Same Rapha, different day.  *grin*.  According to the weather forecast on Monday, Tuesday was my only chance to ride this week, before the weather went to hell in a handcart. You’d think by now that I’d know better than to pay attention to weather forecasts wouldn’t you? *sigh*.  However in this case their notorious inaccuracy worked in my favour, and last night it became clear that I might get another ride in.  Get in!

Of course this was all dependant on getting the family car to the garage, assessed, diagnosed and fixed, and back home again in time for me to get out of the house with sufficient daylight to spare for a decent ride.  That’s a lot of variables and a lot of ifs…  But priorities are priorities and apparently it’s more important to get the car fixed than for me to get a ride, so my ride was left in the lap of the gods.

Luckily it would appear that the gods were smiling down on me.  Or just too busy elsewhere to be paying attention.  Apparently 3 days before Christmas people are far too busy panic buying and stocking up for the nuclear winter that you’d think had been forecast to go to the garage to get their car fixed.  Not only were they happy to fit the car in, they diagnosed 2 knackered steering track rod ends and an oval tyre and fixed the lot without us having to remortgage the house.  I’m not saying a bill for £188 is welcome at this time of the year but it could have been a darn sight worse.  It frequently is!  All that and home in time for lunch.  In fact if it wasn’t for lunch I’d have been out earlier, but since I hadn’t had breakfast some form of sustenance seemed like a good idea.  That combined with the fact that Mim had suggested she might be around at 1:00pm for a ride served to delay me a little.  So I ate, texted Mim, let lunch settle, kitted up, and met her at her house.  I feel like I’ve done a lot of cycling by myself recently and I really fancied some company.  It makes a grey uneventful ride that bit less boring – grey and uneventful being two words that pretty much summed up today’s weather, although there was a nasty wind from the NW to add a little “je ne sais quoi” to riding life ;).

Today’s ride was a ride of two halves.  Or a figure of eight.  Also known as the best of both worlds.  I did a pretty flat circle with Mim, who had to be home by 2:30pm at the latest, and then I did a hilly loop all by myself.  Look at the photo and see if you can guess where my loop went?

Goats. Though I am informed they may actually be sheep.

Yes, that’s twice up the Gorge this week.  I am informed that my last post said that I like hills.  Which it did, but I think I should clarify that.  It’s not so much hills I like.  It’s setting myself a challenge and achieving it.  I like triumphing over a hill.  I like proving I still can.  And whilst I don’t exactly love hills, I most certainly love descents, and there’s only one way to get those.  As some bloke called Newton is alleged to have said, what goes up must come down :).  The award for the best descent of the day goes to Shipham Hill, unencumbered by white vans or quarry lorries, and all mine to go down as fast as I dared.

Cycling time: 2:19:18 hrs
Distance: 37.41 miles.
Avs: 16.0 mph
ODO: 11415 miles

Another ride, and a fair few miles.  I don’t think I’m going to make it to the nearest annual milage goal post by the end of this month…ho hum…but it was a good ride. Both my legs and lungs were working well, aided and abetted by strapping and pills.  It was great to be out there, and it was still lovely to be snuggled up in my Rapha winter jersey.  Grey and miserable is never as bad once you’re out in it as it is when you’re looking at it from inside your warm dry house, and there’s a lot to be said for fresh air and being outside.  It’s just possible that I should have maybe eaten more before I went out, as when I arrived home and got off the bike I became aware that I was more than a little woozy.  Oops ;).  I’m thinking a couple of restorative glasses of red wine may well be in order – purely medicinal you understand.  And it is Christmas right? 😉

My next ride should be on Christmas Eve when there is due to be a convergence of lycra clad escapees at Sweets, who are opening specially.  If you’re due to be one of them – I’ll see you there :).