It’s all about just riding the bike.  After two weeks away from it, I’m just happy to be back riding the bike.  Considering how I’m feeling at the moment, I’m also grateful to be up to riding it at all, as after the ACG ride on Sunday I spent the rest of the afternoon unable to get off the sofa, and it’s only been getting better slowly.  So it’s not about training, or climbing, or even the two hour rule.  Today it was about getting some endorphins going around, and getting out of the house, properly distracted from the whole wallowing self-pity fest that this could easily turn into.  Enough already!  So once the mob were safely ensconced at the KOW Activity Club, I went for a ride with Mim.  Time to get a few miles in in company and catch up.  Shooting the breeze…because it was windy, but just a bit muggy and nondescript weatherwise otherwise.

This is what we did.  Nowt special – some flat, some little lumps.  Once again the legs were feeling pretty good, and the engine was doing its best.  On those fronts I didn’t find Brent Knoll much of a problem, and we even chatted up Mudgley Hill, albeit with breaks to breathe.  But I was painfully reminded that that kind of thing is not good for my insides, which doesn’t bode well for how I may be made to feel at the Sodbury Sportive on Sunday.  Still, things may well have settled down a bit by then?  We can but hope: *fingers crossed*, magpies saluted, entreaties to deities of choice made…  I still felt better on the bike than I have been feeling off it, so the ride achieved that for me at least.  It’s a start :).

Cycling time: 1:41:00 hrs
Distance: 28.42 miles
Avs: 16.9 mph.
ODO: 15210 miles

Unsurprisingly, however well I thought I was doing, I didn’t triumph in the Strava stakes (tho I still did pretty well by my standards) but that’s not what today was about, now is it?  It was about the company.  On learning a little more of my predicament, which I reluctantly had to explain a bit just in case my riding went properly pear-shaped, my aforementioned company told me off, quite gently to be fair, for not letting people in, and pointed out to me that my friends can’t help me if I don’t let them, that I can ask for help, and that I don’t have to be strong all the time.  Well, I wasn’t expecting that… !  Aw…shucks.  Not that it’ll make any difference to how I do things, we all roll how we roll, but it was nice to hear :).

I didn’t take photos en route today, so here’s something pink and girly for you, to go with the temporarily soft fluffy theme…

Look, a house plant I haven’t managed to kill yet!

Then I put a long dress on, stuffed these on underneath where no-one could see them, and went to work.

Normal service resumed…

…”she walks softly but she carries a big gun“…

😀

This week’s rides are serendipitous things, organised at short notice, and not planned in any real way.  This time around it was Martyn wondering if anyone from the ACG was likely to be around to ride this morning.  Yes, as it happens.  Me.  Which is great for me because currently I’m preferring to ride in company, and to not just do the same old same old by myself as usual.  Low boredom threshold and all that.

Thanks to the sun, and the Tour de France effect, there are hordes of cyclists out there at the moment.  We could invent a new game – spot the newbie?  Apparently new bikes sales have already increased by 6%, and LBSs across the country are being deluged by the “well I thought I’d get it out of the shed and take for a spin and…” brigade.  Allen keys and cash registers at the ready… ;).  It’ll be interesting to see whether there really has been, or will be, a sea change after the TdF and the Olympics, or whether it’s merely a brief tsunami, washing new bikes into sheds across the country before retreating and leaving them there to rust quietly, in so far as carbon Pinarellos rust…

Martyn isn’t that familiar with this part of the world, being Brent Knoll based, so he can’t easily plan a route, and I hadn’t planned one either because I’m a busy bunny.  And a tiny bit lazy.  Which was another perfect excuse for making it up as we went along.  Not South, because the ACG are heading south for the summer on Saturday.  Not West because it’s the summer holidays and the seaside is where the migratory grockles live and roam free.  So we wiggled, meandered, pottered, climbed, and descended around here instead.  It’s a funny looking route isn’t it?

It was quite nice really.  Which would be a bit of an understatement, considering how gorgeous the weather was.  It did mean the roads were busier than they should have been, as people were presumably desperate to get to the best place to enjoy it in.  A tad irritating but hey, I guess they’re as entitled to be out there as we are ;).  There was also more wind than you’d have thought but I can assure you it was there – we weren’t going fast enough to generate that much headwind – we never are!  Still, it was closer to cooling breeze than howling gale, and it would be churlish to complain.  Besides, isn’t it supposed to be wrong to attain perfection?  Something about flaws demonstrating our humanity…?  Or am I just talking b*ll*cks again? 😉 *grin*.

Look – I finally have a jersey to match my sunglasses.  You like?  I know, I’m not usually one for pink…but I’ll make an exception.  It’s not like it’s pastel pink right?  As to whether or not I’m a cow, I suggest you refrain from comment.  Even if it’s killing you ;).  Anyway, I believe I mentioned our route was an improvised one?  Well it was.  It was very much a question of getting to a junction and then deciding what to do.  Aided and abetted by…?  Guess..?  Yes – more signs!  *grin*

I wonder if I took the right pictures and put them all here, one after the other in order, you could figure out my routes by yourself?  A photographic dot-to-dot?  Or maybe we could just play “guess where the pink cow” is?

See look, not hordes of cyclists – herds of us! 😉  (I know, terrible…mea culpa).  As for our location, the red crown behind us is a fairly big clue if you’ve been around here in the last few months.  If however you prefer these things writ large in white on green for you then I have that covered too.

Cycling time: 2:03:22 hrs
Distance: 31.50 miles
Avs: 15.3 mph.
ODO: 15101 miles

Basically we rode in the sun, chatted a lot, ticked the two hour box, and got a bit more tanned.  We even watched farmers making hay while the sun shines.

Martyn is fast and strong, and hard work to keep up with (in a good way), and we seemed to be going fast enough, but I guess overall we weren’t?  Actually the last few rides have felt a bit slow, which is irritating, and I’m not sure why.  Maybe I’ve done enough?  Maybe I shouldn’t have stopped taking all my vitamins and supplements, because I’m fairly sure my dietician was wrong about those not helping, amongst other things?  Maybe I was just enjoying riding in the sun?  Still, I do love those flying rides so I hope I get back to them soon :(.  And I think I’ll be placing an order at zipvit asap.  Since I’ll be on holiday for a bit shortly, I guess I’ll be forced to see whether or not rest is really a good thing (*grrrr*)…and if it isn’t I’ll have some serious catching up to do when I get back!  I may get my hands on my long awaited new bike then though – so I’m bound to be faster, right? 😉  *fingers crossed*

I am short on time and short on words, but I have these to speak for me…and I’m not sure I need much more.

the view from the back road to Draycott

as close as I’ll ever get to Cavendish? 😉

long evening shadows…

smog? before the climb out of Westbury to the top…

The Sharps hot air balloon before descending the Gorge

If you want details, Bella has more to say than I do 🙂

Cycling time: 2:03:02 hrs
Distance: 31.69 miles
Avs: 15.5mph.
ODO: 15069 miles

I think that covers it, but in case you were wondering – it was lovely out there :).

I’ve not been able to get the usual miles in this week, for a multitude of reasons, none of which I really need to bore you with, and some of which are due to the weather for Wednesday’s Exmoor Beast preview trip which resulted in far less riding than planned!  But when it came to today, with the sun finally shining, and a clearly defined time slot that needed filling, today was definitely a riding day.  No more excuses!   I’ve done a lot of riding around here lately, around the flats mostly, and to be honest, I’m a little bored with it.  Last night, I decided I wanted to spend some time on top of the Mendips and, with wine fuelled ambition, I plotted myself a route which involved doing the long climb up from Westbury.  This morning, in the light of day, and with the wine aftermath, I decided I’d rather get up there an easier way which, and I know this may sound weird, meant going up Cheddar Gorge.  So I moved dots around on garmin connect, tweaked the route accordingly, checked it was all still going to fit with the schedule, and set off to do it.

It was mild, and the forecast was good, so I decided the time had come to christen one of my new jerseys, this time from veloist.cc, not least because at the Tour of the Cotswolds on Sunday I’ll be probably wearing Cyclosport kit so today it was important to wear kit that I wouldn’t need to wash and get dry before then.  Yes I’m lazy *grin*.  I think it’s safe to say I don’t have a shortage of kit these days, but it is kinda nice to have a whole range of options open to me.  I can pick and choose depending on my mood.  And co-ordinate, and mix and match, and…  Clearly this does mean faffing takes even longer… 😉

I discovered Bella was nearly dead, having left the cable plugged in apparently drained her even though it shouldn’t, so I bunged her on emergency charge while I got ready.  I can’t ride without stats right?  How am I ever going to check my performance on Strava without a gadget?  And how could there ever be any point pitting myself against a climb without being able to prove how well I did or didn’t do?  I know…sad isn’t it? ;).

9:05am, having been delayed by 5 minutes by a particularly annoying email, and with Bella up to 25%, it was time to get out there.  It’s so nice, and so unusual, to head out in just jersey and shorts.  I had a gilet and armwarmers in the saddle bag just in case but I knew that even if I was chilly when I set out, which I wasn’t, the Gorge would soon take care of that.  Which it did.

Actually the Gorge was lovely, scenically at least.  Quiet, green, and yet to be grockle filled as it would appear they rise late around here.  Well, they are on holiday right?  And I certainly wasn’t complaining.

I was trying not to hang around, but not to push so hard as to end up throwing up at the top which I gather some people do.  Where’s the fun in that?  Besides which there were photos to take and goats (yes, I know they’re sheep) to dodge, and cars to not annoy too much.  Oh, and to warn not to overtake me because if they did they’d hit a goat (ok, ok, a sheep).  I’m very courteous like that ;).

I did the best I could without overdoing it – using my new tactic of higher cadence in a lower gear if I can’t push a bigger gear, which seems to be working out alright for me.  I have definitely found the Gorge harder than I did today though I’m hard pushed to explain why it wasn’t that way, what with the wine after effects I mentioned earlier.  I think I was back to being solar powered – it’s the only possible explanation :).

See, look how happy I was to have survived?  Actually I was testing out my new camera‘s supposed anti-shake abilities (or optical image stabilizer if you want to get all technical) and as it turns out it’s pretty good at it.  I really wasn’t expecting the new toy to be better than the old one.  I only replaced the old one because the lens was scratched and the lens cover didn’t always completely open, which was getting to be a tad irritating.  I’d have replaced it with exactly the same model if it was still available, but it wasn’t.  And I merely mention all this so you don’t just think I’ve been gratuitously buying fancy new gadgets for the sake of it.  OK, I do do that.  But not this time *grin*.  So it turns out I have a new, functioning camera that, as an unexpected bonus, also takes better photos.  Win win :).

The top of the Mendips was as lovely as I could have hoped for.  I put my head down and headed along the top and then through Priddy.  The green looked fairly churned up when we went through there on the Great Weston Ride and clearly it wasn’t looking much better today, which is presumably why they’ve cancelled the Sheep Fair.  Amazing isn’t it?  The fair has been held every year since 1348 (apart from 2001 and 2007 which were cancelled due to foot-and-mouth disease)…yet this year it’s cancelled due to too much rain.  Has it really never been that wet before?  Really?  Or are we just more health and safety conscious?  More cautious?  Ok, so sheep (goat?) fairs aren’t my bag, but it does seem like a shame…  There just seems to be this tendency these days to say “We can’t…” or “We’d better not…” rather than “We can…”.  Where’s the PMA gone?

Anyway.  Back at the ranch, I was heading for one of my favourite descents, which meant doing the long and lovely stretch over to the Wells-Bristol road.  Just look at it…  I was on top of the world in many ways :).

I hate to say it again, but just look at this.  A beautiful straight long road (to ruin?) heading endlessly away from me, undulating in the sunshine…  Nowhere else to be, nothing else to be doing, just being where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there.  Sometimes life is very simple and simple pleasures are the best. Peace out… :).

Me, my wonderful bike, and my new jersey, all very happy together :).  I should mention that one of the nicest thing about the new jersey is that it’s that bit longer than some and that, combined with a good gripper strip, means it sits nice and low on my back and doesn’t ride up, unlike some of my other jerseys.  I should also mention that anyone who suggests that they ride up because I’m too big for them will be unceremoniously unfollowed and/or unfriended, so tread carefully! 😉 *grin*.

All good things come to an end they say…but this t-junction was actually just an interruption.  And a sign.  I’m not quite sure why they bothered with the new sign.  Or, if the new sign was so essential, why they didn’t take away the old sign.  Or maybe these directions are so important that they wanted to be doubly sure you go the right way?

My way was the right way.  As opposed to the left way ;).  I climbed up the main road towards the aerial, but rather than take that way down to Wells, lovely though it is,  I gambled on it having been dry enough recently for the zig zag to the Horrington descent to be clean enough to be passable, which paid off.  Not only was the road ok, but it afforded me some gorgeous views of places where the weather was clearly not so nice.

I tried to ignore the fact that that nasty weather, which can be seen raining in the distance, was also being nasty precisely where I was heading…since let’s face it, it’s not like I could do anything about it, and what’s a little more rain these days?  Before I turned right once more, for my well-earned treat, I happened across this sign, which led to this…

Q: where do fish that are feeling a bit flat go?
A:

Hey if they can make soul/sole puns, I can make crap jokes! *grin*  It’s an interesting mix of signs, as they’re clearly all considered to be related…!  I didn’t hang around to muse too much on that, although there’s probably a shooting fish in a barrel joke to be made, as there was fun to be had.  Oh, and it so was 🙂  So much fun.  Ok, not the fastest, but I didn’t do a whole heap of braking, and I found a really good position hunkered down on the bike which had my weight exactly where I was happy with it and which I will be using again.  So yes – definitely fun 🙂

Down and down and down and into Wells.  I’d heard of the Swans of Wells but hadn’t really given them much thought.   However it turns out that if you’re in Wells you really can’t miss them.  I snapped three of them, saw a further two, and was seriously tempted to go in search of more…but then I realised I could easily be swanning around there all day (yes, I know, it doesn’t get any better) and that actually I was supposed to be riding home!

Thankfully the weather that I had been headed towards had headed elsewhere, so I headed out of Wells along the Burcott road as usual, and as planned…only to discover that after Fenny Castle the road was allegedly closed.  Now it’s rare that a road is closed enough to prevent cyclists getting through, but I decided that maybe I didn’t want to find out if that was the case this time.  So something very strange and unusual and rare and virtually unprecedented in recent times happened…

I turned right and…I RODE DOWN A NEW ROAD!!!!!  Not only that, I rode up a NEW HILL!  Ok, not a massive hill, but a reasonably steep, muddy, country one.  Callow Hill, apparently.  Interesting name.  I am no longer a callow youth (sorry!), and I don’t have the legs they do, but I made it up it ok, scaring several felines playing cat chess as I went past the various farmyards on the way.  I wasn’t entirely sure where I was going, and it did wiggle, but thanks to my Mum, I am genetically blessed with an extraordinarily good sense of direction, and before long I’d made my way back to the Wells-Wedmore road which was incredibly familiar by contrast.  Time to hurtle home in the usual fashion then.  I tried to go as fast as I could down the Wedmore straight but it’s hard to get those top speeds all on your own.  Still, it was kinda fun trying :).

Cycling time: 1:55:28 hrs
Distance: 32.32 miles
Avs: 16.8 mph.
ODO: 14959 miles

According to Strava, my time up the Cheddar Gorge segment was a PB by nearly 2 minutes!  If I’d been a mere 13 seconds faster I’d be QOM too!  I totally wasn’t expecting that :D.  Ok, so I’m still miles slower than the faster men, but hey, I’m not daft enough to think I can compare with the likes of them.  At least Bella held it together long enough to record my ride, though I nearly lost it all by plugging her in here before I’d saved things properly.  Luckily Bella is cleverer than I am, and also retains memory better than I do, so I know what I did! *grin*.  It was a good ride, and I feel all the better for it :).

It’s a good thing I’m not too stressed about getting the miles/hours in this week because if I had been, today would not have helped, as I did a short loop with Mim and George, where the emphasis was on the coffee stop and not the ride, though the balance might have been a little different if the weather had been a little better.

George again 🙂

Even with the wind, and then the rain, my legs were off on one though.  Raring to go.  Ready to hare off, to sprint up hills.  Well, small ones anyway.  Let’s call it hurtle mode.  Since we were a three, and three doesn’t always work for riding together, I was able to indulge my need for speed though, and just wait up a bit from time to time.  And to lead the dash for coffee at Sweets as fast as I liked across the flats.  And I liked :).

Somewhat of a contrast to Wednesday, no?  Not half so nice.  We sat inside, drank coffee (ta George!) and did the girly gossip thing, while it poured down outside.  I discovered, much to my horror, that my wonderful, favourite, most comfortable and best gloves in the world ever, had torn!  See the torn leather, right across the ball of the thumb?  Gutted!

The Rapha website does say that they’ll repair “if a failure has occured even after significant usage” so I’ll return them, and since I don’t see how they could repair them, I’m hoping they’ll replace them, because I’m not sure I can afford to, but I love them so much I think I’d have to!  Best dig out my old gloves then…

Anyway, time to stop talking, and ride home again, as fast and direct as possible.  I forgot to turn Bella back on, so failed to compete with myself up Mudgley Hill.  Just as well, as Mim went past me in her usual style, so it would have been a hollow victory even if I had bettered myself.  The Wedmore straight was kinda fun though :).

Cycling time: 1:21:24 hrs
Distance: 23.41 miles
Avs: 17.5 mph.
ODO: 14836 miles

Another, slightly unsatisfying, ride done.  Looking forward to the Great Weston Ride on Sunday now – should be a nice ride in good company :).

There are different types of ride.  Different ways of categorising them too.  Probably as many different ways as you like.  How about we use the bars to raise the bar?

• On top of the bars, in company, chatting away.  Leisurely.  Sociable.
• On top of the bars on your own, not pushing, just riding.
• Down on the drops, hunkered down against the wind, minimising wind resistance and misery.
• Down on the drops, pushing, slicing through, flying… 🙂

Today was, for no apparent reason, the latter.  A flying day.  A zone day.  Maybe because the sun came out when it wasn’t supposed to.  Maybe because I had to be at Sweets by 11:30am and was cutting it a bit fine according to the route I’d planned.  Maybe there was no maybe :).  It just was.  Today just felt like a day for pushing it.  Fast and furious and fun.  Not that I was feeling that furious particularly ;).

I wanted to see what Shipham Hill was like, post Maratona.  Not that the Maratona should have made any difference, but I’ve not been up much by way of hills since.  So I started with that.  It wasn’t fun.  It was hard work.  But I didn’t let myself slack off.  And if I couldn’t push a bigger gear I made an effort to spin the one I was in faster.  It’s always hard because it’s on my doorstep so I’m never warmed up for it, but I’m not going to go cycling in circles just to warm up and see if I then go up it faster.  That would be gratuitous.  Ever since the advent of Strava, I’ve kinda stopped keeping track of my achievements myself, and let Strava do it for me.  However today I was paying attention, I made it door to top in 12:58, and I had a feeling I’d done well.  Turns out that’s a whole 57 seconds faster than my last recorded PB, and even Strava reckons I shaved 25 seconds off my PB for the segment there too.  Get me!

I guess that going well up there helped with my mental attitude for the rest of the ride.  That and the sunshine.  Today my legs just had it in them, and I decided to push them and see how long that would last.  Even the wind wasn’t bothering me.  Blustery and noisy, but down on my drops, it went around me and I went through it.  It was so pretty out there.  Blue skies, white fluffy clouds, that clear clean light where you can see for miles, and colours seem brighter and crisper and more vivid.  Carpe diem.  Days like that are few and far between, especially this summer, and are to be savoured and enjoyed.

I was relentlessly cheerful and grateful to everyone.  To every car driver that made an effort not to hit me, to let me past, to give me space.  To the horse riders that I warned of my impending arrival.  To every dog owner who restrained their canine companion from chasing me or otherwise getting in the way.  And especially to the cyclists who passed me in the opposite direction.  Being nice doesn’t cost me anything right? 🙂

Flying the way I was, I easily got to Sweets on time, with an 18.2mph average, unlike those I was meeting.  Not that this was a problem, as there are most definitely worse ways to spend time.  I sat outside in the sun, sheltered from the wind, with a large mug of very good coffee.  I chatted to the cyclists I overlapped with.  Josh, from Tor 2000, arrived eventually, but without Andrew as he’d been struck down by rear mech/hanger issues.  At least he knows what to do about them, right? 🙂  Another couple of cyclists happened by, so we all cooled our heels for a while, and chatted cycling as you do.  Cyclists are mostly a friendly bunch, and I kinda feel like maybe I’m one of them now.  I’ve done enough cycling now that just maybe I know what I’m doing.  Well, I have half a clue anyway ;).  Leastways I feel a little more confident about my place in the world, and am less inclined to hide in a corner and listen rather than joining in.

I came home in wiggly fashion made up as I went along, over Mudgley Hill and around the back roads.  I got a PB up there too, which hurt, but kinda made up for nursing MaxiMe up there on Sunday :).  The way home was shorter, a bit lumpier, and the wind was a little more of a hindrance, so my average speed overall dropped, but not by much, probably because I carried on pushing it to make sure it didn’t!  It was still whole heaps of sun and fun – so unexpected, and so much better for that.  Shall I pick the flies out of my teeth now? *grin*.

Cycling time: 2:00:55 hrs
Distance: 36.31 miles
Avs: 18.0 mph.
ODO: 14812 miles

Bella reckons it looks like this.  Which looks a bit like an ear, if you’re me.  Maybe it’s like a Rorschach test and depending what you see in it, I shall gain great insights into your psyche… Remember though that “If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you” so maybe we won’t look too closely into that ;).  (I just quoted Nietzsche!!).

Talking of the Maratona, there’s a Cycling Weekly video report of the trip now.  I’m the one in the purple dress who appears twice in the interviews at the end, twice.  Or, put more simply, I’m the talking girl *grin*.  Can’t say as I enjoyed watching myself, but then who does?  Enjoy :).

Monday – rest day.  Well, apart from a walk with eldest.  I was kinda busy so I’d have been hard pushed to do much more even if that were wise.

Tuesday – gym session to check that the body still worked.

Today – bike session to check that the bike still worked, and that the body and bike are still talking to each other.

Check, check, and check.

In fact my legs were feeling pretty good, and I had to resist the temptation to take ’em up hills – I’m supposed to be taking it easy this week, right?  So I did this seaside loop.  Proper muggy out there it was, unremittingly grey and overcast with not a lot of wind.  I wore my Etape jersey to give myself a little mental boost, remind myself that I am capable of such things, to get some PMA before this year’s challenge.  Plus it’s not on my list of possible layers to take with me so I don’t have to worry about washing it and getting it dry before I leave tomorrow.  I’m practical like that.

Cycling time: 1:53:05 hrs
Distance: 32.06 miles
Avs: 17.0 mph.
ODO: 14630 miles

As this was supposed to be a leisure ride, after pushing a little up the Commodore Hill, I was going to treat myself to an espresso at the New Castle Inn.  Which was, inevitably, closed.  And which is now sporting a very large “FOR SALE” sign.  I guess they couldn’t make it work.  Maybe if they’d have been open more often…? 😉

No, I’m not packed.  No, I’m not ready.  But by the time I leave tomorrow afternoon I will be.  Hey, I’ve just made more flapjacks, that’s a start right?  😉

“The doctor will see you now…”

Andrew must have the patient of a saint.  The hours he’s spent sorting my poor bike out…  I am so grateful to him 🙂  Yesterday, and once more, my bike and I spent a few happy hours in his “office” getting my bike checked over and sorted one last time before the Maratona.  The brake pads – check.  The bottom bracket – cleaned and greased (which always, sorry I’m juvenile, makes me want to giggle in a “tee hee” Benny Hill fashion).  The gears checked and tweaked, since the new cable had now stretched a little bit.  More importantly, he’s lent me a front wheel that actually has rims!  It may not be quite as good as mine, but a wheel that works is way better than one that might fail right?!  🙂  I also have my shiny new Schwalbe Ultremo ZX tyres on.  Very slick.  Much faster, right? 😉

Once back home, the plan was to go ride for a couple of hours and make sure it was working properly.  However by then I was freezing cold (Andrew doesn’t feel the cold, I do, and it ain’t warm in there), the weather was windy and unattractive, and my insides were throwing a pain party.  It would appear that I’m back on the pills again *sigh*.  Riding just wasn’t happening – I ended up sleeping it off on the sofa for a while, and then hit the gym for a couple of hours in the evening.

However that meant the bike still wasn’t checked out, so this morning I took it out for a quick spin to make sure it was all working, and to scrub the tyres a little.  Just a quick loop, which did the trick, and reassured me that all was ok, which it pretty much was.

Cycling time: 0:48:56 hrs
Distance: 13.59 miles
Avs: 16.7 mph.
ODO: 14496 miles

Once home it was time to get on with faffing, loading up the car, etc. for tomorrow’s Dartmoor Classic.  I got all that done, grabbed some lunch, and another siesta, before heading down to HQ in Kingsteignton, which is only an hour and a half or so away – easy peasy.  I was marshalled in to the parking, parked up and walked over to the event village, along with a great many other people who don’t fancy waiting until tomorrow morning to sign up if they don’t have to!

The registration tent wasn’t busy, so I found my name, signed up, disclaimed all responsibility, and had my timing chip checked.  Today it turns out that I’m number 2149, though I could have sworn the website said I was 2505 when I looked it up as instructed!  I also met Gary and GB in the tent, serendipitously, and we wandered around the event village for a while, with live music in the background, and the weather slowly deteriorating…

The Specialized tent and groovy seating, which was proving very popular.

 Bike porn.  Something to do with Mclaren… 🙂

Lots of stalls, aka opportunities to spend money on last minute essentials.  Or non-essentials.  I got a couple of SiS bottles as my bottles are knackered and don’t match – and that’s just not on, right? 😉

Time to take a seat, drink some surprisingly good coffee, eat icecream if that’s something you’re allowed to do, and debate the weather forecast, the layers to be worn, where to stick the jersey numbers, you know, the usual pre-sportive type of chat.  

I love that the ladies get luxury toilets :).  We’re very special you know *grin*

Right now I am, courtesy of the organisers, safely ensconced in my hotel room in the Passage House Hotel, watching the rain fall outside my window, and hoping it will have passed by by tomorrow morning.  I’d check a weather forecast to see, but we all know how helpful that’s likely to be!  I think I’ll settle for waking up tomorrow morning, probably at 5:45 am ish, and looking out of the window to see what’s actually happening out there before I decide what to wear :).  Time to go and see if I can find something safe and fuelling to eat.  I’m thinking something potato based…