Also known as the ride that wasn’t. This is not an event review, this is a non-event review.
It started with an unusually accurate weather forecast. Heavy rain all day. And wind. Both of which were fully installed by the time the alarm went off this morning. Nice. Not deterred, or at the very least resigned to it and determined to make the best of it, GB and I headed in to Bristol. Dad rang on the way in to confirm that he was going to stay home in the warm and dry, something which sounded like a very sensible decision. How right he was…
After the usual degree of faffing at GB’s office we headed off, in the constant rain, to the start at Millenium Square. I was not a happy bunny. Not due to the wet per se, but it just all felt off. I mean, I knew my bike has brakes, theoretically…but through that kind of rain, on soaked roads, with unfamiliar roads and surfaces, my stopping ability was seriously impaired, and my confidence headed for the hills. Which was the only thing that got to the hills today ;).
After a little while standing under shelter outside, commiserating with fellow brave nutters, we headed for the start line with about 10 minutes to spare. Just as we got there, they cancelled the ride. Accident on the Portway combined with bad weather and poor visibility stops play. However since we were already wet and we know the route, we decided to head off and do it anyway. We were far from the only ones to make that decision too.
However this was not a good decision. At the end of the Portway GB’s back tyre went explosively. I was a little way behind and still heard it. Caution was getting the better of me you see… So we spent a little while in an off road cubby hole changing the tube. 13 minutes apparently. Getting wetter and colder. Off we went again, up and over a seriously scarey Avonmouth Bridge. The gusty side wind combined with the slippery wet road surface was verging on lethal and gave me the heeby jeebies. As I approached the end I saw what I thought was GB waiting for me, not surprisingly considering my panic related sloth. However it transpired that his back wheel had gone again… Once off the bridge and safely to one side, he tried to change the tube again…only to eventually discover the side wall of his tyre was split. Game over. #Fail, as eldest would say.
What do girls do when they get into trouble? They call Daddy *grin*. Oh yes. One damp phone call later and help was on its way in from Portishead. We walked into Pill, and awaited our own personal broom wagon. Although obviously I’m always pleased to see Dad, I have to admit to having been particularly pleased on this occasion *grin*. Luckily, and unexpectedly, it turned out that we could get both bikes in the back, and both riders on seats, something which had been a little in doubt. I had been going to have to cycle into Bristol to meet up with them there – something I was happy to do, but it’s just as well I didn’t since I hadn’t realised quite how cold I had become. I’m talking mid-winter frozen to the bone, teeth chattering, no toes cold… I’m thinking riding like that might have been a bad idea. Mind you, the exertion almost seemed attractive as I thought it might warm me up!
Safely ensconced in a dry car and slowly misting it up for him, Dad drove us back to GB’s office, where we reverse-faffed, got into dry clothes, and came home via scaldingly hot drive-thru Macdonald’s coffee. Not particularly good coffee, but it was hot and wet and that’s what was required.
So that was the ride that wasn’t. 4th in a row not to go to plan for an understandably grumpy GB. Which meant I got to return the favour he did by listening to me vent post Dragon last weekend, by listening to him do likewise *grin*. He was not a happy bunny…
We were clearly not meant to ride today. My instincts were telling me this. The weather, the organisers, etc… all telling us this. Maybe we should have listened and stayed home and drunk good coffee… But actually having said that, it was still, oddly, good to be out there. Stuck at home on a wet Sunday afternoon, after a Lush enhanced defrosting bath, watching Avatar (again) I was, and am, bored. Ho hum… There’s no pleasing some people ;). Here’s hoping next week’s Somerset 100 goes a little better. I probably shouldn’t have said that…