Shock horror .. almost a first .. I did a ride last night but not with the Pedallers. The last time I remember doing that was when Andy and I managed to get out early to avoid forecasted heavy showers only to pass the Pedallers coming the other way ascending Quarry Lane! - were we less bothered by rain back then?
Last night was down to a culmination of reasons .. I picked up a stubborn chest cold following my Portland epic and running on what feels like 50% lung capacity is like puffing up a hill in a car without an exhaust pipe; our last few rides have been quick and being constantly spat out the back has my inner chimp in disarray, I need to work on getting my mojo back; and finally, the glorious weather has encouraged me to get in an early evening ride these last few weeks and that feeling of getting home in the light and still having an evening to enjoy is hard to beat. So, my thinking was, if I would be spluttering and riding out back alone anyway, I may as well get out and do an early solo circuit without the pressure of trying to keep up.
I thought it would be a repeat of my last ride and I’d meet Pedallers’ peloton perhaps on my homeward ‘sprint’ along the Axe Estuary straight, alas no, we must have missed by a matter of minutes, as I see all had a good 25+ mile ride out to Hawkchurch via Axmouth, Trinity Hill and back through Axminster, Kilmington and Musbury, and looking at the Strava logs, a bag full of PRs for all too.
I completed a gentle 20 mile circuit which I’ve become quite fond of recently, mainly because of the road quality, both smooth surface so as not to buckle my wheels and wide enough not to have to pull over for cars, and also because I can ride it without thinking of where it is I’m going. Those who know of my poor sense of direction, will know I have a memory of a gold fish when it comes to remembering routes .. nice castle … nice castle .. nice castle ..!
Anyway, having enjoyed beautiful sunshine for the first 15 miles what a surprise greeted me as I hit the Axe Estuary. Thick fog! My bare legs and Garmin also registered a 4 degree drop in temperature. I assume this was just localised sea mist and the Pedallers found themselves climbing into clearer sky as they got up to the heights of Trinity Hill.
Fingers crossed I’ll be back in the fold for next week’s ride, but before that we have the monthly Sunday club ride .. more on that later!
Epilogue: On the stats front, it was actually quite a good ride: 16.9 mph average and a PB on my Seaton Down Hill climb, taking 14s off my May 2014 record, mainly because I had not realised I was still in the big cog!
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