Mondays are, in so far as I have one, usually my “rest” day.  However I spent yesterday having a hen spa session with the bride to be and a couple of other birds.  I tried, I did.  I tried really hard.  But I think it’s safe to say that spas are not my thing.  Pools are for swimming up and down in.  Jacuzzis bemuse me completely – if I wanted a bath I’d have one.  The pedicure did at least mean I had no choice but to sit in one place for an hour.  Enforced rest, with some form of constructive outcome – glittery matching toenails all ready for the big day on Friday.  Matching with the bride that is, because I’m her Matron of Honour.  Apart from the fact that that makes me sound as old as Methuselah, this is a very awesome thing and I’m very excited!  Imagine, a whole day that doesn’t involve wearing lycra! 😉

So Sunday was, as it used to be, a day of rest.  Which means there was no way today was going to be!  Especially since the temperature was above zero, the wind speed was in single figures, and days like that are few and far between at the moment.  Sadly it was just me though.  I could have used some company from a motivational point of view, but since no-one was around my options were limited.  Make that non-existant.  I didn’t plan anything other than the usual kind of loop, and I didn’t have any great expectations of that since these days I’m never quite sure how I’m going to feel on the bike.  This is not ideal, but actually riding the bike sometimes helps.  It distracts, and then there’s the endorphins…gotta love natural drugs :).

This is going to be a swan themed paragraph.  I think cyclists are quite like swans.  All serene and essentially motionless above the waterline/crossbar, but with legs frantically paddling/pedalling below.  So I swanned around the Levels for a couple of hours, pleasing no-one but myself :).

Three swans a-swimming

we are family

As you can see, I wasn’t the only one.  They were everywhere.  In fact I think maybe someone is farming them – there were fields of them! 😉

Swans. Not sheep. Swans.

OK, so you can’t farm swans.  Can you?  Is that like juggling jelly?  Maybe only the Queen can farm swans?  While I’m here – who did it best, Tchaikovsky or Saint Saens?  I appear to have gone off track but then it was one of those rides – your legs already know where they’re going, so your mind can swan around aimlessly *grin*.

Cycling time: 2:09:27 hrs
Distance: 33.67 miles.
AVS: 15.5 mph.
ODO: 11902 miles

My legs were actually feeling pretty good and they did fine with the odd (little) hill I threw at them – Mudgeley for example – but I think maybe I was taking it a little too easy.  I wasn’t pushing it for sure, and I was being careful as there were still patches of slush and the odd icy puddle around.  Either that or there just wasn’t as much in the tank as sometimes, because that’s really not the greatest speed for a flattish ride by myself.  But it was a ride.  A ride that was far more pleasant than I expected, as the fog cleared, the clouds thinned a little, and there was even a hint of blue up there.  Apart from a tendency for my left foot to go walkabout, the rest of me remained warm enough but not too warm, and all in all it went pretty well :).  And hey, it was a Monday.  Mondays are never great ;).  Must stop all this cycling around on the flat though – it’s time to start getting in some hills *gulp*.  Well the Dolomites aren’t flat you know!

Another day, same old dilemma.  To ride or not ride?  Are those roads as dry and ice-free as they look?  Is it really -4C?!  While up above the skies are blue and the sun is shining.  I consulted weather websites, Facebook friends, Mim (who I was due to ride with), the Oracle at Delphi…well, ok, not the last one but you get the picture.  Basically I was trying to get someone else to make the decision for me!  The general consensus of opinion was that it was ok out there, and that the answer is always to ride :).  I occurred to me that I did have a couple of errands to run and I decided that I could get those done at the very least.  I virtually never use my bike for anything practical – it’s always just about riding the bike! :).

On went the layers.  All of them.  Thermal leggings, long windstopper tights, wooly socks, and overshoes.  Thermal base layer, long sleeve jersey, winter jacket, gilet.  Buff, winter hat, winter gloves.  I don’t think I could wear more layers and still have my joints move!  Maybe it’s some form of bizarre resistance training?  Maybe I should hit the pub, pickle my internal organs in a grain based beverage, place them in storage jars, and consider myself a mummy? ;).  Considering the snotty cold I have at the moment, it wouldn’t surprise me if my brain had already come out through my nose!  Too much information? *grin*.

I headed off for my first errand on the way to Mim’s place in Cheddar.  No sooner had I posted that which needed posting, literally just down the road from where I needed to be, than I got a text from Mim saying “not going out”.  No beating around the bush there then.  Co-incidentally whilst reading that, I missed a call from George.  After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, playing voicemail tennis and finally going all old school and actually talking to each other, my ride with Mim turned into a ride with George, meeting in Wedmore since my second errand involved the chemists there.

Oddly enough we ended up doing pretty much exactly what I did on Tuesday.  Wedmore for me, Burnham on Sea for George, A38 to home.  Looks like I could be getting very familiar with that route if the ice continues, as is forecast.  Until the snow arrives on Saturday and plays havoc with everything of course *sigh*.  The roads were pretty much dry and therefore ice-free but in those places where there were puddles, or wet patches, there was most definitely ice, even on the salting network, so it was a day for riding carefully and paying attention.  That and there was a nasty cold NNE wind which made the ride back up the A38 a distinctly unpleasant slog.

low sun, blue skies

It was mighty cold out there, and hanging around in Burnham whilst the wheels of banking bureaucracy turned as slowly as ever, certainly didn’t warm me up any.  A nice older gent doing his shopping on a Claude Butler Levante (my old bike is one of those!) came over and engaged me in handily distracting conversation – apparently we get much kudos for riding today.  Fascinating the characters you meet out there – he turns out to have a stable full of various steeds and rides every day, couldn’t live without it…just another obsessive on the road then :).

what a pretty power station 😉

I think the tide was out at Burnham...

We looped around by the beach, to add some form to the function of the ride, and as I previously said, came back as the crow flies.  The A38 remains a deep joy to ride.  George is one who prefers to ride two abreast and make the traffic actively go around you, rather than squeezing past you.  This is great for conversation, not so good for the nerves…but hey, here we both are, home in one piece, so I guess it worked…  I don’t think it made any difference to the motorists – we’re cycling marmite, we should either not be there at all and they hate us, or we’re fine and they go around us safely.  Don’t let them tell you they’d have been happier with us there riding in a row – then they’d just be complaining that it took longer to get past the pair of us!

Cycling time: 1:47:28 hrs
Distance: 26.93 miles.
AVS: 15.0 mph.
ODO: 11868 miles

It may have been Tuesday’s ride – but it was considerably slower, which was probably due partially to the wind and definitely to the chatting!  As a result it was also much more enjoyable :).  First February ride done.

You know how I said I wouldn’t go out and do 17 miles just to make sure I’d done more miles this January than last January?  Well…….. ;).  In my defence, that’s partially because I’d forgotten that there are 31 days in January and because I knew I wasn’t riding yesterday, so I just didn’t think it was doable.  But what do you know?  There are indeed 31 days in January, and there I was, with an extra day, and a little niggling shortfall in mileage to make up.

But even there were no certainties.  As you may have noticed, it’s brass monkeys out there, with freezing temperatures, and bitter winds.  -3C when I got up this morning, but with winter sun and blue skies, and no obvious frost.  But just because you can’t see the ice doesn’t mean it isn’t there right?  Besides, not being able to see it is half the problem!  So should I ride?  I umed, and I ahed, and I deliberated and…since the roads looked dry, I decided I’d leave it until later in the day than usual and give it a go.  Being a paranoid android I followed GB‘s example, and checked out the SCC salting network to make myself a route with calcium chloride on my side in the fight for continued verticality.  The downside to the network is that SCC salts main roads and not much else – unsurprisingly.  Actually it’s a miracle they still do that considering how they seem to be stopping doing pretty much everything else…but I’d better not get started on that 😉  Back to the main roads.  These are roads that do not make for the most enthralling cycling but I guess it’s a trade-off – safety vs excitement.  And even though the website warns that even salted roads cannot be guaranteed to be ice-free, I figure they stand a better chance of being so than non-salted roads do!

Cycling is sometimes easier when you have a goal.  And, daft though it may have been (and it SO was), today’s main goal was to do over 16 miles.  It being as cold as it is, I didn’t really want to be out much longer than that was going to take me anyway, so I got me out there, in every layer going, and I did it.  A very easy dot-to-dot puzzle: Wedmore, Mark, Highbridge, and then the A38 all the way home; saying a little prayer to any deity that happened to be listening every time a lorry thundered past me.

For the most part it was, not to put too fine a point on it, pretty boring.  If I hadn’t had a goal…  Long essentially straight roads.  Head down and push hard stuff, trying to keep the average speed up and to keep warm.  It was fairly flat, very cold, with enough wind to be irritating from time to time, but there was no ice and it was uneventful – which was the point…

Cycling time: 1:16:12 hrs
Distance: 22.53 miles.
AVS: 17.6 mph.
ODO: 11841 miles

…actually who am I kidding?  The point was to beat last January’s mileage total and, by six miles, I did.  Ridiculous, non-sensical, self-imposed, shallow goal achieved *grin*.  I wasn’t feeling particularly on form, though every time I felt like I was finding it hard work I’d look down and see an average speed that was fast enough to explain that!  Sadly I’m still not better, and MiniMe has very generously passed on his cold to me, so I was kinda lacking in mojo.

No photos today because that would have meant stopping, and there was no way I was doing that.  And before anyone points it out, I know I’ve broken my two hour rule…but I’ll do an hour at the nice warm gym later to make up the difference, so there :P.

GB is turning into my weather vane.  Weather vanes are usually cockerels.  And it wouldn’t be a good ride if there wasn’t a joke about a big cockerel at some point…*grin*.

Last time he turned up in time to help me decide which layers to wear.  This time he did a warm up ride before arriving at my place so was able to give an accurate assessment of the iciness or otherwise of the roads.  He even had a map of the SCC precautionary gritting network to help figure out which roads were likely to be ice free.  He’s quite useful really ;).  Armed with all that information we altered the planned route, and even with a new plan in place we still made bits of the route up as we went along – I think it’s called improvisation?  Well it was, not to put too fine a point on it, bl**dy freezing out there, even if there wasn’t any wind to speak of, which was not cruel but unusual.  Having said that, the air rushing past us as we hurtled along trying to keep warm was still pretty nippy, there was indeed a little ice around here and there, and the idea of discovering that going downhill appealed to neither of us, so we decided to keep it flat, sure and steady.  As GB said, nothing slows you down like crashing!

Essentially we went to Glastonbury for coffee and back.  It was, as is almost always the case, more complicated than you think, but that’s what it boiled down to – as can be seen here.  We very nearly wimped out and didn’t make it any further than Sweets, but that would probably have led to a heinous breaking of the two hour rule so we pushed on past to Fairyland.

Oh dear oh dear.  Heaphy’s has changed hands.  Gone is the olde worlde snuggly warm inviting fug of a place.  In its (not quite finished) place is more of a city sandwich bar style place – all light wood and chrome and bland and anodyne.  It’s only been re-opened since yesterday and they’ve not got it all quite figured out yet either – getting cake out of the chiller cabinet for GB was a bit of a logistical nightmare.  And it was cold.  Both visually and climatically, not helped by the gaping hole in the bottom of the front door, but probably mostly caused by the massive windows and not enough heating.  Not good for clammy already cold cyclists.  Being unable to eat properly at the moment the lack of their usual carrot cake was not a problem, and the coffee (with added caramel shot for sugar boost) was still pretty good.  But I think I shall be relegating it to somewhere to go only when I can sit outside.  Such a shame.  It wasn’t broken and it didn’t need fixing :(.

Heaphy's Cafe - primed but not quite ready.

We came home in a slightly circuitous fashion, and it seemed to have become even colder.  Every time the sun threatened to shine you could actually feel the temperature rise a little before it dropped back down again.  Oddly enough it was noticeably warmer this side of the Wedmore ridge too.  Although I use the word warm merely in a comparative sense, and it may well in fact be better just to say less cold, in case you should make the mistake of thinking that it was anything like warm out there!  I wore every layer going – winter jacket, thermals, winter hat…but there’s only so much you can do, and slowly your core temperature drops and your feet go walkabout, and it’s time to get home and warm up.

GB was trialling his new high vis polite notice jacket – as ably modelled below – and it was amazing to see how much of a difference it made to the behaviour of the drivers around us.  It’s not our fault if you presume he’s a policeman is it? 😉  I think I shall acquire one, or maybe two, for the ACG, since it could make group cycling a whole heap safer for a while, until enough drivers out there twig to what’s going on *grin*.

GB would like you to be polite.

GB in uniform

Left to my own devices I’d probably have ended up at the gym today.  After last year’s ice induced accident I no longer go casually out in such conditions, so when I looked out of the window this morning and saw the frozen fields, I would have listened to my head and been sensible.  But my heart really wanted to go out, and I’m really glad I did because otherwise I’d have missed out on a good ride in good company.  ‘Rah!  My mileage for this month is still worse than last January’s which was hindered by snow and ice, but t’is only marginally so, and I’ll just have to live with that :).  I’m not going out tomorrow and cycling 17 miles just to make up the numbers *grin*.

Cycling time: 2:04:49 hrs
Distance: 36.13 miles.
AVS: 17.3 mph.
ODO: 11819 miles

As mentioned in my previous entry, the Rapha sample sale took place this weekend.  My woman on the inside, to whom I remain eternally grateful, picked me up a pair of women’s shorts for less than 50% RRP and they arrived yesterday.  Ok, so I’ve only tried them on briefly, it not being (as you may have gathered) shorts weather, but they are the most comfortable wonderful pair of shorts ever!  Better still, in a good for the ego sense, they’re an S and fit like a glove :).  Bring on Spring!

I’m getting mighty bored of hanging out at the overly busy and not overly pleasant gym.  I know I’ve been ill, and I know that rest is (allegedly) good for you, but my mileage this month is pitiful, paltry, pithy, pathetic…  Not riding has started to become a habit, and that’s not a good thing.  “A ride, a ride, my fiefdom for a ride!“.  Ok, I’m paraphrasing…badly…but you get the general idea.  At least I didn’t lay claim to a kingdom right?

The forecast for today was promising (I should so know better).  If you’d like a more accurate quote, how’s this one for when I got up this morning and drew back the curtains?  “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?”   It was in the East, and I thought I’d risk it and assume it was the sun and not Juliet…  I’d also like you know that I’ve just quoted two different Shakespeare plays in as many paragraphs – get me.  There’s even a reference to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in there if you know what to look for.

Back to the stage upon which we are merely players (make that three.  I’ll stop now.  Probably ;)).  So there was a hint of a sun.  Last night’s insomnia enhancing wind and rain appeared to have blown through.  Promising stuff indeed.  According to my ‘net research, it was about 5C with a reasonable WSW wind, so I dressed in the usual Rapha layers, and assorted winter kit, but I didn’t think I needed to go as far as the winter jacket.  I didn’t plan a route, I decided to make it up as I went along, to add a little novelty to the very familiar roads around here.  There are some odd little roads that I really like, like Banwell High Street, the back road through Christon, the flats around Burtle…so I joined them up.  Should you be interested, this is what it turned out to be.  It was intended to be a fairly flat fairly easy ride, with no particular goals or aims.  I was the cat that rode by herself, and all places were alike to me :).

It started off really well.  My legs were strong, the weather was bearable, there was indeed occasional sunshine, and it was great to be back on the bike.  However…

Apparently into each life a little rain must fall.  As I cycled through the aroma of Thatcher’s apples, towards the aroma of something else beyond, the heavens made their opening bid…  A little rain would be fine.  Honest.  And this time around it was indeed merely a smattering.  But though it was the first time, it certainly wasn’t the last.  I was going to count the showers, but somewhere around the third or fourth time a little rain fell on me I lost track!  And it wasn’t warm rain either, and frequently there was more than a little of it.  The showers may have been scattered, if you’re talking location, but I’m thinking I got more than my fair share.  I cry foul!  Around Puxton I realised that the fronts of my legs and body were cold, and that although I could still feel my extremities, this was unlikely to remain the case if I carried on the way I was going.  I stopped and put on the emergency gilet that was thankfully in my saddle bag.  This helped a bit as the wind increased and the temperature dropped.  Interestingly it didn’t feel too bad when standing still, but once that air was rushing past you…*brrr*.  Even with the gilet helping, my feet slowly and inexorably parted company with the rest of my body as the ride continued.  Today I should have worn the winter jacket :(.

view from Banwell High Street

So it all got harder.  Colder, wetter, less enjoyable…even when the sun did come out intermittently.  Too late if you’re already wet and cold.  Though better for morale, t’is true.  I went over Brent Knoll because it was there, and besides once it had occurred to me that I could go up it, then not going over it would have been avoiding it and wimping out and we can’t have that can we?  So the ride wasn’t entirely flat – but 650m of climbing doesn’t really qualify as hilly though does it?

view of Crook Peak

Somewhere on the long straights near Burtle an artic lorry decided to ignore my existence, it being clearly very inconvenient, and hurtled past me at a speed that was unnecessary and a proximity that was alarming.  I swore, but I’m fairly sure he didn’t hear me, and that he wouldn’t have cared if he had.  On the upside as a runner and I crossed damp paths near Ashton, she and I both made an effort to smile at each other.  A smile doesn’t cost anything, it makes the recipient feel better, and it actually makes you feel better too :).  It perked me up…just in time for the rain to turn into hail.  Hail FFS!  I think that’s a first.  And it hurt!  I was starting to wonder what cycling on marbles was going to feel like but luckily it didn’t last long enough for me to find out, as it went back to being freezing cold rain instead.  Nice ;).

I made the most of the descent down Weare Hill nonetheless, my morale aided and abetted by the fact that I was nearly home, and I very nearly didn’t brake at all – just a tiny bit at the bottom for the bend by the school.  The wind, having been a hindrance for most of the ride, was finally of some use coming back up the A38, but I still diverted to go through Cross rather than deal with the traffic there.  Better safe than sorry, right?

Cycling time: 2:14:34 hrs
Distance: 34.73 miles.
AVS: 15.4 mph.
ODO: 11783 miles

I’m glad I rode – and let’s face it, how badass am I?  It went ok, but due to my illness enforced soup diet of late, there wasn’t as much in the tank as sometimes and my average speed is disappointing.  My new lemon tea Nuun tasted good though, and their bottles are good too – nice and squeezy with a decent valve – which was a bonus.  It’s hard to remember to drink enough in conditions like these…and I’m thinking hot black coffee might have been a good idea!  Unsurprisingly the skies have now been blue and clear for most of the afternoon, but I shall try and rise above that…

Did you know that some people spot pylons?  I thought of them as I took a quick mobile phone induced breather…  I probably think they’re a little odd.  But then a lot of people think cyclists are a little odd.  A chacun son goût…

it's a pylon.

For anyone who shares my love for Rapha and can get there, Rapha are having a sample sale this weekend.  If like me, you can’t afford to pay full price for their very lovely kit, you know what to do :).  I have a woman on the inside so have my *fingers crossed* that I may be augmenting my wardrobe a little through her.  Not excited at all.  Much.  😉  *grin*.

Some people, given time themselves, a clear day and some space, would hit the sofa.  Watch a good film.  Have a massage, or a long bath.  Read a book.  Pamper themselves in some way.  Not me.  I treated myself to a long ride.  I wrapped up a 50 mile route with a big muddy bow and gave it to myself.  Because I’m worth it :).

It wasn’t an exciting route – these are roads I’ve cycled a hundred times.  Probably literally.  It wasn’t an eventful ride – the weather was grey, the wind was there, and the roads were quiet but wet and muddy.  But it was such a good ride.  To start with I got to the top of Shipham Hill in 14:09, just 14 seconds off my personal best, and my second best time ever.  More notably this is 3 minutes and 36 seconds faster than this time last year when I first started timing the climb.  That’s quite some improvement.  Am I allowed to be a little bit proud of that?  Because I am :).  After that I was properly warmed up, and for the whole ride my legs were feeling great, everything felt smooth and strong, and it was just me, my bike, my music and my mojo :).

So I’ve not got much to tell you really.  I rode my bike.  I took a couple of photos, saw a curlew that might have been a snipe, or a snipe that might have been a curlew, and scared a moorhen witless, though I’m not sure they’re blessed with much by way of wits to start with.

Leaning tower of Puxton

Puxton Church

cyclocross bridge

temporary pedestrian bridge

The bridge over the railway at West Hewish is closed – one of those rare occasions when “Road Closed” even applies to cyclists – so you have to carry your bike over the temporary pedestrian bridge they’ve built.  It’s 4 flights up and quite hard work!  I’m thinking cyclocross really isn’t for me ;).

Cycling time: 3:03:58 hrs
Distance: 52.05 miles.
AVS: 16.9 mph.
ODO: 11706 miles

Up until very near home my average speed was 17.0 mph and I was tempted to go with that, but my journalistic integrity cut in ;).  At least I didn’t have to cycle up and down the bypass to get to the 50 mile mark *grin*.  My ride really felt like a treat, I really enjoyed it, and I’m still smiling :).  Having said that, I’ll could probably use that massage now *grin*.

In unrelated news, I’m off to the London Bike Show on Friday which I’m really looking forward to, and have a growing list of people I want to see:

• Wattbike – imagine how good I could be if I had one of these and used it properly?
• British Cycling
• Nuun – to get hold of some more of their (coming to the UK soon) lemon tea tablets which I really like.
• Zipvit – they’re offering free samples, and I also need to get some energy bars in.
• Condor Cycles – I’m going to pop in and see the lady I know who works there after the show – I owe her thanks in person for my Rapha jerseys :).

I’m also arranging to meet some of my twitter friends (tweeps?) for coffee, so it should be a really good day :).  Anyone else want to meet me?  Anyone else I should see?  Speak now… :).