Monthly Archives: September 2010

Play Misty for Me

I was so convinced that it was going to rain all week that I’d written off any plans to ride. However when I checked the forecast again last night, today was looking fine, which quite confused me… I didn’t want to waste decent weather, but it wasn’t what I’d been planning. Hm. I decided to leave it ’til morning, wake up, look out of the window, and take it from there. Well, that would have been all very well if there was a view to be seen out of the window. Fog! Which has a tendency to be damp with it. However hubby had just got back from his early morning run (darn foolish thing to be doing if you ask me) and said that actually it was ok. My well of excuses had run dry…

I wasn’t in a great mood to be honest – the change in seasons is bringing me down – but I was relying on the bike to change that. And it did. In fact with the very first down stroke, as my legs stretched out, I felt better. It was nippy out – I was in my fab new longs, long sleeved ACG top, shrug arms, and a Buff – so I set off at a reasonable pace to warm up, which felt good. Having conceived a route the night before, I proceeded to stick to it but vaguely, and made it up on the way.

First off to Cheddar via the quarry road, and up the steep road past Shahnaz. Up more and along the high road to come down to Draycott and take the Nyland road. I was glad I’d put my lights on the bike as there wasn’t much visibility out there. Not that they help me, but they help me to be seen. Theoretically. Out to Wedmore, up the denuded road to Panborough, which I no longer recognise now that they’ve cut all the trees down there. For varieties sake I took the second right not the first, thus spicing up my life, and went straight across the levels to Godney and then Glastonbury as usual.

Now I had been planning to go up to Ashcott and over to Shapwick, but that way there be hills and my knee was twingeing. Tempted though I was to take a pink pill, I was fairly sure it wouldn’t cut in in time to make a lot of difference so instead I decided to go for flat and “fast”. So, it was back down the main road towards Wedmore, through Westhay. The residents of Glastonbury may be all very chilled out sitting on their ley lines, but those of them that were out on the road there were in no mood for cyclists. I know someone who would have been shouting in my place… This encouraged me to re-write the route again and to detour via Burtle to Mark, and put my head down. Left turn before the post office to head for the A38. Up the A38, minor wiggle through Cross, and back up and home. Job done 🙂

Cycling time: 2:08:33 hours
Distance: 35.51 miles
Avs: 16.5 mph
ODO: 6067

Not as fast as it felt but then I probably wasn’t pushing it, because I was doing lots of mental meandering. Like if Emma Pooley just won the World Road Time Trial championship, avs 41.km/h, in c 32 minutes. How fast could I go for 32 minutes? My cycling is all about pacing myself because I’m going to be out for hours… Maybe I should find out some time? Prompted by the latest scandal, if I took lots of drugs, could I win the Tour De France? Possibly not one to be trying out methinks. I’ll stick to legal recreational drugs. Red wine anyone?

Also I realised that one of the things that I love about being on the bike is that it’s one of the few places I don’t feel fat. Because it’s all about what your body can do not what shape or size it is, about doing not being. Instead I feel sleek and fast…. Until I get to a hill of course. But then gravity is more on my side going downhill…on the few occasions I manage to make the most of it. Then of course it all goes pear shaped when I get off the bike and stand next to all the whippets 😉

I’m supposed to be going for a long one-way ride on Sunday but the forecast is proper grim so…we’ll see.

The animals came in two by two…

Yes, I’m two ride entries behind again. Shocking isn’t it?

The first took place last Thursday morning with George, the artist previously known as GW. Yes, I’ve given up on initials. There are too many cycling folk in my life now that share initials and trying to figure out how to get ’round that has been doing my head in… It was getting to the stage where I was going to have to a crib sheet just to remember who I was talking about! So, names it is. If you find yourself mentioned here and were rather names were changed to protect the innocent, let me know, and you can have your initials back.

Anyway George and I were both suffering from feeling oddly tired, as I have been for a while, so our ride was not a challenging one. I’m pleased to say my fatigue didn’t transfer to the bike too much though, and my legs were feeling pretty good. We spun our legs around the Levels in wiggly fashion, chatting a lot, and generally not pushing it too hard.

Cycling time: 1:49:13 hours
Distance: 27.55 miles
Avs: 15.1 mph
ODO: 5995

As the weather has been noticeably cooler of later, I finally bit the bullet and ordered my new longs. OK, so they’re expensive, but my last pair lasted two years before starting to come apart at the seams, and I got a lot of wear out of them. In fact I’m sure I have pairs of shoes that have cost more and been worn less, which makes the longs seem like quite an economical purchase by comparison. It’s amazing how you can rationalise things away isn’t it? *grin*.

It’s just as well that they arrived on Friday, since this weekend was chilly, and I was glad of them as I stood in the Square with Dad on Sunday morning, waiting for the ACG to gather. And gather they did – 9 of them to be precise – with a fair sprinkling of newbies. The ACG beast is growing!

Since a lot of us had done the Cheddar Cyclosportive last weekend we agreed to take it a little easier and flatter this week by heading over to Brean Down for coffee. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as we headed out at a more reasonable pace than sometimes. We negotiated our way past queuing tractors, over past the Webbington, over Bleadon Hill, and across the main road to follow the railway line as usual. The unusual number of spectators along the roadside made me wonder…and yes, a steam train was due shortly! So we gathered on top of the next bridge – ok, I made them – and waited until the Tornado blasted its way down the track, whistle blaring, and engulfed us all in smoke before chuffing off into the distance. Very cool 🙂

It was then nice and flat, and not too busy traffic wise, for the wiggle out to Brean Down. It turns out it was the last weekend for the café (of fab scone fame) there. The NT are going to be taking it over, which probably means the prices will triple and the place will get gentrified, though I hope to be proved wrong… We colonised a rickety round wooden table and put the world to rights for a bit, in the sun, sheltered from the nasty North wind.

Time came to get going again, and we headed south along to Burnham, doing 20mph+ without even breathing hard. Yep – that would be the wind for you. Not that we’re complaining you understand 😉 We took the little scenic wiggle along the coast path to Highbridge, before turning more into the wind and heading for home. I was cycling at the front with one of the newbies, long-legged Paul, and trying to chat, and go at his speed…which I’m sure was good for me. Honest. We managed to pretty much stay together, more or less, until near the end when we lost a couple. Some of us had found the long fast road from Wedmore as irresistible as usual – ok, maybe it was just me – and the sprint for home spread us out rather.

Cycling time: 2:19:26 hours
Distance: 37.19 miles
Avs: 16.0 mph
ODO: 6032

Another good ACG ride. It’s so nice to see the group growing. Chris, who came out with us for the first time, had only done 16 miles in one go before and so more than doubled his record, on a heavy hybrid – very impressive. That’s what the ACG should be all about 🙂

PS: look – the odometer ticked over the 6000 mark….!

Cheddar Cyclosportive 2010

It wouldn’t be too far a stretch of the imagination to call this an ACG ride as well as a Sportive, as 8 of us turned out bright and early Sunday morning, nearly all resplendent in our new kit. We even went so far as to get someone to take a photo of us before we set off…

Mind you, that was pretty much the last time we were all together. Best laid plans and all that…

We set off, en masse, nearly at the front of the line, at around 8.30am, and headed out along the ever so familiar road to Wedmore. We were doing fine until the kick up out onto Mudgeley Hill, where we started to fall apart as the gradient took its toll. Any plans to reunite the other side were scuppered somewhat when I discovered my PC wasn’t working and stopped to try and sort it out. Which didn’t work *grrr*, leaving me with just the clock to go by for the rest of the day, and also putting me behind the cows that were now crossing the road.

However, courtesy of all this, and even though I was sure I’d seen him go past me as I was attempting to fix things, as I finally set off again Dad caught me up and we cycled off together. I’d like to say this state of affairs lasted but I’m afraid it didn’t. We got separated again and that was that really – I have to admit that I just kept on going and headed off towards Glastonbury on my own. This is where the first hill of the day turned out to be. Now, I know my way around Glastonbury, and there are many ways to get out the other side that don’t involve going up a hill that big! It was brand new to me, and although I made it all the way up without walking, unlike some, I’ll probably not bother doing it again. “Get off and walk” said some old codger with his cup of tea watching us from the pavement. Motivational of him, no? It might well have been quicker but, ultimately, less satisfying I’m sure. You can keep the Old Wells Road, I’ll be sticking to the new one!

From there, I had a moment of deja vu as I passed our ToB spectator point as I headed for Somerton via Butleigh. This turned out to be more familiar than expected as I’ve done that bit in reverse with SH. I was, briefly, part of a little group here, some of whom it turns out work with hubby. There must have been some up in there somewhere as there was also a very nice downhill 🙂 I cycled past Andrew’s house in Somerton and waved mentally, what with there being no-one there to wave to in person.

I knew High Ham hill was coming, and wasn’t precisely dreading it, but I know it’s a long way up and though there may be several ways to get to the top, none of them are going to be easy! And it wasn’t. It was steeper than the usual route up, and did seem to go on for quite a while…but again, I managed to stay on the bike, and made it to the food stop, unattractively sweaty, but pleased. I grabbed half a banana from GW who was wo-manning the station, and saw IH and DMC briefly before heading off again. I really didn’t want to stop for long, because what with it being marginally chilly and a bit windy all day, it’s too easy to get cold. The possibly lovely descent was marred by both my nerves, and by encountering a large trailer-pulling tractor forcing us all to slow up behind him. Did I mention that whenever I try to properly enjoy a bend/corner I can be guaranteed to meet an obstacle of some sort? Not that I’m paranoid at all, but… At least by the time I passed the photographer on the bend I was under control and smiling 🙂

SH was marshalling at Ashcott, and we chatted very briefly as I waited to get across the main road. Then it was up School Hill – another way I never go – and out to Shapwick and beyond. After a well-marshalled wiggle through Catcott I was on the Levels, with the wind kind of behind me, pushing on. I was definitely on home turf here and quite enjoyed going as fast as I could for a while, all the way to Brent Knoll. This year we took in both ups – the little steep kick before the church, then the big up and over which was about as much fun as expected. For some reason there was a group of late middle aged male cyclists standing at the top watching everyone, and I was tempted to point out that it’s kinda rude to stare at suffering like that. Dad says they were still there later – there’s no accounting for folk… Those that can, do, those that can’t watch?

The second food stop was just the other side of the traffic lights at East Brent but since I was stuck at those lights for quite long enough I didn’t bother stopping again and just headed for home. I knew I only had two minor challenges remaining – the Webbington hill road, which we do all the time, and the hill up Notting Hill Way at Weare which I do a very good job of avoiding most of the time. However I did my best not to let either of them slow me down too much, though by now I knew a gold standard time was, as ever, out of my reach. As I cycled up the Long Hill to Clewer I overtook MD, and then reached my favourite stretch of road. I sprinted my way all the way home for the fun of it though, obviously, such things are more fun with an audience *grin*.

I cycled over the mats the same way I’d spent the day, on my own. I have to admit to quite a few “toys out of cot” thoughts on my way round since, let’s face it, if I want to cycle round here on my own I can, and do, do that any time. Plus the only way I was ever going to get a gold time was with peloton assistance. However as we all know I’m better at downhills and corners on my own, so it may well have been for the best. And allegedly I’m a grown up and therefore not allowed to throw such childish tantrums 😉 (*stamps foot quietly*).

However I’d eaten well, paced myself well, pushed myself harder than I usually do at a sportive, and felt like I’d had a pretty good ride, despite everything. I made my way to the HQ, where I found GB, his Rabbit, KG, and the Cheddar newbies, all having clearly been there quite a while, dagnamit! Time to sit around drinking exceedingly bad instant coffee as the others arrived in dribs and drabs, including IH and DMC who had managed to inadvertently add an extra 10 miles or so to the route. Now there’s keen for you! *grin*. Then Dad got in, not too cross with me, having had a pretty good ride himself, which was a bit of a relief. In fact I think everyone enjoyed it to a greater or lesser degree – the ACG done good! 🙂

I treated myself to a very lovely ten minute sports massage to try and help my left knee. I’d had to take a pink pill first thing and again towards the end, so I figured it was a good idea. Apparently he could feel some ligament damage and he worked on that as well as explaining it all to me properly and giving me some exercises to do to help. I think I’m going to try and find the money to go and get a proper treatment from him as some point because he was brill! (And I can’t believe I just used the word “brill”…).

Finally Dad and I cycled home around the reservoir in leisurely fashion, before performing the necessary ablutions, grabbing my family and hitting The Lamb for rehydration therapy. Sadly, due to other people having other commitments, it was just us, but that wasn’t going to stop us. Besides which, I felt like I’d earnt it 🙂

Cycling time: 3:55:19 hours
Distance: 64 miles
Avs: 16.5 mph
ODO: 5968

I’ve managed to find some results here so my time is accurate. The rest is fairly accurate guesstimate based on those who had working PCs. I’ve now replaced the battery in the sender unit and it’s working fine – typical! I was the 2nd home in my category, and only 3 minutes off being first, which makes a change. Silver time, and silver place. Mind you, the older women were faster than us “youngsters”, making me 4th woman overall. At least I got a silver…and if I could have shaved 10 minutes off…oooh, close but no cigar!! *grin*.

Me and my shadow

Yesterday, for the first time in what seems like ages, it was just me, my bike and, due to the fact that the sun was shining, my shadow. I wasn’t in the best of moods when I set off, and unusually I didn’t feel completely better by the time I got back. A bit better is better than not better at all though.

Considering that, as I said, the sun was shining, and the wind, though not absent, was better than on Wednesday, it would have been foolish not to go riding, as days like that are going to be few and far between from here on in. Which would be why I popped by Aldi on Thursday morning and picked up thermal base layers and winter socks. All I need now are some new long tights and I’m set…well, as ready to freeze my a*re off as I’ll ever be anyway!

I did my usual kind of loop, stretched to include the nice little back road to Loxton, and the wiggle back via Nyland Hill and the back of Cheddar. It was uneventful. Which in many ways is the best kind of riding.

I’m still trying to work on my cornering and my downhill (lack of) ability. If I lean further forward and into corners I seem to feel a bit better about them. It’s so frustrating. I’d be so much happier if I knew nothing was coming the other way, as so many times yesterday I was just getting the hang of things only to be interrupted by someone inconsiderately coming towards me. It’s no wonder I’m (over) cautious! The light at this time of year makes it harder too – all that low shadow dappling everywhere potentially hides a multitude of sins – potholes, debris, and so on. I should, as my mob tell me, “chillax”… but that’s easier said that done.

I’m surprised my average speed wasn’t faster as I was going pretty fast most of the time and it wasn’t all that hilly. Certainly, across the Levels from Mark, I was flying along at well over 20mph, with the sun on my face, the wind at my back…ah, if only it was always like that 🙂 Sadly my knee was NOT having a happy day, but hey, at least my shoulder pain didn’t come along for the ride 😉

Cycling time: 2:09:50
Distance: 33.59 miles
Avs: 15.5 mph
ODO: 5904

Tomorrow is the Cheddar Cyclosportive which I was looking forward to but, since I’ve spent the rest of the weekend feeling like a piece of limp spaghetti, I’m not so sure now. I’ve got no energy at all, and even hubby commented that I was looking rather pale which, considering his observational skills, is telling… Ah well, I’ve taken my echinacea, plan on an early night, and hopefully by tomorrow morning I’ll be raring to go. *fingers crossed* 🙂

Tour Of Britain 2010

On Wednesday the Tour of Britain graced our end of Somerset with its presence. The Stage 5 finish was in Glastonbury, which is so near here as to make it rude not to attend. We did consider trying to find other places to watch it from but since there’s nothing on the route near here that any of the pro riders would even consider a hill, and thus be going slower up, there didn’t seem much point standing on the flat somewhere just to watch them swoosh past..

So, a contingent of the ACG set out from the Square around midday and went the nice flat easy way. Well, not that easy because the wind was horrendous and, although it wasn’t in our faces, and was even occasionally behind us, mostly it was just attacking us with great gust-o from the side. Not very nice. I hate that lurch sideways across the road moment when it catches you through a gap in the hedge…

We obviously weren’t the only cyclists converging on Glastonbury. We passed a couple of them, and the rest of them were hanging out on the High Street, trying to find places to park bikes, negotiating throngs of pedestrians, and by their sheer numbers making multi-coloured lyrca look normal. We managed to lose one of our number in the throng, which wasn’t so good. We had coffee and cake at Heaphy’s since there was space to sit outside and we thought he was inside with the three newbies, and he wasn’t. Oops – sorry! Since there was no view from there, what with it being the wrong side of the finish line and all, we decided to relocate to the top of the east end of town where the riders would just have come uphill, and any last minute action would be happening before the descent into town. We managed to lose another three just doing that!

Those of us that were left found a nice corner to be on, parked our bikes on the grass between ourselves and a field of screaming school children, and waited… Bearing in mind that most of those small children know nothing about cycling and care even less, their ability to be extremely over-excited about the whole thing and their stamina in maintaining that hysterial for a good hour or so is a thing to marvel at. We on the other hand stood around making small talk, getting cold, occasionally getting rained on, and if you’re me, jumping up and down to try and keep warm. I’m darn glad I chose to take my arms with me, otherwise I’d have been done for…

Eventually, much later than planned, and after a host of police motorcycle outriders passed by, clearly enjoying their jobs immensely, we actually got to see cyclists. The leader, a lone figure (Marco Frapporti apparently), nearly got lost just past us, which was amusing, but would probably have been less so if it had cost him the lead. As it was, Mr Wiggins was close behind, but not close enough. A couple of others followed, then one in-betweener, before the peloton went past… And that was that.

We headed for home at a pace., or at least we set off that way, because I was freezing and needed to warm up. GB and I both had school run commitments to get back for – his more urgent than mine – and time was running out. He headed off into the distance, and the group spread out. The wind was really nasty, and slowed us a down a lot, but at least having to push against it meant I stopped being cold fairly quickly. On our way we passed a lot of cyclists clearly doing just the same as us – I pictured an aerial photo of the area showing a starburst of cyclists heading outwards from Glastonbury. We ended up getting home in dribs and drabs, but at least we all got home in one piece, able to say that we had been there 🙂

Cycling time: 2:06:50
Distance: 31.54 miles
Avs: 14.8 mph
ODO: 5876

My life would suck without you

Once again I’m two rides behind. Shoddy I know.

In my defence the first of the two rides, on Friday with GW, was uninspiring, unexciting and oddly unsatisfactory, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to say about it anyway. The only noteworthy thing about our ride to the seaside and back was that GW was on her shirehorse which meant she actually had to ask me to slow down. This happens but rarely and should be savoured at all costs…*grin*.

Cycling time: 1:54:34
Distance: 28.6 miles
Avs: 14.9 mph
ODO: 5803

Sunday’s ride with the ACG was far more pleasurable. For starters the sun was shining, which always helps. And there wasn’t any wind. But then there never is in Axbridge, and I’m not daft enough to fall for that anymore. Which is just as well as when we got out of the shelter of the Mendips, there certainly was wind! Anyway, there were 8 of us to start with, including three newbies. One of which is also a GB which could get very confusing so I’m going to have to think of a way ’round that… One of the other two had tried to join us before and on this, his third attempt, had turned up on what he termed the wrong bike, and sadly didn’t make it even as far as Shute Shelve with us, for which I feel quite guilty. Since I’m unable to get in touch with him – I shall apologise here in the hopes that the ether will carry my apologies in the right direction…

So, we were seven, and three of us were wearing shiny new ACG kit, which gave me a chance to see what it looks like out on the road rather than just on me. Not only is it comfortable, it looks pretty good too, and when we’re all wearing it, we’re going to look awesome! *grin*.

We let DM set the route today which is always well, if not a mistake, a challenge. Today he took us to the cafe on the seafront on Burnham which, going direct as normal folk would do, is relatively flat and easy. Which would presumably be why we went via Winscombe, down past Banwell Caves, just so as to go up Canada Coombe and over Brent Knoll. Canada Coombe is really quite an up – I think I had been up it before, and the views along the top to Bleadon are awesome – but it’s very easy to avoid, and there are views in other places so, on balance, I may not add it to my repertoire *grin*.

Our coffee stop on the seafront was very good. Well, the stop was, the coffee isn’t. The sea wall nicely sheltered us from the strong winds, and stopped us having to watch the posers on jet skis messing around on the uncommonly high water. In fact all the water made the coastal path to Highbridge, where the boats are usually sitting on vast expanses of unattractive brown mud, seem positively pretty. I reckon some of them must only get to float about twice a year, which is presumably, as someone commented, when you discover that they leak *grin*. Mind you, I couldn’t hear anyone swearing so…

Due to the hills and the roads and terrain, it had been a fairly slow ride, so once we got out of Highbridge and on the road to Mark, I have to confess to having had to put my foot down and stretch my legs out. We fair hurtled out way along until the left turn after Mark, which was a lot of fun. After that things went a little haywire as the group spread out, split up, splintered apart… There was a degree of reuniting at junctions and the like, but we were down to six for the last bit up the A38 and back to the Square. Having said that, we’ve done worse in the past, so from a start of 8, ending up with 6 wasn’t bad! And the last rider in arrived shortly afterwards, thus restoring the status quo.

Cycling time: 2:23:03
Distance: 35.33 miles
Avs: 14.8 mph
ODO: 5839

Hopefully we’ll be out again on Wednesday to see the Tour of Britain come into Glastonbury. Any excuse for a ride 🙂

All good cyclists go to Devon

I have to confess to being a couple of rides behind on the blogging front. Too busy actually riding to write about it I guess! *grin*. Hubby and the mob were also away this weekend, so I was having some me-time, which seemed to involve a lot of pottering around, and a whole heap girly stuff – epilating, face packs, painting of fingernails and so on. All very lovely 🙂

So, with no further ado, I shall get to it.

On Saturday GB and I did our usual run to Glastonbury and back. He’s hopefully doing some scarily hilly ride this week, though his life is not going entirely according to plan. Lots of positive vibes and *fingers crossed* in his direction. Anyway, the idea was to do a ride that was as flat and as easy as possible, which I was more than willing to do. I’m made for that kind of riding *grin*. That means no racing, no sprinting up hills, and no yelling at eejot motorists which, for GB, was probably the most challenging part 😉

Glastonbury was even kookier than ever, probably because we were there in the afternoon by which time even the most lazy denizens have found the energy to drag themselves out of bed to come and sit by the market cross with their guitars and sing to each other. The cafe was full of people celebrating. It was some waist-coated man’s birthday, and day two of someone else’s extended wedding celebrations, if my eavesdropping skills serve me well. Elsewhere the promenading freak quota was way up there. It must take quite some effort to be quite so deliberately dressed and coiffed and madeup all the time. Which begs the question, is it possible to be alternative in Glastonbury? We did attempt to have a conversation but it was hard to keep a straight face and not collapse into giggles…*grin*. Truly entertaining.

Still, the carrot cake and coffee were good. I don’t usually do cake when we’re out, but as part of my me-time I was treating myself. The same goes for the fabulous (and fabulously cheap) flowers I bought myself at the farmers’ market that morning. A riot of mixed dahlias that I’ve been smiling every time I see them ever since 🙂

We cycled home and GB attempted to help me figure out what I’m looking for, if I’m looking for it, in a job. This mostly consisted of asking me lots of questions and trying to get me to work it out for myself. Darn, and there was I hoping for a quick solution. Apparently I probably need to start with me. Which is probably true, but I’m a tad busy right now…*grin*. Besides which, nobody is supposed to know that much about me so I’m going to go back to being shallow and vacuous now if that’s ok 😉

We were also very good little bunnies and did NOT race home. Practically unheard of, and very restrained of us. I expect it’s just because we didn’t have an audience *grin*.

Cycling time: 2:01:38
Distance: 34.03 miles
Avs: 16.8 mph
ODO: 5713

So, that was one ride down and one to go. As I mentioned earlier, hubby and the mob were away for the weekend. They were camping down at Wiscombe (nr. Seaton in Devon) whilst most of the Trotman clan tried to drive various cars uphill as fast as possible. Now camping isn’t my thing. Something to do mainly with having to leave the tent to find the loo in the middle of the night. And it always rains. So I was going to have the whole weekend at home to myself and leave them to it. However when it was suggested that I could ride down and join them…well, call me a bull and wave a red rag at me! It’s “only” 55 miles or so, and doing a nice long one-way ride practically counts as me-time, right?

However when I woke up at 8.00am on Sunday morning it was flinging it down, and a text from hubby informed me it was doing the same there… When I checked all the weather forecasts, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope though, so I decided to give myself until 10.00am, proceed as if I was going to be going, and hope it cleared up. I don’t mind getting wet on a ride, I just don’t like setting off in it, which I realise makes little sense but that’s just the way it is.

It took a while to get my computer to pull itself together and let me print out enough maps for me to feel I might make it to my destination and, as I cussed away in my little cubby hole, outside the weather slowly improved. OK, so it wasn’t precisely summery, but when I set off around 10.00ish, the roads were wet, but the skies were dry, and it certainly wasn’t cold. There was, as forecast, a nasty headwind all day which I feel, after last weekend, is only karmically just, so I’m not complaining.

It’s a fairly direct route south, and not a flat one. First off was out to Wedmore and up and over Mudgeley Hill. This would have been easier if the car in front of me just at the start hadn’t panicked about the traffic coming down the hills and stopped. Getting started again just there is NOT easy, and I had to go up the steep bit not clipped in because I couldn’t take time to fiddle and clip in as the rest of the cars that had had to stop then tried to get past me. Nice. Ah well, one obstacle negotiated. I stuffed my arms in my pack and carried on. Next was across the levels and up to Shapwick, and then across to High Ham. I could have avoided High Ham…but that felt like cheating, and someone keeps telling me that the way to get better at going up hills is to go up hills. Mind you, as the rain started, I did wish I’d cheated… I steam-trained my way up the hill – you know, when your breathing is so loud that it’s just as well that your mp3 player has just run out of batteries because you wouldn’t be able to hear it anyway *grin*.

I paused at the top to refresh the batteries and me, and reflect on the fact that I will be there again in two weeks, before heading down into a soggy Langford. The rain was heavier and colder, and somehow sharp…but there wasn’t much to be done about it so I did my best to ignore it, and pushed on to Ilminster. There was an interesting, and busy, dog leg sort of a wiggle to avoid the A303 (which seemed a good idea) and get pointing towards Chard. I’d forgotten I’d been to Chard before, but as the unfamiliar became familar, I recognised the Church from one of my very last civic engagements. So that was nice.

Life had become a little drier by now though, as I passed the “you are now in Devon” sign, it started up again for a bit, which amused me. The A358 proved to be rather busier than I’d have liked though which made for some interesting riding, and lots of paying care and attention. On my part clearly, not that of the other motorists.

I’ve been wondering about other motorist’s behaviour around cyclists – as you do when left to your own devices for hours – and have observed the following:

those owning little red cars, possibly sensing a kindred spirit, are the most likely to go round me with plenty of room to spare.
sports cars also tend to leave lots of space, but this is because they get to be on the wrong side of the road and pretend they’re taking the racing line.
tractors are generally very well behaved and liable, when approaching you on narrow lanes, to pull over and let you past.
people driving 4*4s and mpvs have no clue how wide their vehicles are and have usually forgotten about anything they might be towing.
big “prestige” mark cars are nearly the worst, being intent at getting where they want to be on the roads that they quite clearly own and are the mostly likely to overtake at an inappropriate time and speed.
everything they say about white van drivers is true.

At some point some p*ll*ck passenger did the usual leaning out of the car window and yelling at me bit. I have no idea what he said as, even without the mp3, at that speed with all the road noise and so on, it would have been incomprehensible. Really, what is that supposed to achieve? I could have got cross, but instead I imagined GB’s reaction, smiled internally, stayed on the bike, and undertook him as he had to stop and wait to turn right and I didn’t…which wasn’t at all satisfying. No. Not much… 😉

I kept my head down and concentrated on getting where I was going in one piece. Through Axminster, which is where everyone mistakes Axbridge for, and out towards Musbury and the right turn onto the A3052 at Colyford. Oh man. There is a hill there. A very big hill. It’s much much worse than High Ham, though maybe marginally less steep. It just goes up and up and round and up some more… The worse bit is 300ft in half a mile, which might not sound like a lot to you, but it sure felt it to me! There was a bit 3/4 of the way up where stopping looked attractive…but the AA were dealing with someone who’d broken down there, so there was no way I was going to be seen to break down too – it’s all a matter of honour and principles!

Finally I reached the top, which flattened out and left me on the road I was hoping to turn right off at some point. Which is roundabout when I realised I should have zoomed in further on the last map I printed out. It took a while to find the right right turn – although when I finally got to it the event was signposted. However I then got lost as I wasn’t sure where they were signposting was where I wanted to be, so in looking for that, I added another 6 miles to the route. 3 heading off into the wilderness, 3 coming back, following the signs like I should have done to start with and arriving at my destination.

“Have you cycled far?” asked the car park marshal? I took a breath to reply, and then I remembered that he was a normal person, and that to him, yes I had *grin*. No harm in a bit of showing off, right? 😉

Cycling time: 4:00:43
Distance: 61.11 miles
Avs: 15.2 mph
ODO: 5774

I wasn’t dry, and I wasn’t clean, but considering the headwind and the hills, I wasn’t too slow either. I think you could say I was quite pleased with myself. And I’d definitely earnt a pint of lager and a share of a portion of chips. OK, so it was only Fosters (ick, bleurgh) but based on my degree of need, it tasted a lot better than usual! Well, I hadn’t had any lunch! *grin*. Odd though, thanks to the hills and the wind, I was tireder after this Sunday’s 60 miles than last Sunday’s 116. Mind you, I prepared properly for that ride, not this one.

All in all – a total result of a riding weekend. And I didn’t have to sleep in a tent once. ‘Rah! 🙂

Minus my detour – my route is here.

Spark in the Dark

When I collected my bike on Monday, I discovered my rear tyre had a large bulge and gash in it…which hadn’t broken the tyre wall. I did think it was riding a little funny but since it wasn’t deflating, I ceased worrying about it! I’ve no idea how it happened, but if it had actually punctured, with a hole that size, I’d have never finished the ride. Well, not without waiting ages for the mechanics to turn up and loan me a spare tyre, so I’m very relieved. And impressed. But slightly concerned as to how it happened – is it a repeat of the flaw problem? Did the damage cause the bulge or vice versa? Chicken? Egg?

Either way, I dug out my spare set of tyres – silver stripes this time, different model – and put them on. Only to discover the next day that the valve was faulty, and I had to (well to be honest I got hubby to) change the darn thing. That rear wheel has been off too many times of late! At least, with the shiny new and still relatively clean chain set, the whole process is less mucky that it sometimes is.

On to today. The mob went back to school and, no sooner had they left (well almost) GW were back on the road. We did my usual training loop, stretched a little, as I couldn’t, quite frankly, be arsed to think of anything different. As it was it demonstrated that my knee would have benefited from more rest, and that carrying painkillers around with me is a good thing. GW was off on one as ever, and I kept up for the first half before deciding that I didn’t need to be doing that and slacked off a bit. To give her her due, she did slow down and stick with me.

Cycling time: 2:02:03
Distance: 32.36 miles
Avs: 15.8 mph
ODO: 5678

It was a very nice ride really. I don’t suppose the weather will hold for much longer but for the moment it was warm and lovely. Albeit a tad windier than I like, and sadly not behind us this time 😉

In other news, the ACG kit has left the building! How exciting is that?! I’m not sure how long it will take to get to me, but the chances of it being here before the Cheddar Cyclosportive on September 19th have to be fairly high 🙂