Another day, same old dilemma. To ride or not ride? Are those roads as dry and ice-free as they look? Is it really -4C?! While up above the skies are blue and the sun is shining. I consulted weather websites, Facebook friends, Mim (who I was due to ride with), the Oracle at Delphi…well, ok, not the last one but you get the picture. Basically I was trying to get someone else to make the decision for me! The general consensus of opinion was that it was ok out there, and that the answer is always to ride :). I occurred to me that I did have a couple of errands to run and I decided that I could get those done at the very least. I virtually never use my bike for anything practical – it’s always just about riding the bike! :).
On went the layers. All of them. Thermal leggings, long windstopper tights, wooly socks, and overshoes. Thermal base layer, long sleeve jersey, winter jacket, gilet. Buff, winter hat, winter gloves. I don’t think I could wear more layers and still have my joints move! Maybe it’s some form of bizarre resistance training? Maybe I should hit the pub, pickle my internal organs in a grain based beverage, place them in storage jars, and consider myself a mummy? ;). Considering the snotty cold I have at the moment, it wouldn’t surprise me if my brain had already come out through my nose! Too much information? *grin*.
I headed off for my first errand on the way to Mim’s place in Cheddar. No sooner had I posted that which needed posting, literally just down the road from where I needed to be, than I got a text from Mim saying “not going out”. No beating around the bush there then. Co-incidentally whilst reading that, I missed a call from George. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, playing voicemail tennis and finally going all old school and actually talking to each other, my ride with Mim turned into a ride with George, meeting in Wedmore since my second errand involved the chemists there.
Oddly enough we ended up doing pretty much exactly what I did on Tuesday. Wedmore for me, Burnham on Sea for George, A38 to home. Looks like I could be getting very familiar with that route if the ice continues, as is forecast. Until the snow arrives on Saturday and plays havoc with everything of course *sigh*. The roads were pretty much dry and therefore ice-free but in those places where there were puddles, or wet patches, there was most definitely ice, even on the salting network, so it was a day for riding carefully and paying attention. That and there was a nasty cold NNE wind which made the ride back up the A38 a distinctly unpleasant slog.
low sun, blue skies
It was mighty cold out there, and hanging around in Burnham whilst the wheels of banking bureaucracy turned as slowly as ever, certainly didn’t warm me up any. A nice older gent doing his shopping on a Claude Butler Levante (my old bike is one of those!) came over and engaged me in handily distracting conversation – apparently we get much kudos for riding today. Fascinating the characters you meet out there – he turns out to have a stable full of various steeds and rides every day, couldn’t live without it…just another obsessive on the road then :).
what a pretty power station 😉
I think the tide was out at Burnham...
We looped around by the beach, to add some form to the function of the ride, and as I previously said, came back as the crow flies. The A38 remains a deep joy to ride. George is one who prefers to ride two abreast and make the traffic actively go around you, rather than squeezing past you. This is great for conversation, not so good for the nerves…but hey, here we both are, home in one piece, so I guess it worked… I don’t think it made any difference to the motorists – we’re cycling marmite, we should either not be there at all and they hate us, or we’re fine and they go around us safely. Don’t let them tell you they’d have been happier with us there riding in a row – then they’d just be complaining that it took longer to get past the pair of us!
Cycling time: 1:47:28 hrs
Distance: 26.93 miles.
AVS: 15.0 mph.
ODO: 11868 miles
It may have been Tuesday’s ride – but it was considerably slower, which was probably due partially to the wind and definitely to the chatting! As a result it was also much more enjoyable :). First February ride done.