I often have good ideas, sometimes they work and sometimes not so well. Yesterday and today was probably the latter. Looking at the forecast [why???] we couldn't decide whether to ride over to a friends to fix her daughters bike which I had sourced for her some time ago or take the car. The bikes won so we dragged out the touring bikes, loaded up the panniers and set off, into a very fresh headwind.
The next four pictures give a flavour of the first half of the day
This one is looking out towards the fens, about 3 miles from Sawtry
Stopping for a break in St Ives, nearly 50 miles done
Next we take to the guided busway to Cambridge, always wanted to try this out. We had to ask a guy on a road bike where you got on to it but he was very off hand and quite rude in his reply, like doesn't everyone know where it is? It turned out he was also going on it but we got held up by the lights. I had an inkling what was going to happen. dr_pink was miffed, properly miffed in fact and when I looked down at my speedo to see it reading 21 mph into a brutal headwind with me hanging on for grim death [this on a touring bike with panniers] I knew the chaps number was up. He did his best, he really did, unfortunately he had no idea he had an enraged exocet on his case. He was duly disposed of.
The busway, in hot pursuit
Next town, Newmarket
Suffolk "hills" sans hedgerows, no help from the wind
With 6 hrs and 40 mins of riding into a constant headwind we arrived a our friends house in Woolpit, just over 100 miles done with the prospect of doing it all again tomorrow [today].
The wind had changed direction. enough said really without using banned expletives, we now had a northerly which got progressively stronger as the hills got bigger
, I see it as punishment for my many past sins, dr_pink sees it as a training opportunity, sigh.
You know you are in Suffolk when
Yes, I can see it is a road, but where the f*** does it go!
To be fair some of the roads in Suffolk were a treat
Back into Newmarket and a sight dr_pink had not seen before
We stopped at some friends at Histon for lunch but ended up staying way too long, almost 2 hours so we had to crack on. Along the river Cam in Cambridge.
The next 50 miles were tough, and that is not in anyway an understatement. Guess how a stranger would know they had reached
Rutland
Just over 200 miles into a permanent headwind, is that a record? 13 hrs 55 mins and from experience we knew we would have been a couple of hours quicker with fair winds. Mind you we had our touring gears on, 53/39 and 12-25
. dr _pink is now allowed an extra portion of rocket [she actually consumed a whole cookie but don't tell anyone]. I feel remarkably good, tomorrow could be another story.
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