If there’s one thing I hate more than wind, it’s ice. I have good reason to. Well, ok, there are probably lots of things I hate more than wind, but we’re talking cycling here, right? 😉 So when I woke up yesterday morning, to a world outside my window where earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone, I really wasn’t sure the 9:00am ACG ride was a good idea. But I was up, and I didn’t want to not ride, and left to my own devices, would I actually go out later? So, I um-ed, and ah-ed, and deliberated, and while I was vacillating, Alan posted on the group’s FB page that he was also going to leave it and ride later instead…and voilà, I had a solution, and my mind was made up for me 🙂
In a brief aside, and mentioned in dispatches, it would appear that two of those brave souls that did go out – Mike and Chris – both went out and went down. Nothing too serious I gather, and I hope, but I do feel better about my decision now! That could have been me, and having been told the night before not to fall off…well, I do what I’m told, right? 😉
So later on that day, in another part of the forest, Alan and I did a coffee loop to Sweets. On went multiple layers, out came the heavy duty overshoes and winter gloves, and yes, it was cold out there, but I wasn’t. I may be getting the hang of this layering lark 😉 It was just gorgeous. A beautiful day to be out and not in. Clear and crisp. Views galore. OK, the roads were a little busier than we’d have liked, but they were at least mostly dry and, more importantly, they were ice-free. Result 🙂
It being somewhat later in the day than usual, Sweets was fairly quiet, though we did briefly overlap with a Somerset Cycling/Tor 2000 contingent. Nice to see you guys 🙂 Quiet was good because that meant my vat of black coffee came faster than usual, and that the door to the outside world stayed closed and kept the heat in. Better still, by the time we left there was a little more wind but thanks to the still shining sun, a little more warmth around too. Pretty perfect riding weather 🙂
It was just a really nice ride. Although ‘just’ sounds like I’m demeaning it in some way, which I’m definitely not. I mean that it wasn’t a training ride, or a long ride, or a lumpy ride. It was one of those days when it was just good to be out there riding the bike 🙂 And it’s much easier to get out at this time of year in company, so we’ve got a couple of rides pencilled in for this week too. Left to my own devices I’m far more likely to bail…sad but true. I just want to keep getting the miles in over the winter and, in the New Year, start getting some hills in too. If you consider how things were this time last year and how they are now? Where 2015 is concerned, I’m already ahead of the game. *fingers crossed*. 🙂
Cycling time: 2:00 ish
Distance: c.30 miles
Avg: 15.5 mph
ODO: 7298.5 miles