Today is my daughter’s (aka youngest) birthday.   At her request we had (freshly baked from the Co-op) croissants for breakfast.  Well, you can’t have croissants without having coffee.  It’s like, a rule, or something.   So, being an essentially obedient soul, that’s what I did.   In fact what with that and present opening and time passing I may have had a couple of mugs full.  And I don’t usually drink coffee these days.

The birthday girl went happily off to school, and the plan had been to go for a ride later in the day in leisurely fashion.   Mim was around but only for a bit, and at 9:15am which initially seemed a tad early.   However the atypic consumption of too much coffee mean that caffeine was scratching its fingernails down my internal blackboard and it rapidly became clear that I needed to be out of the house doing something asap, before I jittered myself into oblivion.   Cue much use of txt thumbs and we were set for a 9:15am ride, to take it as it comes.

Mim arrived to find me ready and raring to go.   Chomping at the bit.  And other wound up tighter than an pissed off rattlesnake/8 day clock/drum* (*delete as you feel appropriate) related phrases.   She only had an hour or so and wanted to do something with effort, so I proposed doing a loop which had occurred to me on my last ride.  Yep, time to be Gorge-ous again.

We went up the Gorge in the morning sun.  It was quiet.   The goats were happily eating by the side of the road, yet to be scared up the slopes by camera-crazed grockles.  All very lovely.  Mim happily cycled rings around me.   Literally.    She got ahead; twice.   U-turned.  Dropped back.  Caught me up again.   Now this could have been irritating but I chose to find it amusing, and, as you know, I’m often best left to my own devices going up hill anyway.   Me, my music, the sun, my caffeine-fuelled legs.   I may not be a hare, but I still get there.   I may not be a hare but apparently I am a poet.   And don’t I know it? ;).

Once up top, we headed over towards Burrington but this time, instead of doing the descent, we took the left towards Charterhouse.  As we flew down the little hill there, past some roadworks, the man in the digger tooted at us, his equivalent of a builder’s whistle, which made me grin.  Hey, I can take a compliment *grin*.  Hey, it’s not like there’s enough of them flying around to be fussy about the ones I want to accept 😉  See, we are Gorge-ous!

I was totally in happy, glass half-full, flies in teeth mode today.  What was not to love?   Lovely hills, loads of bluebells, wild garlic, sunshine…man, some days it’s just great to be on the bike.   Speaking of hills, that left us with the lovely Shipham Hill to go down, which was a blast.   OK, so I still did it my way, but I figure it works, I had fun, and, to be sombre for just a minute, after the recent tragedy on the Giro d’Italia, I don’t see any need to take risks I can’t handle going down hill…

Right.   That brings us back to Cheddar, a loop that had taken just over an hour.   Mim peeled off and went home leaving me footloose and fancy free to amuse myself.  I’d enjoyed it so much first time around that I was almost tempted to do the loop again!   However the clouds were bubbling up, positively ooming in places (hey, it’s my blog, and I shall make up word if I want to!), and I decided I may well have had the best of the weather and that bad weather is not so nice “up there”, so I’d do something different instead.

Now, to paraphrase a supermodel, I don’t really consider it worth my while getting out of bed and getting on the bike for less than two hours.   So I daisy petalled my way around.  Every time I got to whatever the direct route home was, I asked myself how long that would take, and if that was going to make my time out less than two hours, then I headed off somewhere else!

So. Through Cheddar, up past the school to take the high road to Draycott. Past a random escaped cow and some particularly inane ducks at Nyland farm, and up to the junction at Cocklake, which was bedecked with a large yellow signpost for this Sunday’s Somerset Gran Fondo.  Home on the ever popular Wedmore road?  Nope, too soon…

Up Rug Hill.  Past the Ashton windmill.   More descending goodness down Weare Hill.  Up into Cross.   Home over the A38?  Nope, too soon…

Up and past the Webbington.   Right turn before the motorway bridge and along to Winscombe.   Up, up, up Winscombe Hill, looking for frogs, and trying to get a fly out from behind my sunglasses.  It’s amazing how much easier hills are when you’re distracted!   Home down the A38 and the bypass?…  You bet! Time had come. 2 hours had ticked past…and that really is the best way home *wheeeeeee*!

Cycling time: 2:14:53 hrs
Distance: 34.67 miles
Avs: 15.4 mph
ODO: 8356 miles

Now that was a beeeaayutiful ride 🙂

I like it on top of the Mendips.  And to be up there, you have to get up there.  Without going ridiculously out of the way options are limited.  Shipham Hill – which I’ve done a lot lately.  The hill out of Rodney Stoke that DM took us up on Sunday.  Or Cheddar Gorge.  Which would, by a process of elimination, be today’s choice.

So I went up the Gorge.  At a reasonable lick.

Half way up our builder Kevin passed me in his white van, no doubt shaking his head at my insanity, with a friendly toot and a wave.  Now normally I hate it when people toot at me out there.  I don’t care whether I know you or not – it has a tendency to make me jump, and then spend the next 10 minutes or so trying to figure out your motivation.  Well I can’t see inside your car – glass reflects – and it’s very rare that I know what cars belong to who.  (GW has a very distinctive Multipla and is the exception to the rule).  Are you being friendly, saying thank you, commenting on my road skills, or expressing your disapproval of my very presence on your roads?    However Kevin had told me he’s waved at me before and I’ve ignored him…so I made a point of learning the last bit of his number plate.  I was therefore able to return his cheery wave with one of my own.  Luckily this was before the very steep bit when having both hands on the handlebars is pretty essential…

It went pretty well really.  In fact once past the steep bit at the bottom I just got faster and faster.  To make things even better, there wasn’t much traffic so I was left to enjoy the very green scenery and the aroma of wild garlic all by myself.  Very pleasant.  We are lucky around here :).  Having made it up there, the top of the Mendips was as nice as ever, but distinctly chilly as the Westerly wind was hiding up there.  I rolled my sleeves down again and took myself over the top and down Burrington Coombe.  Well I have to practice downs as well as ups I’ll have you know.  And it is a nice down :).  I pretty much nailed the bends too which was gratifying.  But I wasn’t half chilly by the time I reached the bottom.  Luckily it was warmer down there…

I like meeting cyclists on hills.  If you’re going up, and they’re flying down, you know that that awaits you and that they’ve earnt it – so you smile.  If you’re flying down, and they’re going up, you know what awaits them, and that you’ve earnt it – so you smile.  Generally speaking there’s a whole lot of smiling going on, usually in both directions :).

From there I went through round the lanes Langport and Wrington and over to Congresbury.  Along the fast but unpleasant main road stretch towards WSM until I could take the left turn to Puxton.  This may be marked “road closed” and indeed, if you’re a car it is, but it’s rare that a road is closed enough to stop a bike getting through.  The narrow bridge on this bit is closed off, with a perfect bike sized gap.  Therefore you get a nice stretch of traffic free country lane all to yourself.  Can’t be bad.

Off again, and over to Banwell, and across the main road to go up High Street.  At which point a rat ran across the road just in front of me.  Having not really planned its escape route it went up some steps and hid behind a flower pot, where I decided to leave it.  I’m thinking it’s probably not the kind of pet rat I’d like…  So, up the High Street, out past the Caves, up and over the lumpy back roads to Loxton and home via the Webbington.

Just past what was the Post Office in Loxton on the LHS before the motorway bridge the road was covered in glass.  Not sure what had happened since there was no debris other than glass, but whatever it was, someone needs to clear it up.  I picked my bike up and walked round, as you do, and luckily avoided a puncture.  There was glass transferred for quite a long way too, picked up in car tyres presumably, and I had to be careful for a while.  Just a FYI for anyone planning on cycling that way in the near future.

Cycling time: 2:10:33 hrs
Distance: 33.47 miles
Avs: 15.3 mph
ODO: 8321 miles

I could have gone further, but it would just have been more flat miles to kill time by then so there didn’t really seem much point.  As training rides go it was however both very pleasant and quite constructive.  All good then :).

Since I am working on my PMA, here are some positive things about a strong SSE wind.  It’s not as cold as a Northerly wind.  When descending the big hill into Wells it works as an efficient brake and stops you scaring yourself going downhill and round corners too fast.  It doesn’t make climbing up hills any worse.  And if it clouds over, which it did for a while, not to worry because some new weather will be along shortly…  However when all is said and done, I’ve had my fill of wind just lately – enough already!

Today was a hilly ride, half of which I did with Mim as I fancied some company and she happened to be free.  Having for various reasons been off her game for quite a while, she headed for home half way round rather than overdo it which meant I got to have the best of both worlds – a ride in company and a ride by myself.  Couldn’t have worked out better if I’d planned it :).

We started with Shipham Hill.  Since we set off from her place I’m afraid I’d lost my benchmark again, so all I can say is that I got up it ok.  From there it was down to Churchill, and the usual wiggle across to get to the next climb – Burrington Coombe.  As climbs go, it was relatively pleasant.  Sunny, not too busy etc.  Mim, showing no sign of ill effects, chatted away as we climbed, which was conveniently distracting.  We even caught a rabbit near the top, which is apparently the thing to do…

(Although I think of them as hares not rabbits – tomayto, tomahto…  Well greyhounds chase hares don’t they?  Or is it a rabbit?  Maybe I should stick to Leporidae…but I fear that might be getting a bit silly.  Shall we call the whole thing off?)

We parted company as I took the low road down to Compton Martin and she took the high road back to descend the Gorge.  I pootled my way through West Harptree, Litton, and Chewton Mendip before doing the long slow climb up the Bristol Road to the top of the world above Wells.  Hence the aforementioned descent.  Which was fairly enjoyable 🙂

Once out the other side of Wells, having courteously avoided running over the various pedestrians who seem to mill around the High Street in Brownian motion fashion, I was equally considerate in letting a car + caravan go past me on the Burcott Road.  Which then meant playing tag with the darn thing for the next few miles, as he had to stop and let oncoming traffic past etc,  until the driver realised he was possibly at his destination and waved me past.  Remind me not to do that again.  Having said that, he thought I was lovely for letting him past, and was apologetic when he waved me round, so if I’ve added to the “cyclists aren’t all bad” side of the scales, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing :).

After all the hills the return leg was pretty easy.  A Discover Adventure van, complete with extra bikes and a “caution cyclists” sign went past me, triggering L2P memories, and a degree of curiosity as to what it was doing out here.  However it pulled over in a lay-by, and I went past, none the wiser.   As I hit the straight from Wedmore it went eerily quiet…as the wind was finally behind me, and I got to fly to Cheddar, 25mph without trying, as well as leaving a couple more Leporidae in my wake.  I know I know, small things please small minds…*grin*.

Cycling time: 2:55:35 hrs
Distance: 41.70 miles
Avs: 14.1 mph
ODO: 8249 miles

According to the elevation profile, that included 2723ft of climbing.  Not as much as the other day I’ll grant you, but more my kind of climbs, and definitely not flat!  My knee was strapped up and behaved itself.  Keen not to make the same mistakes as on that last ride, I ate some as I went round and made sure to drink a lot.  As a result it went fine, and oddly enough it didn’t even feel like particularly hard work.  And my tan lines are even more defined than before.  So that went well then 🙂

A little while back, GB and I were supposed to go to Bruton and back.  As you can see here – we didn’t.  Well today we did.  Although I’d left the route in his capable hands, I had seen it online so I did know what I was letting myself in for…

According to the man himself, it was nigh on 5000 feet of climbing.  That’s 1495 metres.  That’s not an inconsiderable amount of going up.  To add extra piquancy to our ride, Mother Nature was feeling more than a little windy, in fact, according to the weather forecast, somewhere around 20mph windy from the ENE.  *bbrrrrr*.  The outward leg of our ride was, apart from the across the exposed top of the Mendips bit, mostly going uphill, so the wind wasn’t as much of a problem as it might have been.  It certainly was on the way back though.  Ok, sometimes it was behind us, which was a great and glorious, not to mention much quieter, thing.  But when it was being obstreperous (a good word n’est-ce pas?) it was as much fun as a hormonal teenager.  I should know, I have one now ;).

It was nice to travel some unfamiliar roads, and get a bit further afield.  It was even pretty scenic.  Wildlife was a little in short supply though, even the lesser spotted lycra variety.  I did see a nice buzzard up close and a classic pair of Sloanes though… *grin*

I was hoping to give you the usual comparative stats for Shipham Hill, up which we started out, but having cycled ’round the Square keeping warm for a bit, I failed to zero the computer before we set off (doh!).  It did feel pretty good though.  As with the other hills today I was trying, where possible, to be in one gear less low than usual as apparently that’s good training.  I reckon somewhere around 16:00 probably covers it, so not bad.  In fact all of today’s climbs went well by my standards, and there were some truly lovely downhills.  My max speed was 38.5 – which is darn good for me.  I may not love hills, but I do like knowing, as I ascend, that sooner or later, I shall be going down in the world 😉

However if you’re after proper stats, try these on for size:
Cycling time: 4:12:45 hrs
Distance: 62.20 miles
Avs: 14.7 mph
ODO: 8208 miles

Due to the café in Bruton being slightly too classy for us as well as devoid of cycle parking opportunities we didn’t stop for coffee until back at Sweets, by which time I had neither eaten nor drunk enough.  Coffee and very good carrot cake were slightly on the too little too late front and the last leg home was hard work.  It took a while to get going again, even if it was warmer by now, so the brief stretch of being pushed along the Levels was very welcome.  After half-inching a lift from an unsuspecting pair of hares on the climb out of Wedmore we dropped ’em like hot coals and hurtled down the usual bit, which was more than a little enjoyable on many fronts…but by the time we reached the straight and hit the wall of wind (and sound), well…the tank was empty.  I’d gotten too hot, my knee hurt, and I was dehydrated, so I had to settle for letting GB head off into the distance.  Still, at least they didn’t catch us, that would have been embarrassing *grin*.

The main downside to today’s ride was that my knee, no doubt not fully recovered from last weekend’s sportive, was not good from the get go.  Worse still, the painkiller combo that I took in Bruton which has recently been a bit of a magic bullet, didn’t do the trick.  It may have taken the edge of it, but that was it.  Not good :(.  Pain takes it out of me, and combine that with the sapping wind and the hills…ick!  As a result I felt a bit done in by the time I got home, but actually I recovered faster than I thought I would.

However it was a really good ride.  Well, let me qualify that.  Youngest asked me if I’d had a good ride and had I enjoyed it?  I explained that I hadn’t precisely enjoyed it – I’m not big on pain – but that it was a very good training ride.  And it was :).

Tomorrow is a rest day…  No really, it is, this is not a jam thing *grin*.

Time to get back on the bike.  All these Bank Holiday shenanigans are playing havoc with my cycling possibilities so I thought it best to get out when I could…  However I didn’t have a lot of time – places to be, people to see – so I wasn’t overly adventurous with my route.  One of those time when you know how much time you’ve got and cycle to fill that.  I did go out over Mudgeley and came home by going back up Winscombe Hill, just to thrown in the odd up.   In the middle there was a whole lot of Level stuff, as per usual.

It was sunny, but man, with the not inconsiderable wind emanating from somewhere in the vicinity of Siberia, it was not warm.  In fact I’d go so far as to call it chilly.  My gilet came off somewhere around Draycott, but the arms stayed on and extended the whole way round.  However it made for good motivation to keep going, that’s for sure.  It got windier the closer I got to home, and it hadn’t been exactly helping to start with – I guess the Mendips were providing more shelter than I thought they were, so the road to Winscombe was quite a slog.  However the main reason to go up the silly hill at the end was to fly down the bypass at 30mph, which is definitely my idea of fun.  And it was.  Much fun was had by all :).

Having forgotten to turn the computer on when I left, my stats are a little off, so you can have a guesstimate.

Cycling time: 2:00hrs
Distance: 32.00 miles
Avs: 15.5 mph
ODO: 8146 miles

Considering it’s only 3 days post event I felt pretty good.  The knee was a bit twingey but I’ll allow it that.  Other than that…well, there is no other than that :).

When I set off this morning, distinctly grumpy around the edges, I didn’t really have a route in mind.  I’d rejected the normal loop – did that last week – and was considering the sea-side, to play spot the northerner.  As it turns out I did neither of those things, and just for fun and to take the grumpy edge off, I decided to start off with Shipham Hill.

It being hot and sunny, as someone has forgotten to point out to the weather gods that it is in fact April, I was in full summer garb.  I was already pretty warm at the bottom of the hill, and I was very warm by the time I reached top!  However it turns out I equalled my PB for getting from home to the top – 15:30 – so I guess that’s hardly surprising.  Last time I did that I was chasing GB, this time was on my own.  I’m quietly pleased about that.  Go me! 🙂

I decided a nice down would be good as a reward, and took the extra hit to go up to Tynings and Charterhouse so as to come down Burrington Coombe.  I had a fair amount of fun descending, especially as the car behind me remained at a correctly respectful distance behind me and didn’t menace me at all, leaving me free to do my best around the bends.  Yep – down was good.  And much cooler 🙂

From there I went through Langford to Wrington, wiggled out to Sandford, and took in some fast flat stuff to go around Puxton to Banwell.    In fact the route is here should you care.  I think it looks like K-9 but maybe it’s just me…  I took the High Street through Banwell and up past the Caves to get me over to Loxton, past the Webbington and home.  Which makes it all sound very fast and easy whereas actually it’s quite lumpy…honest!

Cycling time: 2:14:45
Distance: 32.74 miles
Avs: 14.5 mph
ODO: 7961 miles

Considering how well I was going I’m kinda disappointed with my average speed.  Fat chance of aiming for a Silver on Monday at that rate.  But then I shouldn’t be aiming at all – that’s GB‘s influence and it’s clearly dangerously infectious! 😉  I did however have a nice fairly relaxed ride in the sun, with a few more hills than might have been expected, but that weren’t a problem 🙂

Oh, and I’m not so grumpy now either *grin*.

In other news – today I have ordered DeFeet Speede socks, to cool my feet down and reduce tan lines.  I have also ordered some once a day application Riemann P20 sun cream.  Both things that were recommended in Cycling Plus and that seem like a good idea to me.  However, it will now be cold and windy for the foreseeable future… 😉