Life generally does not go according to plan, and today was no exception. The plan was to do 50 miles with SH and GB whilst my sainted hubby and eldest took youngest to trampolining squad training in Bath, thus giving me a 5 hour leave pass…
…however she was up at 5am with earache…which means we’ve all pretty much been up since then, and bouncing was out of the question. So my (still) sainted hubby was therefore due to be home alone with one sick child, one bored child, and a world of DIY to do. I’d say there’s no rest for the wicked but that would contradict the saintly bit *grin*.
Not that all the above stopped me riding – do be serious! – but…when it came to the coffee stop and we were debating routes home, straight home to rescue hubby seemed like a good, and diplomatic, idea. Let’s be honest, it never does any harm to bank a few brownie points either…
This is not to say that this turned out to be an easy ride though. Oh no. Definitely not. Not when SH is route planner. Mind you, I’m not objecting as I need the training. These days when you suggest hills I’m less likely to groan and try and get out of doing them, I’ll just get on with doing them. PMA. I can do hills. I just have to do them my way not yours. Something I read somewhere this week – which of course I can’t find now – said something about how it helps to have little mantras you say to yourself to help you focus. Well if I just focus on my pedalling being “strong and smooth” it seems to help – as well as keeping me focused on pushing evenly on both feet and not doing my knee in. I must have done a better job of strapping it up today since, with all those hills, there’s no way it wouldn’t have been hurting otherwise, and it wasn’t.
So where did we go? Up the Gorge of course. I don’t know if GB had a word with SH but after the steepest bit was done, the two of them headed off up the road at their pace, leaving me to mine, which is great. SH does have a tendency to keep me company and we all know how I feel about that…leave me to dribble in peace! 😉 Actually the Gorge was fine. Like all the hills today, it was a little bit easier than last time I went up it. SH swears they only had to wait 15 seconds for me at the top…which if it’s true mean they must really have been pootling and putting the world to rights as they went! As we crested the top of the hill a strange yellow globe made an appearance in the sky, and we ignored it in case drawing attention to it frightened it away. However it was nice to see it, even if just briefly, as it added a nice triumphal touch to my ascent 🙂
The best bit of the ride for me came not long after, on the descent down Burrington Coombe, which was only my 2nd time down it. Last time by the time I got to the bottom I was not a happy bunny, having bottled it half way down and generally not done myself proud. I did way better today, possibly due to familiarity, and helped by the much drier road. I even got a bit of a buzz going on. Mind you, I wasn’t half glad of my winter jacket by the time I reached the bottom though – talk about wind chill factor!
From there it was across to Wrington and up Wrington Hill. The nasty way. Which is long and steep and a slog but I just plodded up it. Slow and steady. I was pleasantly surprised with how it went really, and even the descent down Ebbor Gorge wasn’t too bad. I remember having suffered big time going up there in the past, and I think there may even have been some stopping to “enjoy the view”… Maybe there’s something to be said for all this sobriety and training? Surely not… 😉
That just left a nice fairly flat and fast run across to coffee at Kingston Seymour. Good coffee, and very friendly staff, but no carrot cake or scones. Outrageous! So I had two coffees instead, and everyone donated their biscuits to my cause whilst they ate cake. Which worked well 🙂
It was distinctly chilly when we set off again so we had to push it a bit to warm up. Mostly I got the clothing right again today though – only a little bit too warm on the ups and a little bit too cold on the downs so, on average, just right. We came straight back through Yatton, Churchill, Sandford and – because GB hates to retrace his route, and also because he’s always the one to come to Axbridge to start and finish – we went back up Winscombe Hill to drop him off on the way home. Yep, had to finish with a hill. Apparently. Still, it did make for a lovely long downhill run to home, so maybe it was worth it. Ok, it was definitely worth it. 😀
Cycling time: 2:28:25
Distance: 36.38 miles
Avs: 14.6 mph
ODO: 7186 miles
I think that’s a pretty respectable speed given all the hills. And I feel like it went well, like I’ve achieved something, if only that it seemed to demonstrate that I’m making progress. I know I was outclassed by the company I was keeping, but I did my best to do my share when I could, and I really enjoyed the ride. I remember GB, at the end of last season and all his epic events, promising me that this time this year, after a slothful off season, he’d be back to being my peer. Something appear to have gone hideously wrong… As for SH, well, when isn’t he a whippet?! But since neither of ’em rub my face in it, it’s all good 🙂
It’s only two weeks to the season opener that is the Mad March Hare. Am I ready? We’ll see…