Firmly Back in the Saddle

Yes, Thursday has come around quick and it is lucky that I did break the curse of the reluctant cyclist last week, as with the clocks going back on Sunday even my afternoon tea breaks are now taken in the dark. Building the motivation to cycle out in what one can only consider to be the middle of the night is taking some effort!

Feeling like that French tyre manufacturer's advertising fella, I waddled in goat feet to the road wheeling my trusty Roubaix, rear wheel still complete with its mighty dent which has the effect of blurring the transition between smooth and bumpy road surfaces. Arriving at the Kings Arms, I team up with 8 other Pedallers. It is always interesting to see who is going to be out, as rarely are there the same faces. Tonight we are joined by Glenn, Airfix and Andy but have lost Steve, Peter and Derek. The faces also determine the style of ride. If Clive had arrived, he would have joined up with Glenn for a sprint ride and I would have to make the decision to join them or stay with the slower ride. Had my old friend Andy turned up, he too would have joined the speedsters and the decision would have been made, the slow ride would be the only way I would live to see another day!

As it was, these 9 riders who had found this dry gap in the weather were happy to stick together and temper the speed for another day. The route we took was hatched by Barry following last week's ride, over an apres cycling beer. The first 11 miles took us up a steady climb, through Colyton, Shute, across the A35 and along the full length of Stockland straight turning west just before meeting the A30. The second half of the route should have been all down hill, had, Glenn, Airfix, Gillian & I not been deep in conversation so as to totally miss the Golf Club turning (Note: this is the third time I've done this!). As it was, the four of us, with Tigger & Relay forced to follow in our wake (although wondering where on earth we were going), descended almost to the bottom of Northcote Hill before realising Honiton was not our intended destination! All six of us then had the unplanned additional hike back up Northcote Hill to rejoin Barry & Andy who fortunately had bumped into Kelly, out on a later solo ride, and so was delayed talking else we'd probably not have seen them again that night!

Our return to Seaton was a mirror of last week’s ride, with a quick blast across Farway Common and back along the A3052. This did wonders in bringing up our overall average speed from 12 - 14 mph, a much more respectable figure. It was a great route, although may be a little testing on the long straights - I'm going to have get some turbo training in - and the views were apparently stunning, so we're going to have to repeat it again in the summer when we can see them! I wonder where next week will take us ..

And the stats: 29 miles covered in 2hr 3 min an average of 14 mph 1,737 ft of ascent, and the route ..