming so it was a good excuse to stop, drink, and get ready for it.

I always take more photos on the first half of a ride, and today was no exception. Visually speaking…

Off I went, ready for the hill. Well, as ready as I get. The hill went on, and on, and on…but without quite reaching the horrific gradient levels of the Glider Hill. Plus I’ve been up it before and, as I’ve said before, that always helps mentally. By the time I got to the top my legs and I were on their way home. No more stopping. I had to put my head down and grit my teeth for a while as it was windy up there and it was all feeling a bit of a slog. The last stretch from Charterhouse to Tynings Farm can feel surprisingly lumpy and it did today. Especially as it got colder and colder and, just to prove that, were proof needed, it then hailed on me for a bit. Not the first time that’s happened, so the novelty has worn off! But hey, I was on my way home, and how else was I going to get to go home down Shipham Hill? It was even better than usual today. Not only was the road dry, but I had to go pick up the car from the garage in Cheddar where, £196 later, it had finally passed its MOT and was awaiting me. Which is neither here nor there but which meant I got to go ALL the way down the hill, without having to slow to turn right to get to the bypass to go home. Not something you do without paying attention though as that junction is nuts and a couple of motorists did make tentative attempts to get in my way. Luckily nothing came of them and I got to enjoy the whole thing properly :).

Cycling time: 2:36:34 hrs
Distance: 39.10 miles
AVS: 15.0 mph.
ODO: 13071 miles

Here’s what I actually did, and if you want to get all competitive about it, here’s what Strava says. Told you I was playing with my toys :). It’s a good thing Strava and Bella have come along because like I said, it’s easy to get bored doing the same old same old, and adding the odd little extra element helps keep it interesting.

A little bit of resolve is what I need now

After this weekend’s weather forecasts I didn’t really think I’d be riding today. But the forecasts changed, and the mob were booked into one of the KOW Leisure Centre’s Kids Activity Days, and given the sparsity of opportunities to ride, what with it being the Easter holidays and all, I should ride right? Ok, so that decided that, I was riding. But what to do?

Well… I’ve always wanted to go up the Glider Club hill. I’ve never done it. People talk about it, in awed tones. I think I’ve been down it, but I wouldn’t even swear to that. And why today should seem like the day to put myself through that is beyond me, but it’s good to have a goal right? A goal, and a hook to hang a ride on :). It also gave me an excuse to check out one of Bella’s capabilities. Although Bella doesn’t do the complete GPS mapping stuff, you can plan a route, upload it to her, and then follow it – you just follow the arrow on the screen along a line. I’d never done that, and would like to be able to do it for sportives, but I didn’t want a sportive to be the first time I tested it out so…yes, today was the day for that too. So here’s what I drew and set out to follow this morning.

Weird weather today. Very variable. I was still in essentially winter kit, minus base layers, and it was still the right choice. I got properly rained on before I even got as far as Cocklake which, considering how chilly and windy it was, was not making me think nice things about the rest of the ride. But the squally showers disappeared behind me and over the Mendips leaving the sun uninterrupted, shining if not warming, and a little arrow to follow on a screen, daring me not to wimp out…

adios showers

Nasty wind though. Far more wind than there was supposed to be. Enough wind to be frequently annoying. But today’s ride was an odd one. On another day the wind would have been more of a problem, mentally if not physically. But today it wasn’t about doing it fast. It was about doing the hills. About riding the bike. And, with a sportive this weekend, about not over-doing it. I was in Alp mode. As long as the wheels were going round, it was ok by me.

I started the ride with the Nyland Loop so as to be warmed up a bit before the main challenge ahead. But this also meant that ahead of me, I could see where I was going…

It’s there somewhere, lurking in those trees, going up the hills in the middle. *gulp*. But hey, it’s only a hill…right? The profiles I’d seen of it show it as a fairly constant climb, with an average gradient of around 11%. How bad could it be?… Well it isn’t constant, and averages are misleading. I went up, and up, and up. Slowly but surely. Halfway up a car gently eased past me, and as I waved my thanks, the lady passenger wound down her window and stuck her thumb up at me in encouraging fashion, and gave me a big smile which I returned. Go me :). Good thing she didn’t catch me later…

…where there’s an even steeper section, all wooded, and the road surface was wet and gravelly. Bella reckons it was 20-25%…and I was getting there, pushing and pushing, up the relentless wall. But it was going on and on, and it got just that little bit steeper and even though I could see the top I didn’t know it was the top, and I was starting to lose traction and my wheels were slipping… My courage deserted me. B*gger… Un-clip… Stop. Just call me the cowardly lion.I took a little while to pull myself back together. Even with it being generally cold, I was definitely hot by now! I tried to get going again but just couldn’t get back on the bike because of the gradient, and had to walk a little way up and try again which, luckily, actually worked and I made it up the rest and over the top. Well, sort of the top. The top of the steep bit anyway. So maybe with a drier road, and a little more heart, I could actually make it all the way up? It flattened out a bit after that – and I pootled my way up the rest, eyes stinging as sweat dripped into my eyes, until I finally came across the mythical gliding club.

Awesome views from the top though. There in the bottom is Nyland Hill, which I’d cycled around all of half an hour before, but boy did it ever seem a long way away now. The odd thing about following the little arrow is that you’re on a different screen, and deprived of all that information that you usually have. No speed, time, nothing…so I have no idea how I was doing. Sometimes it felt like hard work, sometimes it didn’t. It’s quite relaxing. Maybe that’s where the phrase “too much information” comes from? 😉 I like the road going east across the top of the Mendips – it goes up and down, it’s scenic, and it’s wide enough for the traffic to go past without too much difficulty. Not that this stops them going past with as small a gap as possible of course…and man there were a lot of that variety of idiot around today!

Traffic notwithstanding, I enjoyed the lovely main road descent to Chewton Mendip and then took the left turn on to quieter roads towards Litton. Blue skies, green everywhere…doesn’t suck.

The wind was against me, but luckily the gradient towards the Harptrees is essentially downwards so it didn’t feel as much of a slog as it could have done. I couldn’t remember which Harptree climb I’d plugged in, and as the arrow led me inexorably onwards it became clear that for some bizarre reason I’d gone with the Harptree Hill option. Not my favourite, so I took a little break to take some photos in West Harptree and get ready for it.

West Harptree Church

Time to go uphill again. It’s clearly been a long time since I’ve done this particular climb, and it wasn’t as bad as I’d remembered it. Not good, that might be going a step too far..but doable. Clearly, because I did it. I took the back road across the top, heading west towards my reward, because the more main road slog can be truly unpleasant even when it’s not into the wind. It was a good choice. Very pretty. Very quiet. With cows, and calves, and flowers, and the joys of spring.

It was all yellow...

There are even a couple of stone circles up there on the left hand side. I’ve no idea if they’re original, so may have to do some research. And then go back to take photos of them. I’d already stopped enough by now so I wasn’t stopping again! Well, that’s not strictly true, but in my defence I had to stop because it’s a T-junction, I was turning right, and you needed to see this. Up on the top of the Mendips, there is a castle on a cloud…

It’s recently been repainted and was positively glowing in the sunshine! Plus it has purple flowers and everyone knows how I feel about purple. Very photogenic.

Enough stopping, enough photos, time for that which I had earnt – the descent of Burrington Combe :). The wind wasn’t in my favour, but then that probably stopped me going too fast for myself, so it went pretty well. I then went straight along the main road to the Churchill crossroads though, rather than taking the usual quieter back roads. Oops. Remind me not to do that again. Not only is the road surface that porridgy coarse grain almost cobble stuff, but there are way too many lorries. Lorries that go past you doing that converging lines thing… They start by going past you as close as possible and then pull over AS they’re going past and your space gets narrower and narrower, like you’re hurtling along that passage on the surface of the Death Star getting closer and closer to taking your shot, and praying that the force is with you… Not restful!

Having turned left at the crossroads, and been overtaken by the same lorry again, it was a relief to get off the climb up the main road and go through via Rowberrow to Shipham. More slow steady plodding, up hills I know I can do. Nice :). And then I got to go home, down a not quite dry enough but still plenty fun enough Shipham Hill, and along a bypass pointing irritatingly in the wrong direction. By the time I got home I definitely knew I’d been working quite hard!

Cycling time: 2:27:54 hrs
Distance: 35.83 miles
AVS: 14.5 mph.
ODO: 13032 miles

OK, so it was slow. Well, not it, me. I did say I wasn’t pushing it, right? Bella reckons there was around 2,780ft/848m of climbing, as does Strava, which ain’t bad. This Saturday’s Wiggle New Forest Spring Sportive route claims to only have 1316 feet of climbing, so it should be positively restful by comparison 😉 Well, apart from the whole 83 miles thing *grin*.

It was a good ride. I enjoyed it. It went pretty well. But the Glider Hill remains unconquered. Next time it shall be mine…! *mwhahaha*.

Rabbit

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s Easter Sunday. A Sunday, in the middle of a free holiday weekend. Which would probably explain why, when I left the house at 8:30am, it was eerily quiet out there…

The ACG ride was due to start at 9:30am. GB had planned a route, whilst pointing out that if we did his route it was actually shorter than it looked unless I picked him up at his house. That looked like a gauntlet to me… After some to-ing and fro-ing we agreed that I’d meet him at his house, having done a loop to climb Winscombe Hill, we’d both do a loop around Shipham, and then we’d do the ACG ride. Clearly doing one ride isn’t good enough.

So that’s just what I did. Except Strava has the Winscombe Hill segment down as being longer than I did so I have no idea what my time was. I went past a waiting GB and over the brow of the hill and everything. *sulk*. Yes, I know it’s juvenile, but I was only racing myself, and I was curious to see how the hill would go with relatively fresh legs. Next time… Back to the still waiting GB, both physically and literarily. It turns out that he’d just done the Webbington loop to warm up. Always goes one better…not that we’re competitive or anything. Much ;).

We went back down the hill into Winscombe and then up the pretty back lane climb up through the valley to Shipham which went well enough. Then up those couple of steep kicks out of the village there that meant that I got one of my favourite descents done and enjoyed before we’d even started the ride proper. Wheeeeeee…..! :).

We waited in the Square, aware that there was a distinct possibility that it was just going to be us two today, what with the complete lack of positive response to my ACG ride email. But at the last minute we doubled in number. Ex-MTB Steve joined us, and a newbie by the name of Peter who, with a sudden flash, I remembered I was supposed to have emailed with details and so-on after his Mrs had called me earlier this week. Oops! Ah well, least said soonest mended right? Although we did have a planned route, we didn’t go to plan. I don’t know why – blame the wind, the grey weather, the Easter holiday, the loops already done – but there was a degree of apathy floating around. Both GB and I were feeling like the coffee element of the ride was a higher priority than usual, so we decided to head for the coffee stop first and then decide what to do. Off to Fenny Castle we went, via the Levels and the odd lump, as well as a very lovely descent of Mudgley Hill which I totally nailed :D.

No portraits today. Apparently the sweaty men in lycra weren’t feeling that attractive, so I agreed to spare them the gaze of my camera lens. So let’s focus on the more important shall we?

Carrot cake - sadly not mine

As I have mentioned before, not only is the coffee good here, but refills are only £1, and it felt like a two coffee day. So you get two photos of my coffee though, for the sake of journalistic integrity, I should point out that it’s the second cup twice.

Ok, so you really don’t care. Nice flowers though right? 🙂 After quite some debate, democracy led us to some sort of decision as to how to get home. Mostly this was all about trying to avoid the really unpleasant headwind that we didn’t fancy facing on the Levels on the way home. Using the usual warped logic it was agreed that going uphill would be more sheltered and therefore nicer. Hm…

It was hard getting going again, as we wiggled our way around to Wookey. Which way to go? Right, up Old Bristol Hill, over the top and home? Or left and up Deerleap, past Ebbor Gorge, over the top and home? Decisive was not happening…and left was pointing towards home and right wasn’t…so I figured left was the way to go. On my own head be it… It’s something to do with not wanting to wimp out, and knowing that hills are good for me even if I’m not good at them. The only way to get better at going up is to keep going up. It’s quite a climb and it wasn’t feeling any easier than usual today. Some spring chicken in full team kit on an Orbea went past us halfway up like we were walking (which I suppose we nearly were), which always does wonders for morale…*grrr*. But it gets easier, marginally, as you go up, and as it flattens out at the top and the views open up behind you, it’s almost pleasant :). GB was waiting at the top having made it look nearly as easy as Orbea guy, as usual. I was quite chuffed not to be last up :).

Time to be a crow and take the direct route home. Crows have one of my favourite collective nouns. A murder of crows. I blame Sting. Actually he has a lot to answer for. A significant percentage of my brain must be taken up with storage of his lyrics, having had his music as the soundtrack to large parts of my life. Imagine how much better at everything I might be if I’d used those little grey cells for something useful?! 😉 Anyway…I appear to have wandered off the racing line again. In the absence of a judge to relegate me, I shall metaphorically slap myself on the wrist, and resume the narrative thread… So. Where were we? Ah, look – there we are. A little peloton going across the top of the Mendips, heads down, into the wind, going as fast as possible to get it over and done with, off to go down the Gorge. Another descent which I did pretty well, helped by having to take the worst bit (to my mind) at the bottom pretty slowly anyway, whether I wanted to or not. Well it’s Easter, silly season is here, and there were flocks of randomly wandering grockles around. Nothing to do but to slow down, sit up, take it easy, and keep your wits about you. I don’t know why, maybe because of the element of calorie consumption beholden on visiting the Gorge, or the quality of the clearly quite sedentary grockles, but there was a slightly smug feeling to cutting a swathe through them on our racing machines in our sporty lycra. No? Ok, maybe it’s just me being catty ;).

Cycling time: 2:41:22 hrs
Distance: 41.03 miles
AVS: 15.3 mph.
ODO: 12996 miles

Our actual route looks like this – with the earlier loop being mine and GB’s. Not a bad ride all in all. I may even have earnt the right to eat some chocolate, which is something I can actually eat – rah! And today’s “Rabbit” title? That would be the Easter Bunny *grin*.

Tell the world that you’re winning

Yesterday @Skipinder wanted to know what everyone was doing for their Easter weekend. I replied “Riding, what else are holidays for?”. Well, ok, of the four days I’m only actually planning on riding for two of them, but still…

Today was a Somerset Cycling ride which fitted in perfectly with my plans. It also had the advantage of not setting off until 11:00am so I didn’t have to get out of bed early, even taking into account the half hour it would take me to cycle to Mark to meet everyone. Bonus! Actually I allowed 45 minutes and it took me about 22 minutes, as I wasn’t hanging around. Well who hangs around on the A38? ;). I was early, but just in time to meet the BW being unloaded from his paternally chauffeured support vehicle, so at least I didn’t have to hang around on my own.

Somerset Cycling gather...

After a while there was eight of us, so more new faces for me. Names aren’t my strong point so I hope I’ve gotten them right, and spelled them correctly. I’m sure you’ll shout if I haven’t. The first part of our route was on familiar territory, on some of my favourite bits of road. Not a bad way to start a ride – sunshine, not much wind, and, in my not so humble opinion, some of the best parts of the Levels. With added inconvenient cows for those who like that kind of thing and I know some of you do ;).

Michael and Mark level pegging it.

I mean look at it. What’s not to love? It was gorgeous out there, but not even half as warm as it looks. I’d faffed and dithered and deliberated and changed a great deal this morning…and I am so glad I changed my s/s jersey for the l/s one – worn under winter jersey with longs, overshoes, and mitts. With over gloves and buffs and scarves to be taken on and off as necessary. Which turned out to be at Mark once I’d warmed up, so I stuffed those bits in my saddle bag. Other than that nothing changed I may have been a little over warm on a couple of the big hills, but that’s what zips are for. If you wear layers you can take them off. If you don’t, you can’t put on what you don’t have…and I think a couple of people were wishing they had an extra layer stashed away somewhere. My overshoes don’t look like such a silly choice now, do they? ;).

Time for hills. Namely Shapwick Hill and High Ham Hill. Once I stopped trying to keep up with the boys I plodded my way up feeling pretty good about both. Apparently it’s not a testicle race. I pointed out that this was just as well as I wouldn’t qualify. Having been told that my lack of ability was all in my mind I had to point out that it was my lack of testicles to which I was referring, which definitely is not all in my mind! *grin*.

I was really pleased with how I climbed High Ham, it definitely felt easier than the last time. I bet not doing it in fog contributed to that. Then I got to enjoy the descent too, which is the only reason going up is worth doing right? I was starting to feel the need for coffee and a break, and wanted to get there, without really knowing where there was. However we were delayed by the BW getting a puncture in Langport. It would be him right? Typically, being as organised as ever, he had neither a spare inner tube, nor patches, nor pump. Very poor form I’m afraid. This resulted in nearly everyone else trying to fix it for him and get us underway again, since even when he did have a go at re-inflating it himself it didn’t go well. There was also a degree of (mostly) lighthearted ribbing going on… I say mostly because he’s been riding long enough to know better and some of us know that!

BW trying...

The rest of us stood in the sun, as there were clearly enough chefs involved, and let them get on with it. How many cyclists does it take to change an inner tube?…

Carlo flying the flag

Warren waiting.

Michael showing some leg.

Besides which it was quite a pretty place to stand and shoot the breeze actually, with pretty flowers ‘n all.

We did finally get underway, and there seemed to be a degree of sprinting for coffee. I concentrated on trying to keep up with the three wheels in front for me, but after a while keeping up with half-wheeling triathletes got too much to me. Given a wheel to hang on to and the tailwind, I think I did pretty well keeping up for as long as I did, but once the average got to 25mph+ it was time to admit defeat, and chill out until the following group had caught up. Beats me why I didn’t stay with them in the first place, but I can honestly say it didn’t occur to me, and I didn’t realise that we weren’t all together until it was too late because I was too busy looking ahead rather than behind! I’m sure it was good for me :).

All Saints Church, Martock

By the way Martock is very pretty. I don’t get down that far very often as it’s too far away for the average training ride, and it makes a nice change to cycle around a new area. Very picturesque. I may check it out in greater, and slower, detail sometime.

So. Coffee. Or not. Oops. It’s Good Friday and…well…not everywhere is open. Apparently they do really good cake if you ever do get there and they’re open though. Bit of a b*gger though…as by then I was counting on a coffee for a bit of a lift. It kind knocked me off balance mentally a bit though – there was this idea of what the ride was in my head, and then it wasn’t, and I didn’t know if I was ready for more of the same without a break. Seeing that others were eating however reminded me that I could do the same and I resorted to Lucozade jellybeans, washed them down with some Nuun (in fruit punch flavour for a change, because I’m trying variety) and hoped that that would do the job.

Turned away at the gate.

Hm. What to do. 8 cyclists. At least 8 opinions right? Having already cycled past Sweets we knew it was open so it became the logical choice, as well as being on the way back. How to get there? Well before we really reached a consensus on that, we were heading off again, and very soon 8 became 2, 3, and 3. Michael and Warren unintentionally went a different way, Wayne and Andy disappeared off into the sunset, which just left the BW, Coxy, and me making our way back. I was flagging a bit what with the inevitable sapping headwind and the fact that I didn’t really know where I was. Being in the middle of nowhere, not really knowing where you’re going, somehow makes it feel harder and take longer. We stopped briefly in Somerton, which I do at least recognise, in case anyone needed the last opportunity to grab get anything from a shop before Sweets.

Carlo the gregarious was actually collared by family who saw him outside and had to go in for a chat, which is the real reason he was in the chippy…but I do think it makes for an amusing photo *grin*.

Apparently I should have recognised the next section of the route from the Cheddar Cyclosportive but clearly last time I did that I can’t have been paying attention. It wasn’t until we came out on the road on the other side of High Ham Hill that I finally knew where I was and got my mojo back again. Amazing how much better I felt knowing where I was going! I even quite enjoyed the slow climb up Pedwell Hill, and Coxy dropped back to keep me company – he makes a great broom wagon *grin*. I was just enjoying the fact that I could climb a hill in a whole variety of gears, as if this had been last Sunday I’d have been walking! Always good to take a moment to be grateful for what you have.

BW and Coxy going up in the world.

Once over the main road, there’s this funny house perched on the crest of the hill. I wonder about the oddly out of place glazing every time I drive past. Weird isn’t it? The views back towards home are pretty good though :).

the view from Shapwick Hill.

Now my legs really could sense coffee, and it was time to get there as quickly as possible, knowing that there was no more climbing between me and there. I did my bit at the front as best I could, though apparently I make a lousy windbreak. Hey, it may not be a traditional compliment but I’ll take it 😉 *grin*.

Finally Sweets. Where the other groups awaited us, sat outside in the sunshine. Not that we stayed outside for long – it still wasn’t quite warm enough – and we took refuge inside.

Warren

Andy

Wayne clearly thinks Michael is a very funny man... 😀

Having not been eating chips, even though appearances were to the contrary, you should see Carlo’s chocolate cake!

Carlo's chocolate cake

Coxy seemed to be taking cake quite seriously too…

Fruit cake this time I think...

BW managed chocolate cake and hot chocolate and yet again I have no idea how he does it! I stuck to coffee (like I have a choice) because I needed the caffeine fix to get me back on the bike and home again, which involved going up and over Mudgeley Hill, on which I was delighted not to be caught, and then the usual Wedmore road. Whatever was in the chocolate cake clearly works because, after we joined up again in Wedmore, Carlo was off! Which made my favourite straight more interesting – wheel sucking whilst still pushing to keep up! Hard work, but good in a masochistic way :). Time to take myself off down the bypass and home.

Cycling time: 3:38:57 hrs
Distance: 62.33 miles
AVS: 17.1 mph.
ODO: 12955 miles

That was a mighty fine way to spend a Good Friday. Bl**dy hard work, but then sometimes that’s not a bad thing. Keeping up with these guys ain’t easy! So if it was a good Good Friday does that make it a Great Friday? 😉 Certainly makes it a fast one! *grin*

Don’t Ever Let It End

A short blog, for a short ride. I was ever so lucky (and am very grateful) that my mechanic Andrew was able to see me this afternoon. He fitted the bike with a new gear cable, as well as checking over the other cables, the fraying tyres, and the like. All this in time to get me back home in time for the ride that I’d half been hoping to do with MiniMe. Result! Now that the clocks have sprung forward it’s possible to get rides in after school etc., and today was the first. We did the Nyland Loop in the chilly but beautiful evening sunshine. I wore my Rapha winter jersey with nothing (ok not nothing, there was underwear involved, don’t go getting all excited) underneath, which was a really weird feeling, but which kept me at just about the right temperature when paired with shorts and decent socks – my longs haven’t been through the wash yet!

It was a very lovely nice easy recovery ride. His riding has definitely improved, courtesy of his daily commute to school, and it was far more restful riding with him than it used to be. He did try out-sprinting me on one straight, but thanks to the low sun and his shadow I saw him coming *grin*. Though I did let him have his moment (quite literally) in the sun, before I reined him in. Oh, and having gears was just awesome! Almost like having a brand new bike *grin*. My legs were feeling just about ok, but I’ve hurt the usual interesting muscle in my right shoulder/back somewhere – as a result of pulling myself up those hills yesterday I guess – so I can’t really look over my right shoulder. Not ideal, but this too shall pass, and to be honest as after effects go, I was expecting a lot worse.

I don’t listen to music while riding with MiniMe, which means I didn’t have my usual blog title source material. Being a child of the digital age, and well aware of my blog and such things, he asked to be allowed to choose this entry’s title. No sooner said than done. I thoroughly approve, and I also like the track. Looks like he likes riding almost as much as me. Not to mention also having good taste in music 😉 *grin*.

Cycling time: 00:50:53 hrs
Distance: 12.57 miles
AVS: 14.8 mph.
ODO: 12893 miles

The Joker

Early night. Very early morning. Guess it must be sportive time then :).

time to go...

In this case, the Joker, what with it being April 1st ‘n all that. I tweeted about it in advance, along the “more Fool me” lines… So maybe that would explain why my ride, and I emphasis the MY ride bit, I do not mean THE ride, was a comedy of errors.

Let’s get the usual moaning out of the way first, in stuck record fashion. Whilst there is unlikely to be anything seriously wrong with me, in the meantime until we figure out what the wrong is, there are issues, and of late I’ve been having pain control issues, which I courteously texted GB about yesterday, as forewarned is forearmed. As a result of whatever is going on, I also did not get a good night’s sleep, which is far from ideal pre-event.

Last night I discovered a slow puncture in the front tyre. Then we (being I and my pit-crew) realised that those tyres, lovely though they are, were fraying on the side wall. Cue a last minute changing of tyres and inner tubes. I hate doing such things at short notice though – it totally wrong foots me. Though I should be grateful I happened to have a spare set of fairly decent summer tyres…better safe than sorry.

It was also really hard to figure out what to wear. The recent gorgeous weather has reset my layer gauge, and having the forecast return to seasonal resulted in much faffing and debate, and inevitably meant that I didn’t get it right. I think the entire car park was having the same conversation though!

Toilet block - all events should have one!

It was sunny, with the tentative promise of later warmth, so I opted for various layers on top (tick), mitts (fine after the first 15 minutes during which my fingers froze off), longs (tick), and normal socks with no overshoes (uh-huh, our audience said…). Winter socks maybe. Overshoes maybe. One or the other. Neither? Bad call.

queuing for the off

rider briefing

However, standing in the sunshine, listening to possibly the longest pre-ride briefing ever, ignorance was bliss. All was ahead and yet to come… We set off at around 8:30am into the Wiltshire countryside. Lots of low morning sunshine, quiet country roads…but not for too long, the first hills started 20 minutes in which, considering how cold we were, wasn’t a bad thing. For whatever reason I just wasn’t feeling it though. I couldn’t get warmed up, my back tyre seemed to be a bit flat and I could feel it dragging without getting any worse. Slow puncture? Under-inflation? I don’t know, but it wasn’t adding to my joie de vivre. It just felt like one of those days. I sat on GB’s wheel, and hung in there in the hope that things would get better. After all, it was far from horrible – riding the bike in the sun right? I was happy enough, ish, but let’s face it, some days are just better than others. This was turning out to be happy, but not happy plus.

view over my shoulder

trees, shadows, sunshine...

Now, you may be wondering why this ride is called the Joker? Well it’s not just because it’s April Fool’s day, though I particularly loved the rider in complete jester costume, with hat & bells sticking through the ventilation bits on his helmet – there’s dedication for you. It’s because there were 4 optional Jokers’ Challenges, that generally added climbing & distance, and some Fools’ Choices which cut distance but that came with a catch. For each Joker achieved you got a Joker card for both souvenir purposes and to let the organisers figure out what you’d done in what time. I’m thinking that might be quite a logistical nightmare…wouldn’t surprise me if it takes them a while to publish the official times!

The first Joker was entitled “Straight Up”. At which point GB’s chain came Straight Off. Mine followed shortly after. Did I mention things weren’t going that well? I took advantage of the impromptu rest to immortalise Easter Sunday lunch ;)…

..before uneventfully climbing the hill. Might have been easier if I could feel my feet. I’d forgotten how distracting their absence can be. GB was doing a very good job of not abandoning me, which I appreciated whilst feeling guilty about it at the same – apparently it’s what I do and if he’d wanted to leave me he would have done. Fairy Nuff.

Joker 1

Shall I immortalise him to show my gratitude? Oh go on then… You can appreciate the views at the same time, if that’s more your thing.

GB in ever appreciating HTC kit 😉

Conveniently he stopped at around 10:10am for some reason which was only ten minutes after the next dose of analgesics had been due. I’d temporarily forgotten, and maybe it was just co-incidence, or maybe he remembered…either way it was a good thing. Best not to let the pain relief run out I find, plus the views were lovely from there too :).

We headed off again, and at some point in the miles there, some eejot went past the two of us with a rather snarky “on your right please”, as clearly our brief two-up chat was annoying him. Some people have no patience… And before you think I’m being judgemental, at the next T-junction he blithely slipped left and joined the main road with nary a glance over his shoulder, leaving one very justifiably p*ssed off GTi driver having to brake so hard to avoid him that he stalled, before re-starting, and revving off with an angry toot of his horn. Oh look, well done, yet another motorist with his opinion of road hogging, rule ignoring cyclists reinforced. We actually happened across the car and driver at the next village and we did some damage limitation and some work on motorist-cyclist relations by apologising for the rotten apple in the barrel. It doesn’t matter what you’re using to use to the road, we all use it, and we all have to use it properly and follow the rules! Prat *sigh*.

I was starting to get hints of mojo back, and also the odd tingle that implied that my feet might still exist as we got to the food stop, somewhere around 25 miles in. There was a support van (more of which later) with a track pump so I was able to put some more air in the back tyre and hope that that did the trick. My valve cap was mysteriously missing, so maybe it got bashed in the car? Who knows… I also grabbed half a banana, as you do. I can eat those :).

Food stop - used twice

Shortly after this, approaching the Joker 2 turning, one of my gear changes felt weird…and when we took the turning and stopped, it became clear that the rear gear cable had actually snapped, reducing me from 24 gears…to 3. Top top, top middle, and top bottom. My day was REALLY not going well, and there was nothing to be done about it, other than the use of of some choice anglo-saxon and a girly urge to resort to frustrated tears. Hey, I am a girl, right?! Time for a parting of the ways. Well I’d been worried enough about getting up Gold Hill as it was, let alone with no granny ring! I wished GB a good ride and headed back to the unadulterated long route. No more Jokers for me. No Gold Hill. No Zig-Zag hill. *sulk*. Mind you, having been considering earlier that GB might be better off riding without me, maybe I should be more careful what I wish for? ;).

So I followed the route as best I could, reduced to Shanks Pony up the big hill near Fontmell, feeling properly sorry for myself, missing being able to test myself against the long climb properly, and deeply resenting those cycling past me. Ho hum. I think I was kind of hoping that when I got back to the food stop again that the support van would fix me, that someone would rescue me, broom wagon me home…anything! Nope. I couldn’t even get my phone to work to ring home for sympathy…although considering the litany of such things today I shouldn’t have been surprised. Having limped my way there it turned out there was no get out of jail free card, and no real alternative option other than to possibly take a more direct but main road route back to the start. Apparently the biggest hills were behind us however, and the rest of the return route (47km) was mostly undulating. The thought of having to walk in more major traffic whilst also running the risk of getting lost didn’t appeal, so I had no choice but to MTFU and decide to follow the route. I figured I would do the best I could when I could, and walk if it came to it. Stiff upper lip…

In some respects this was good for me. I stopped wallowing quite so much and got on with it. I’m pleased to say “they” hadn’t lied to me either, which is great, because if there had been a lot of hills like that big one for me to walk up I’d still be walking up them now… A lot of it was doable, though I have to say the headwind added serious insult to injury. Like only three gears wasn’t enough of a challenge? And, on a triple, who uses top top gear anyway? Practically two gears then. Ah well. Luckily I can be fairly fast on the flat/gradual incline, to make up for the rest, and I did, bizarrely, overtake some people and keep up with some others who clearly knew what they were doing. Which helped on the PMA front.

I like sportives to have enough riders that I can usually see one from time to time, but am generally happier once everyone has spread out so that I can stop comparing myself to how everyone else is doing and get on with doing what I have to do. A few riders chatted to me, including one who nicknamed me “no-gears girl” having learnt of my plight, and whom I saw several more times. His cheery “go no-gears girl!” did wonders to boost my morale, which seriously needed it. However I spent a lot of time riding on my own, and was very pleased therefore that this was an event with regular repeater ribbons. If you’re on your own, having a bad day at the office, and starting to think that you might be lost as well, the sight of a fluorescent orange ribbon can proper warm the cockles of your heart :).

Some of the hills were, unsurprisingly, a proper slog. I’m usually a sit in the saddle and plod kind of girl, and having to get out of the saddle and climb until my legs ran out was hard work, and I’m going to feel it tomorrow for sure! When my legs ran out, I walked…a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. I’m sure it’s all good training, right?

another hill behind me...

Even with everything, there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours than riding a bike in the (still rather chilly) sun, albeit slowly. It’s not the Tour de France, I wasn’t going to be winning any fancy jerseys, and there were no sunflowers but…

...close but no cigar... 😉

The main downside to all this sunshine and scenery and shadows? It hides the potholes and bumps a treat, and the road surfaces were NOT good today. Even without the dry weather and the farm traffic induced gravel etc some of those roads would be hard pushed to be described as having a surface at all :/. Pretty though, right?

I was getting closer and closer to the end, counting down the miles, and getting back into familiar territory as the final section retraced the start of the route. I can’t tell you how relieved I was when Salisbury Racecourse hove into view, as a couple of hours before that I’d been in serious doubt that I’d get there at all. I’ve never had a DNF and I didn’t want one today!

Rarely have I been so pleased to see a finish line, which I happily crossed, before handing in my tag, picking up a tea/coffee voucher and free-shirt, and taking a pew for a bit to recover.

Riders were spread out in the sun everywhere, no doubt recounting tales of derring do, or maybe just adding to the tan lines 😉

So what was the final damage? Well according to Bella, it goes like this:

Cycling time: 4:29:14 hrs
Distance: 66.31 miles
AVS: 14.8 mph.
ODO: 12880 miles

And you know what? All things considered, taking the walking into account, I think I did pretty well. GB arrived a while after me, having successfully taken on the other Jokers, and possibly surprised to find me not all that cheesed off. I was just happy to have made it round and triumphed over adversity. Although I’m not sure I’m talking to my bike… 😉 *grin*.

UPDATE: official Cyclosport Joker review is now up. My official time is here, 4:57, and after all that, still makes me a Bronze, which is cool :).

My kind of love

Poor George. The last few times we’ve ridden she has definitely not had the best of me. Not so much on the riding front, but on the not feeling great and therefore quite grumpy front. Sorry! I’d like to think I got better as the painkillers cut in though…well, in so far as they’re working today, which is not an 100% successful thing. Anyway…

The weather has been great for days, and if the forecasters are to believed (which is always possible) it’s due to break any day now. Which is inevitable considering that I’m doing The Joker on Sunday. They may have a point though, in that today kept the lovely sunshine but threw in a nasty and unexpectedly chilly wind, which meant that as I waited for George outside the New Inn at Cross, I had to dig out my gilet from my saddle bag and put it on. I didn’t regret that either, as it didn’t get much warmer for the whole ride.

George suggested we did the seaside which I know I’ve done frequently of late, but this would be clockwise which of course is a completely different kettle of fish, whole new ballgame, or some other metaphor to imply that this makes repeating myself ok. Besides which, as mentioned, I wasn’t really in the mood for decisions and just wanted to take it easy and ride in the sun for a couple of hours.

So we did. I’ll give you the Strava version of our route, as Bella (GB‘s suggested name for the Garmin) had a floop around our coffee stop vis-a-vis satellites, and got herself into quite a tizzy what with beeping and buttons and the like. Actually I’m not sure Bella is the right name for her, though it may stick anyway in the absence of anything else, as it just makes me think of a large blue Tweenie.

Bella

This is probably a fairly good way to figure out my age. I am far too old to have been watching them legitimately – ie as part of their target audience – so I must therefore have been forced to watch them as their antics sedated my offspring. Grateful for the effect but despairing at what my life had been reduced to *grin*. I am therefore of a certain age ;). I bet every parent out there knows that feeling though – even if the Tweenies was not your drug of choice. Teletubbies? Thomas the Tank Engine? The Flumps?… I could go on, but last time I checked this was a cycling blog. Besides which it has just occurred to me that Bella is blue, so maybe it’s not such a bad name for the new toy. Just for comparison’s sake, here’s Bella’s route on Garmin too.

Following on from my grumpy email to the New Castle Inn following Tuesday’s ride – yes I did send one – I was informed by reply that at this time of the year they only open from Thursday to Sunday, so I knew it would be open today. We had a brief chat as I ordered coffee and apparently they don’t put their opening hours on the website because then they would need keeping up to date, but if you call them before you leave and they don’t answer the phone then they’re not open. Hm. It’s not hard to keep a website up to date you know (or to spellcheck its content either!), lots of other cafés manage it, and that’s not the world’s most satisfactory response. Still at least today they were open and serving, so we sipped and gossiped, as you do. I wonder why gossiped only has one ‘p’ and sipped has two? Should we ask Bob for a ‘p’ please? Hm. The vagaries of language.

Time to head off again, into the still really chilly air. Bitter for a while in fact, especially along the seafront. A little less wind than that on Sunday would be nice, just in case anyone influential is listening. However it was still better to be out there, than in one of these though:

My winter tyres are a couple of years old and getting on for well past their best. Not so much when it comes to tread, but I think they may actually be perishing. Doing another sportive on them might well be pushing it so I persuaded t’other half to put my summer tyres back on this morning, on the basis that I should get a ride in on them just in case there was a problem, with enough time in hand to resolve such a problem if necessary. Plus if I changed them I might brake a fingernail or chip my manicure right? *grin*. As it turns out they were as lovely as ever, and very happy to be rolling along in the sun :). Plus the blue stripes makes my bike look even more swish ;).

I took George back home over the new bridge which, since she hadn’t realised it had ever been closed, lessened its impact somewhat. But hey, I still like it *grin*. I love being told to go “slow” going up hill, I love the implication that there’s any other way! ;).

We came home up Winscombe Hill where I equalled my Strava time and maintained my QOM status. Not bad but…dagnamit, I wanted to beat it! I guess I should have tried harder then, right? Next time… *grrr*.

Cycling time: 1:53:03 hrs
Distance: 28.5 miles
AVS: 15.1 mph.
ODO: 12814 miles

Not the fastest ride ever, but George did ask me to go slower after we set off, which is good for the ego, and makes a perfect excuse. Thanks George! *grin*

Walk in the sun

Each to their own right? Today is my birthday. I saw it coming, as you do, and I couldn’t think of any better way to enjoy my day than to go ride my bike. I realise this wouldn’t float everyone’s boat, but it does mine. Especially when the sun is shining and it turns out to be 20C out there. What’s not to love? So I took to the usual social media channels, told the world what I was planning to do, if not why, and garnered myself some company. As if my birthday wasn’t good excuse enough, one of my birthday presents is, as I have a new toy, and you can’t get a new toy and not play with it, right? ;).

Such gorgeous weather :D. Sun, blue skies… My birthday is often blessed with beau temps, which is nice. Layers, what layers? Just the one all over, thank you. A singularity of lycra? I arrived in the Square at 10:00am and met up with the Tor 2000 race snake that is Mike, and some of the Mendip Cycling Club – namely Keith, Nick and Paul. As you probably know by now, I get a bit nervous about riding with new people, but I needn’t have worried as they turned out to be a really nice bunch. *phew*!

Where does one go when it’s sunny? The seaside of course. In fact exactly the same route I did two weeks ago because I enjoyed it then and I was too lazy to come up with anything new ;). But there’s bound to be another reason right? Oh yes, shallow, predictable, competitive me…there’s Strava. Hills to beat myself up over, in both senses of the phrase *grin*. I didn’t break any of my Shipham records, but it did feel easier, which was a tad irritating, so I shall put it down to not trying very hard and to being in new company, and…oh who cares, right? *grin*.

They’ve cut back all the trees at the top of Shipham. Which may make it less dark and foreboding up there, but I’m not sure that’s sufficient justification. There’s been a lot of arboreal destruction going on around here, which makes me sad. I like trees. Trees take a long time to get to being big enough to be “annoying”, and then just like that they’re gone. Bet they don’t get replaced either. If only there were Ents..they’d never let it happen! Right. Mini-rant over.

Time to go and be beside the seaside, via the continuing excitement that is the new bridge, and endless lovely flat country roads, enjoying riding my bike in the sunshine. There are far worse ways to spend a Tuesday morning :).

After showing the new guys the wonders of North Somerset, including the rarity of the tide being in at Sand Bay, I was hoping for coffee at the New Castle Inn and was quite irritated to discover that it was closed. The website, which I checked last night, implied that it would be open. I foresee a grumpy email going their way… The next café along, the name of which temporarily escapes me, is being totally redone, so that was out too. I was starting to feel guilty for dragging all these people along from stop to stop with no refreshment – oops! However one thing Weston has is cafés, although arguably this is a question of quantity over quality ;). We ended up sitting outside the Victorian Café on the sea front, in the sun. Which definitely wasn’t the end of the world, and had the advantage of meaning we didn’t have to be more than a few feet away from our precious steeds which, as we all know, is very important.

I think that even the bikes could have been accused of sunbathing…

I’m going to be uncharitable now…so please bear with me. But I think the following picture kinda sums up Weston. It has the traditional seaside (donkeys), the revamped and refurbished and regenerated (the pier), and then large chunks of ugliness still lurking around in between (the lorry). There you are, a ride that comes with a photo that is a metaphor for the state of Weston. Get me ;).

Mike, Keith, Nick and Paul

Mike, though off work, was still working. I know how that goes. But still, today has to qualify as a pretty good day at the office right? *grin*.

From Easter onwards Weston becomes a place to treat with even greater caution, to only ride through at quiet times, keeping an extra eye out for motorists not paying attention to anything other than where to park the car. We’re not quite there yet, but with the sun out, we’re not far off, and the hordes were descending…! SMIDSY could be designed for the stretch of sea front road along to Uphill…

So. Time to put the grockles behind us and to go cycle up some more hills right? Bleadon Hill first. Remember this strange tree? Well it looks a lot better in the sunshine let me tell you :).

I was having such fun. The hills weren’t hurting, the downs were great, the sun was shining…just fabulous. Very, very, happy birthday girl :).

me and my shadow 😉

The views from Loxton were lovely, and I bet I was happier out there on my bike than all those people in little tin boxes flying along the motorway too. Happier, and by the sounds of it, a little smug too ;).

Just a couple more hills to go then, an announcement which elicited the odd groan out of my merry band. Not from Mike though, who still eats such things for breakfast. So it was up the hill to Banwell Castle, and down the fast main road, just so as to get me to the bottom of Winscombe Hill in the right place to try and get to the top in a better time than before. And I did – I beat my previous QOM title. ‘Rah! I believe I’ve mentioned that small things please small minds right? 😉 Well I was pleased *grin*. In fact Strava says I did pretty well all ’round today :). I certainly enjoyed my final sprint down the bypass – made all that climbing well worth it – *flies in teeth*.

But that’s Strava. Which is all very well. But the Strava phone lives in the back pocket, or the saddle bag. My fabulous new toy is there in front of me, telling me everything I want to know. Ok, so I haven’t got the hang of it yet, and there’s some beeping going on to do with laps that I need to figure out, and so on…but it rocks 🙂 Can’t accuse me of over-recording now, not with all that lovely GPS data. I wonder if I should give it a name? See here for all my lovely shiny stats, downloaded like a dream, which I can no doubt over analyse until the cows come home :).

It was a truly great ride. Thanks to everyone for coming out and keeping me company – it was good to finally meet you, and equally good to catch up with Mike who I’ve not ridden with in an age. Mostly because he’s too fast! After a couple of days that almost passed for rest days I guess my legs were raring to go. Maybe they would have been anyway, as I’m so easily motivated by sunshine. It really does make all the difference. Besides it’s a lovely route, with flat and hills and scenery, and I got to ride it in company and drink coffee. Miles and miles of smiles :D. And probably burgeoning tan lines too – bonus! It was almost a shame to come home, and it was certainly tempting not to…but too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, right? Does that count for gadgets too? 😉 It’s a wonder there’s room for anything else in my pockets/saddle bag!

Cycling time: 2:08:59 hrs
Distance: 33.94 miles
AVS: 15.8 mph.
ODO: 12786 miles

Back to my birthday. Well, it is a day that’s all about me, right? :P. I was right about riding, it was a mighty fine way to celebrate. And you can’t half tell I’m a cyclist if you look at my lovely gifts: I have a digital weather station – so that I know what temperature it is out there, what the forecast is, and how many layers to put on. There’s the gorgeous Garmin of course, which even colour co-ordinates with my bike. Cycling books: Put me back on my bike, and The Tour is Won on the Alpe (thanks GB!) to read and to motivate me. Donations towards my awesome new cycling shoes – bought to go with the new bike that I don’t yet have. And some new music to listen to whilst on the bike. OK, so there are a couple of exceptions to the cycling rule but…well, you get the general idea. Happy Birthday to me :).

(PS: If you fancy listening to this entry’s eponymous song, it’s here, and it’s lovely).

Bespoked Bristol 2012

I’m not good with bikes. By which I mean I like them, I like how some of them look more than others, I’m a magpie for shiny, and I’m a sucker for vulgar superbike carbon. But I don’t really understand how they’re made. I don’t understand gear ratios, groupsets, crank lengths, single speeds, fixies, lugs, headsets…all a bit beyond me. So Bespoked Bristol – the UK Handmade Bicycle Show – probably wasn’t really my bag. I mean I like looking at shiny new bikes, who doesn’t?, but I think it helps if you know and properly appreciate what you’re looking at. On that basis, let’s do some looking…

ok, not strictly a bike...

well it's swish...

can't see the forest for the trees?

now that's a FAT wheel!

on to the weird...

...and wonderful?

Onto something I actually get. And use. Tyres. I got to have a nice chat with the guy on the Schwalbe stand too, who advised me to try the Durano S tyre for sportive riding…though that may well not stop me opting for the Ultremo ZXs because they’re fast and pretty :).

And then finally, to carry on my continuing love affair with a certain brand…

Rapha Continental "Feather" bike

Best road frame in show too, by Ricky Feather. There’s a whole philosophy going on behind it from Rapha Continental. Most people buy their kit to match their bikes…maybe I could buy the bike to match mine? 😉 *grin*. The show seems to have been a success – there were certainly plenty of people there. Hard to be inside looking at bikes rather than outside riding one though – I wonder if the glorious sunshine brought people out to the show or kept them out on the road? Or maybe, like me, they managed to do both in the same day :).

Ride Sally ride.

The forecast was good. The weather the day before was good. All was boding well. But it’s not until you wake up and draw back the curtains that you know what’s really going on out there, and…

There. That’s better, right? What an improvement :). Both visibility and sunshine. Bring it on! Time for an ACG ride which, due to the busy nature of my weekend, was being slightly squeezed into the schedule, whilst still being an integral and essential part of it. To not ride on a day like this when you have the opportunity to so so would be verging on the criminal. Days like this are what cyclists wait for…

I threw caution to the wind, and went for the one layer option. Which was pretty much as much wind as was involved on the ride ;). I revealed my pasty white limbs to the world, and stuffed a gilet in the saddle bag just in case. I was truly a Rapha girl too – even more so than usual. My mitts, my Galibier jersey, and my sample sale first time out women’s shorts. And man were they ever comfortable! Just as with the mitts, it’s almost like you’re not wearing anything at all, yet without the indecency charge that would come with that 😉 *grin*.

hello legs! 🙂

There may have been a minor nip in the air when 5 of us ACG stalwarts set off for a flat easy ride but it didn’t last long, especially after the long A38, get it out of the way as quickly as possible, stretch. I mean look at it, wasn’t it glorious?

Mike, near Burtle

Guy, flying the ACG flag.

Gary, basking in the sun.

Guy had planned our route, and also found a brand new coffee stop – much kudos to him. I’ve ridden past it many times and paid it little attention, I think it’s always been closed, or I’ve presumed it is. It sort of hides behind the adjacent building and as you’re flying past down the nice straight bit of road there, it’s easy to miss it. Missed it before, won’t be missing it again – and I think we’ll definitely be back :).

Sharpham Tea Garden

bikes sunbathing

How wonderful is it to be sitting outside a café, in March, in the middle of the countryside in the sunshine? As usual I had to eschew the cake, but the coffee was up to par which, as we all know, is the important thing.

Some lucky people do get to eat cake. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a cream tea where the allotted portion of clotted cream was bigger than one of the scones!

Guy's cream tea.

Since Guy had planned an extra hilly loop to do at the end of the ride, I think this probably counted as fuel rather than reward. I think I’d probably have to do an entire sportive to walk all that off though! To be fair, his main focus was the scones, most of that lovely cream went to waste, and scones are just a tasty round form of carbs right? ;).

We sat there in the sun, discussed the weather, admired the view, appreciated the new café, and took photos, as you do. Sunny it may have been, but it was still a bit hazy. Or atmospheric, when it comes to admiring the Tor lurking on the horizon. It wasn’t easy to decide to leave and get underway again but, as I said before, places to be and people to see.

bag 'em up, move 'em out...

We took a fairly direct route back, via Godney. I wasn’t hanging around, though I should probably have been trying harder to. But after a couple of distinctly average rides this week, and with weather like that, when the going is good it’s good to be going, and believe me, it was good :). Dave got a puncture on the way into Wedmore and we ended up splitting up. Mike stayed to keep him company though, so at least no-one got left behind. Once we got to Cheddar I headed for home, and Guy and Gary headed for the hills, literally. I was almost jealous, what with it being such a perfect day to be out there but hey, I’d had a great ride in the sun, and complaining would be churlish. With any luck there will more of the same this week :).

Cycling time: 2:09:04 hrs
Distance: 37.2 miles
AVS: 17.3 mph.
ODO: 12752 miles