I like it on top of the Mendips.  And to be up there, you have to get up there.  Without going ridiculously out of the way options are limited.  Shipham Hill – which I’ve done a lot lately.  The hill out of Rodney Stoke that DM took us up on Sunday.  Or Cheddar Gorge.  Which would, by a process of elimination, be today’s choice.

So I went up the Gorge.  At a reasonable lick.

Half way up our builder Kevin passed me in his white van, no doubt shaking his head at my insanity, with a friendly toot and a wave.  Now normally I hate it when people toot at me out there.  I don’t care whether I know you or not – it has a tendency to make me jump, and then spend the next 10 minutes or so trying to figure out your motivation.  Well I can’t see inside your car – glass reflects – and it’s very rare that I know what cars belong to who.  (GW has a very distinctive Multipla and is the exception to the rule).  Are you being friendly, saying thank you, commenting on my road skills, or expressing your disapproval of my very presence on your roads?    However Kevin had told me he’s waved at me before and I’ve ignored him…so I made a point of learning the last bit of his number plate.  I was therefore able to return his cheery wave with one of my own.  Luckily this was before the very steep bit when having both hands on the handlebars is pretty essential…

It went pretty well really.  In fact once past the steep bit at the bottom I just got faster and faster.  To make things even better, there wasn’t much traffic so I was left to enjoy the very green scenery and the aroma of wild garlic all by myself.  Very pleasant.  We are lucky around here :).  Having made it up there, the top of the Mendips was as nice as ever, but distinctly chilly as the Westerly wind was hiding up there.  I rolled my sleeves down again and took myself over the top and down Burrington Coombe.  Well I have to practice downs as well as ups I’ll have you know.  And it is a nice down :).  I pretty much nailed the bends too which was gratifying.  But I wasn’t half chilly by the time I reached the bottom.  Luckily it was warmer down there…

I like meeting cyclists on hills.  If you’re going up, and they’re flying down, you know that that awaits you and that they’ve earnt it – so you smile.  If you’re flying down, and they’re going up, you know what awaits them, and that you’ve earnt it – so you smile.  Generally speaking there’s a whole lot of smiling going on, usually in both directions :).

From there I went through round the lanes Langport and Wrington and over to Congresbury.  Along the fast but unpleasant main road stretch towards WSM until I could take the left turn to Puxton.  This may be marked “road closed” and indeed, if you’re a car it is, but it’s rare that a road is closed enough to stop a bike getting through.  The narrow bridge on this bit is closed off, with a perfect bike sized gap.  Therefore you get a nice stretch of traffic free country lane all to yourself.  Can’t be bad.

Off again, and over to Banwell, and across the main road to go up High Street.  At which point a rat ran across the road just in front of me.  Having not really planned its escape route it went up some steps and hid behind a flower pot, where I decided to leave it.  I’m thinking it’s probably not the kind of pet rat I’d like…  So, up the High Street, out past the Caves, up and over the lumpy back roads to Loxton and home via the Webbington.

Just past what was the Post Office in Loxton on the LHS before the motorway bridge the road was covered in glass.  Not sure what had happened since there was no debris other than glass, but whatever it was, someone needs to clear it up.  I picked my bike up and walked round, as you do, and luckily avoided a puncture.  There was glass transferred for quite a long way too, picked up in car tyres presumably, and I had to be careful for a while.  Just a FYI for anyone planning on cycling that way in the near future.

Cycling time: 2:10:33 hrs
Distance: 33.47 miles
Avs: 15.3 mph
ODO: 8321 miles

I could have gone further, but it would just have been more flat miles to kill time by then so there didn’t really seem much point.  As training rides go it was however both very pleasant and quite constructive.  All good then :).