On Wednesday I went to the seaside.  It had been a while, and I thought t’were best done before the schools break up and Weston hits proper silly season.  If I can ride, I should ride, because sometimes I can’t even when I want to, so waste not, want not right?  It was a flat fast sunny ride, good for the body, the head, and the tan lines ;).

Cycling time: 1:54 hrs.
Distance: 32.1 miles.
Avs: 16.9 mph.
ODO: 2983.8 miles.

On Friday I did not go to the seaside.  Instead the girls and I, being George and Mim, went for a coffee loop to the Walled Garden to catch up.  I’m as close to form as I’m ever going to get, it being that time in the season, and I felt pretty good out there.  Well mostly.  I had to ask that we not do much by way of hills because hills hurt in more ways that one.  I’d like to say I’m having a bad patch, but I think it’s just getting worse.   Anyway, as rides go, it worked out well on several levels.  They chatted, and I rode, and that meant our speed pretty much matched.  Mim was going into Bristol, so the Walled Garden was on the way, and it worked for me because there’s a Gromit at Lye Cross Farm that needed hunting down and photographing for posterity :).  Riding in the sun with friends doesn’t suck.  Neither did going down the A38 hill from the airport to the farm…I’d always wondering how much fun that would be.  The answer is a lot :D.

Cycling time: 2:04 hrs.
Distance: 30.1 miles.
Avs: 14.5 mph.
ODO: 3013.9 miles.

Tomorrow is the Great Weston Ride, a tradition for GB and I.  For a change I shall be riding an event in company, which I’m really looking forward to.  Here’s hoping I feel better tomorrow than I do today though…or it could be a seriously bad day at the office.  Still PMA right?  Here’s the eponymous tune for you, should you fancy a listen.  It’s quite cheery too :).

On days like this it’s very important to stay hydrated.

So George and I rode to Glastonbury to do precisely that.  Oh, and gossip of course.

Then she went shopping, and I decided to see how fast I could come home.

Quite, as it happens…

…and I got me my QOM down the final sprint home!

What’s more, I’m pretty sure I could beat that if I tried harder :D.

Small things…small minds…and I’m pleased 😉

Cycling time: 1:35 hrs.
Distance: 28.5 miles.
Avs: 17.9 mph.
ODO: 2826.5 miles.

And then I went and had some lunch with t’other half and rehydrated some more… 😉

Another sunny day…wow, the weather is practically predictable and consistent!  Would it be too soon to call it summer?  A step too far?

As you may have gathered by now, the easiest way for me to get out on the bike is to have company that I’ll be letting down if I don’t go.  Partially because I’ve done too much riding on my own, and partially because if I do need some sort of help, there’s someone there to look out for me.  Today’s escort of choice was Gary and, considering he was dragging his arse all the way over from Minehead to go riding, I’d have been motivated even if I hadn’t been feeling a little more human this morning.  So all I had to do this morning was get up and faff, which this kind of weather makes so much easier.  One layer.  Two variables.  Easy.  Even for me ;).

The plan was to go Gromit hunting.  Around here, there’s one outside the entrance to Cheddar Caves, one in the Airport, and one at Lye Cross Farm.  Doable.  I even got all organised and plotted a lumpy route to join them all up.  Well, it was a good plan…

However my insides do not like hills when they’re like this.  The pain lives inside my left hand side somewhere near my left hip.  Ish.  It’s mostly ok when riding is on the flat or not too strenous, but there’s something about going up hill or pushing too hard.  I guess it engages core muscles around there, or maybe it’s that each pedal stroke hits that area harder.  Every stroke kinda bangs against the ouch.  Either way, it’s not a whole heap of fun, even with the analgesic levels at max.  So fun as it was to find the aMazing Gromit!, and be taken up the Gorge tourist stylee (just for GB), by the time we got to the top, I’d decided that the rest of the hills I had planned could cheerfully wait until another day.  Time for a plan B :).

After narrowing down the nearly infinite number of possible route permutations, mostly dependant on which coffee stop was nearest and preferable, I decided we’d go flat, and head for the Rock Cafe Café above Wells.  Fairly flat it may have been, and sunny, and warm…but there was a b*gger of a headwind!  It always amazes me when there’s wind like that on a day like this.  Where does it come from?  Where is it going?  And what are the chances of it being a tailwind on the way back?  That’s a rhetorical question by the way, I think we all know the answer to that…

I’m never entirely sure how to get there, once the long straight Roman road bit finally runs out, so I had to kinda guess towards the end.  But since we didn’t get lost and we did end up sitting outside in the sun drinking coffee, I’m thinking I probably worked it out ok ;).  I was glad of the break, and the coffee.  Time to re-group and prepare for the next attack ;).

The best thing about the Rock Cafe Café?  The descent down to Wells from there.  One of my very favourites.  Can you have a very favourite?  Hm.  Well, I like it a lot, as the very large grin on my face all the way down probably betrayed.  Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee…. :).  Such fun.  Gary had a similar smile as he pulled up behind me – so it’s not just me *grin*.  Gary was still being a tourist – he’s not from round here – so we went and checked out the scaffolding-free Cathedral, as you do.  So it’s entirely his own fault that I made him stand in front of it and have his photo taken.  Well he could have argued, but let’s not pretend that that would have made any difference, so he quite wisely didn’t bother.  Besides which, Wells is in Somerset, so it was all very fitting.

From there we headed home, zig zagging across the Levels, neatly managing to avoid anything with much of a gradient because I’m clever like that.  Gary even very kindly let me wheelsuck from time to time, which is always nice, and occasionally essential.  I’d like to say the wind now came in useful, but since it seemed to have moved more around to the North, surprise surprise, it really wasn’t.  Apart from that minor annoyance, it was all very pleasant.  I even got a little sprint back into town in, thanks to my lead out man, though a little too late to trouble the Strava segment ;).  It all worked out ok though.  We followed the two hour rule, we barely re-traced our tracks, we did some up, and some down.  Lots of boxes ticked.  And the hills will still be there next time, even if the Gromits have moved on.  Good company, good times :).

Cycling time: 2:24 hrs.
Distance: 36.2 miles.
Avs: 15.1 mph.
ODO: 2798.0 miles.

It’s hard to tell the poison from the cure…  Hard to tell what’s a side effect of the treatment, or a symptom of the problem.  If life’s a journey, then this bit is a tad bumpy.  I’ve been on the pills constantly for well over a week now.  For the most part, they’re doing their job.  Or near enough.  But even if I’m not feeling it, clearly it’s taking it out of me in the background.  I’m having to learn that during a bad patch, I just can’t get the tank as full as it needs to be.  So riding 62 miles is fine…if you don’t mind sleeping for the rest of the afternoon afterwards.  Spending a very enjoyable day walking around Bristol Gromit hunting is fine if you don’t mind taking a long nap when you get in.  And the cumulative effect of both?  Monday was a complete wash out…inside, if not out.  I barely had the energy to get off the sofa all day, let alone do any form of exercise.  It wasn’t even up for mental discussion.  Drained…

I wasn’t feeling much better this morning.  On the pills and with as much energy as a becalmed wind sock.  But the weather was still gorgeous, and there was even a cooling breeze.  Cue plenty of mental discussion.  I negotiated with myself.  Stay in and rest again?  And go mad and get fat?  Ride as usual?  And seriously regret it?  So I compromised with myself…and decided to do a short ride in the morning, and do a wattbike hour in the evening if I was up for it.  Which I’m not, but hey, I got the first part done, and that’s better than none.  I knew I’d paid for it…but it could have been a lot worse…and after a good night’s sleep it’ll be a lot better :).

I took myself out for an easy loop.  I did a little bit of up, a little bit of down, and a quite a lot of going round in a circle.  Somehow along the way I even grabbed myself a QOM up Rughill, which just means that none of the other girls who’ve ever gone up there were trying ;).  I didn’t feel great, but then I didn’t expect to.  I felt better for getting out, which was the main thing.  And, though I had to wait at the top for a bl**dy horsebox to get out of the way so that I could have fun, I did get to enjoy Notting Hill the proper way around :D.  I’m glad I went.

Cycling time: 0:55 hrs.
Distance: 14.1 miles.
Avs: 15.3 mph.
ODO: 2761.8

Sunny Saturday dawned…  Only it wasn’t sunny at all.  The only patch of cloud in the whole country…and it was over us.  All grey and disappointing.  No fair!  But faint heart never won fair maid, and today it was never going to be just me, so I was once again provided with motivation to get out of the house.  Which I definitely need at the moment, what with one thing and another.  It was another of Martyn’s plans, bringing together him, I, Jon, James, Paul and Steve in the Square at 9:00am for a pre-advertised 55 mile route, with the odd lump but fairly flat really.  Apart from the starting with Notting Hill bit, “just to warm the legs up”.  In case you were wondering, I quite like my legs cold ;).  And Steve would probably quite like not to have punctured shortly afterwards.  Especially a rear wheel puncture.  B*gger.  Being short on time as it was, something to do with brownie points, he decided to bail, discretion being the better part of valour, and sent us on our way without him.  Which was a shame, having just started to deliberate on some rather interesting ideas for foreign adventures in years to come.  Ah well – next time.  To be continued…!

The five off us headed off again, heading South for the summer.  Two in front and two in the back, for the most part.  I felt escorted.  Slightly sedan chair like, oddly.  Any time there was a hill of any sort, the lads were off though…especially when Martyn had a Strava segment in mind…Strava has a lot to answer for!  I just did the usual falling off the back, plodding thing, whilst quietly laughing (or not so quietly) at their antics.  Ain’t nothing going to get me up hills faster, especially when I’m in the middle of a bad patch and on the pills!  Jon very kindly waited for me to catch up every time, and eventually we’d get faster, they’d slow down a bit, and we’d all be back together again.

By the time all of us got to the top of Woolavington, the sun had broken through, shining over the guys waiting for me there.  We took a break, and I stashed my arm warmers and gilet, having finally warmed up enough for me.  Whilst re-mounting I over-balanced, and nearly tipped straight over to the other side.  I’m not always that steady on my feet these days.  Side effect or symptom, hard to tell.  My left foot somehow found the ground, my hand found Paul’s saddle, and I managed to stay upright.  However my right foot got caught on my chainset.  Literally.

But we were on our way…and I was kinda ignoring it, until I looked down and realised I was dripping blood.  MaxiMe and I are so related.  Whilst walking along the canal in Bristol the other day, a joke was made about pushing him in.  His first comment was that we’d have to pay for his new phone!  Well my first worry in this instance was that I was going to get blood on my lovely (newish) white shoes! *grin*.  I did my best to pull my very short sock over it, but I was fighting a losing battle.  That’s what you get for trying to avoid yet more daft tan lines ;).  I asked, without much expectation of a positive response, if anyone had a tissue…which unsurprisingly they didn’t.  But Martyn, being ever the consummate gentleman, actually had a handkerchief!  A handkerchief!  Remember those?!  So we pulled over, and I wiped the oil away and mopped up as best I could.  In case you were wondering, even if I were the kind of girl who kept her chainset immaculately clean (I’m not, ask Chris), they’re not the kind of thing you should go slicing yourself open with. D’oh!

Off we went again, with me wincing slightly from time to time, and hoisting my now red sock up now and then.  Paul was off on one today…and there’s never any point expecting Martyn to rein him in – they’re as bad as each other!  Clearly he knew where he was going, hurtling happily around country lanes that were far less familiar to me.  Up to a point.  When it came to actually finding the coffee stop, somewhere beyond the Mumps, things got distinctly more sketchy…!  For a while there I thought we were just going to keep heading South forever and ever, never asking for directions, until…but somehow, by luck more than good judgement, though both of them will deny that vehemently, we arrived at our destination.

The tea shop at Maunsell Lock is a lovely spot.  Secluded, sunny, pretty.  The coffee isn’t the greatest, but they did, amazingly, find me a large plaster.  I didn’t think Health & Safety allowed such things these days, for some daft fear of latex allergy.  But it was a fabric one, not a latex one, so maybe that’s why.  Not that I care, I was just happy to cover up the mess I’d made!

Boats, and water, and tall stories, and shorter ones.  We sat around in the sunshine, and watched Martyn try and figure out how to get from where we were, to where we wanted to be, presuming he was entirely sure where we were to start with ;).  There was lots of gadget consulting.  Asking a broad range of people for their suggestions.  Many cooks, too many Injuns…

..which probably explains why we headed off down a no-through road, got chased by dogs that the farmer couldn’t control and had to wait for a grass snake to cross the road before we could turn around and come back past the now chortling farmer again.  Bet that made his day!

Right, where we were going again?  Oh yes – home.  Home, James, and don’t spare the horses…!  It didn’t seem to take as long to get back to the Mumps as it did going the other way – one of the benefits of actually knowing where you’re going.  That and caffeine fuelled group riding, one presumes.  The main drag back from Othery on the A361 towards Moorlinch is fast, flat, busy, and not a whole heap of fun, so it was a relief to get back on to back roads, even if that was going to mean running up that hill.  Unsurprisingly, I just plodded happily up, in the sunshine, while they all waited for me at the junction with the A39.  They were taking various sorts of break, so so did I.  Time to decant bottles, and take the next dose of pills while no-one was looking.  It is one of those weeks after all.  I think I got away with it, I may be wrong.  Not that it matters.  Since I blab all over t’internet, it’s not like I can be said to be hiding it!  Duly refreshed, we were off again.  Getting to the other side of the road here was as much fun as ever – there’s definitely an element of playing chicken!  But we all made it, and from here on in, it was much easier.  And much flatter.  Coincidence? ;).

After some of usual variety of fast and foolish got us from Burtle to Mark, it was time to part company.  All of us had places to be, and since 55 miles was clearly going to be over 60 by the time we’d finished, we didn’t have as much time to get back to our respective homes as we thought we were going to have!  Time to find the most direct route from A to B.  Or in my case, M to A.  Which meant heading East on the Kingsway until you hit A38 and go North.  All in the fastest possible way.  Well, I couldn’t very well have my average speed dropping, now could I?  I even overtook a tractor on the A38, since there was room for me to past, but not for the traffic behind me.  not funny at all.  Not much ;).  It’s nice to know there’s some things I can still do…

Cycling time: 3:34 hrs.
Distance: 61.6 miles.
Avs: 17.2 mph.
ODO: 2747.7

I’m getting behind again…too busy actually doing things to write about them I guess!  However right now I haven’t got the energy left to do anything so maybe I can catch up a bit.

On Friday the weather was lovely.  I felt like I should ride, and not waste it, so I knew I would, but I was feeling a bit less than enthusiastic about riding on my own again.  Then Mim rang…and suddenly things were looking up.  She was riding into Bristol, so did I fancy keeping her company for a bit?  Mostly certainly. Very serendiptous :).  So I ended up with a ride that was the best of both worlds.  Half a ride of hills and conversation, half a ride of flat, fast, and headspace.  All in the the lovely sunshine, with no wind whatsoever, other than that which we generated ourselves.

Since it wasn’t going to be a long ride, I opted for quality rather than quantity.  Which essentially just means doing a few hills.  We went up Shipham Hill, up to Charterhouse, and down Burrington Combe to Langford where we parted company.  I then went off to Sandford, up Winscombe Hill, and down the bypass to home again.  By the time I got home I was feeling infinitely better .  And, according to the wonders of Strava, even though I wasn’t feeling great out there, I did my best times up those hills this year, and my fastest ever down the Combe.  Cool :).

Cycling time: 1:17 hrs.
Distance: 19.2 miles.
Avs: 14.8 mph.
ODO: 2686.1 miles.

Writing my blog and review for the Quebrantahuesos took me a very long time.  Unsurprisingly, as it also took me a very long time to ride it!  I also put quite a lot of work into my blogs.  Still, I couldn’t write all the time, and I did manage to get out once last week for a quick recovery ride in the sort of sunshine.  I’ll have to admit I did it on the old bike as I hadn’t got anyone around to help me reassemble the new one, which Chris had taken the rear mech off when he put it in the bike box – talk about too technical for me! *grin*.  Once out there, it felt a bit like I was re-marking my territory – not cat style though!  Checking in with my patch, the Levels, the familiar roads…  plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.  This may not be quite the kind of waterfall I’d like to be seeing, but better than nothing, right? 😉  Who knew it was possible to miss mountains…?

Cycling time: 1:40 hrs.
Distance: 27.0 miles.
Avs: 16.1 mph.
ODO: 16499.2 miles

The ACG had big, long, plans for last Sunday, as GB will tell you. However I was due to be away, so I made a much shorter plan with Paul, he with the racing legs.  It was a good excuse to wear my proudly earned kit…even if it doesn’t go with the bike.  Heinous I know.  I happily followed along, wheelsucking as ever, for a loop out to Sweets for coffee and back.  Very pleasant it was too.  I am getting a tad bored of riding on my own and it was really nice to have company.  He even found us a little steep hill to do that I wasn’t familiar with – chapeau!  As you can see, Glastonbury, mid festival, was looking very lovely, though this was as close as either of us fancied getting!

Cycling time: 1:48 hrs.
Distance: 28.5 miles.
Avs: 15.8 mph.
ODO: 2666.9 miles.

I should be watching the Tour de France, but to be honest I’m a doer, not a spectator.  And though I may be a tad confined to the sofa today, that doesn’t mean I have the patience to sit still and watch hours of cycling.  I gather Cav won his first stage today though, which is cool.  Besides which, if I want to know what’s going on, I only have to take a peek at my twitter stream from time to time.  On our way back from QBH we stopped at a service station, which just happened to be dedicated to the Tour de France in the Pyrenees, with an awesome cycling sculpture thing.  The perfect stop for us, n’est-ce-pas?  I wonder who’ll be doing this in a few weeks time?

I don’t know what next year will bring. I’m hoping it’ll be less challenging than this one, and I don’t mean on the cycling front. I’m currently mulling over options for next year’s big goal.  I wonder where I’ll be going to next?  Suggestions?  So far I’m tempted by the Cingles de Ventoux, or maybe the Etape if the route is interesting, or, or….well?

… said a little better than before.

It’s not really happening though…

On Tuesday the sun shone, so I went for a ride. Not with any particular goal in mind, just to not waste it, to be out there and enjoy it. Which I did. And I wasn’t hanging around and I did try, even if not to the max.  I even did Shipham Hill.  So I was kinda hoping that the stats would show that I was doing ok.  Well…  I can go downhill.  I can certainly bomb along on the flat.  But hills?  I still suck :(.  It is just a tad disheartening…  At least it was pretty out there, right?

Cycling time: 2:01 hrs.
Distance: 30.9 miles.
Avs: 15.2 mph.
ODO: 2350.30 miles.

Ho hum…