4 March: another ride
I can relax now until the end of April. What an obsession this is becoming....now I can't sit still until "the ride" is done.
A spell of clear skies and warmer temperatures meant an opportunity to ride over Bodmin Moor which has been far too wintry until now. I need to qualify the term 'wintry' in the context of living in an area described by the Met Office as 'sub tropical' although it hasn't felt like it this year. In fairness we have had daffodils since December, primroses and vinca in the hedgerows since January, although only now have snowdrops and irises arrived.
So 'wintry' means it is likely to be raining, blowing a full gale and the lanes full of mud and animal faeces. Worth avoiding.
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Bodmin Moor on a nice day
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The lane stretches on, the views are huge...and the next big hill is still a way away
Once Bodmin Moor had been successfully traversed (lanes reasonably clean, no wind, blue sky, almost warm, no cars) I came back via Polzeath. Polzeath is a surfing village on the north coast. There is a bench on the headland there placed by my father after my mother died because it was her favourite place to sit and watch the waves.
Now my father has also died, so both sets of ashes are interred (probably illegally) beneath this bench. It made a poignant place to stop for half an hour to tell them all the family news and what was going on. They didn't say much but I felt they were listening.
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Polzeath beach and my (late) lunch spot
I got very stiff and cold sitting on that bench though and the next sixty kilometres were quite hilly. That felt the hardest part of the ride, as the sun went down and it got colder and the traffic heavier, as we reached peak 'going home' time. I diverted off the flatter and easier main roads into the much hillier and harder back lanes. I had to wrestle a bit with that decision as it added distance and time but I had a number of close passes so was ultimately happier to ride in a more relaxed frame of mind
I always question why I am doing this to myself in those last two hours of a longer ride. Shoulders aching, neck stiff, quads and knees complaining. Age is definitely withering me.
Now two days later as I write this, all I can remember is how lovely a day it was - but also how much I have also enjoyed a 90km ride with friends today. Riding alone is hard - I had forgotten how company can make even the longest hill pass by more easily. I am still trying to get someone to come with me on this challenge next month. So far, no luck.
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Not far to go now.....
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