Day 319 - NYR #20 Ride in the Rain

Which ever way you looked at it, which ever station you chose to tune in to, the weather was not looking promising for a dry Thursday night ride. However, having taken Cycling Weekly’s “40 Top Tips to make this year my best ever” as my New Year’s resolution, I felt there was no better time to cross #20, "Ride in the Rain", off the list!

Arriving at the Kings Arms to find the meeting area devoid of Pedallers, led me to believe this would be a solo effort and my keenness for a ride in the rain was not one that was shared by others. Then, thankfully, Rex arrived to double our number, as too did a loan mountain biker. I had visions of a mixed AVP ride until a few other off-roaders appeared and we were again just two.

In the absence of our seasoned route planners, Rex and I decided to head off in the direction of Sidmouth and we’d see how things went. As we made our way out of Seaton along Beer Road, Rex sighted a single beam of light closing in on our tail; it was Airfix! and now we were three. We took the Stovar Long Lane route to the A3052 and then turned in towards Honiton and Farway with a plan of riding out to the golf club then doing a loop back to Colyton.

So far, the promised rain had held off and our way was illuminated not just by our lights but also by a bright moon which accompanied us throughout the rest of the ride. Once we’d turned off the main roads onto Northleigh Hill, the effect of recent persistent rain was very evident. Curb side puddles joined in the middle creating lakes across the road and I was only too glad to be wearing overshoes. Feeling that we were making good progress and had time on our hands, we turned off the road to Colyford and headed towards Widworthy, down the most pitted road I’ve seen in some time, possibly the worst in Devon! I even dropped and ran over my water bottle at one stage, the jarring from the potholes was so severe. At the bottom of the hill is the ford which crosses Offwell Brook. Normally a light trickle, if that, the Brook tonight was a raging torrent, luckily Rex spotted a narrow walkway - which like mountain goats we crossed - else we would have had the uncomfortable climb back out the way we came.

The ride back to Colyton from there was a gentle down hill roll. The rain did start to fall as we descended but we only had a few more miles to do. As home was the north side of Seaton for the majority, we decided on the White Heart for apres ride beer and chips, and a pat on the back for completing an unexpectedly good 20 mile ride.