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*.