Today's Ride

[PhillB]

Birthday ride today, had spent a while plotting a good 100 mile route and then proceeded to have the most disturbed sleep of all time. Still felt good enough for a decent effort but not the century sadly. Set off 6:30AM; expected it to be cold so wrapped up with balaclava, gloves, shoe covers etc - had to stop 20 mins in and take them off! Could've been a shorts ride.

Around 8AM, suns up but very cloudy - grey sky was an indicator of things to come. Did a short climb and ten minutes later the scenery looked like this;

Really considered bottling it there and taking the right to go home but instead took the left towards the pennines. The next thirty minutes were very harrowing considering rim brakes, repeated steep descents and thick fog. Descended into Wolsingham where it cleared up, then a quick few miles to Stanhope and up Crawleyside - never gets any easier!

Awful horizon there but kind of a bad corner so no time for squatting down to get a level angle Came in at 70.21 miles with 5574ft of elevation. Not a century but not bad either for four hours of sleep and an early start. Ride safe all (and check weather for fog lol)

Happy Birthday!!

 

[PhillB]

After an early kick off for the U18's football team I coach (we got hammered 3-7 at home ) I got home to a bacon sandwich and was in the mood to finish off a restoration I have been working on for the last 2 or three months.

My first ride on a complete rebuild is usually around the block, so I can come back and tighten or adjust something but today it was all good. Well, good enough to keep on riding anyway, I was enjoying it so much, I rode on to, and around, the park and ended up doing about 9km


There are a few adjustments I'll make over the next few days, but I'm very pleased over all. The park was busy, so it was a leisurely ride.

A little cool, but not cold about 14C no wind.

 

[moonlite]

I give up trying to predict, let alone describe, the weather here. It's now officially summer, and we have had some hot days, but today another of those cold winds set in, bringing overall temps down. I worked in the garden all morning (my way of 'earning' a ride later in the day) and got pretty sweaty and dusty; set out for my road ride at about 3pm slathered in sunscreen, only to ride into a band of light rain which combined with the chill wind to make me feel rather cold. That passed after about ten minutes, the sun came out, and it was dry and bright all the way home (although still windy). Didn't stop for pics as it was a route I've shown here quite often: 30km, 300m climbing. Wonder if summer proper will ever arrive!