SatNavSaysStraightOn
Changed hemispheres!
- Location
- ɐᴉlɐɹʇsn∀ 'ɐɹɹǝquɐƆ
OK - today's ride. Unlike the rest of the country we started the day with Blue Skies (otherwise known as the acronym BS in this household...) 
It didn't last long though and we set out in heavy, cold rain into a headwind uphill and cursing; the rain soon through hail at us just to add insult to injury and thoughst along the lines of quitting were coming into my mind - exactly how stupid am I?. Before long we met 2 other cyclists - they looked happy - downhill and tailwind... humph.... equally mad were my thoughts. A few mins later, we actually found someone madder than ourselves - actually 2 people madder than ourselves, 2 horse riders. Now at least we are generating our on warmth... 30 mins later and the torrential rain stopped as suddenly as it started and the sun came out - but it was to take another hour before we have 'dried' off.
Lunch was taken somewhere on the Cheshire Greenway, the 2nd picnic bench... the first being too exposed in the wind for my liking...
Then it was a case of we had decided to follow the Cheshire Greenway all the way to the end. It sounded so simple on paper, but paper never comments about headwinds or rain.
Rain front - you can stop of 1 photo only, then keep going otherwise we are going to get very wet....
Looks nice towards Wales - keep going....
Not so nice looking back towards England.... Yeh - OK I baled and took shelter under a bridge!
Don't cycle too fast - England looks rather wet again....
Err - not so nice behind (back towards Wales)
Looks better towards England, but its a nasty side wind that has just enough of a hint of a headwind to it to really slow you down...
Somehow we managed to dodge most of the rain, but not all of the wind! I have reached the conclusion that the River Dee is not a good place to cycle on a windy day.... I struggled big time and frequently needed my OH for shelter to keep the speed at something respectable.
Just as the worst of the weather found us in Chester, we happened to be alongside a Costa Drive Through, so we, OK I baled and decided that a soya latte with loads of sugar was the order of the day. I took advantage of the toilets to dry my merino wool top (sweat) on the UV light had drier, so have zapped the bugs for another day of supposedly not smelling
and we waited the worst of the squall out and then set off again for the final leg home and the biggest and steepest of the climbs as well. I had absolutely no power/strength left in my legs when we hit the 15% gradient and it showed... I almost came to a complete and utter halt at one point - even standing on the pedals said my legs had nothing left in them... exhaustion was close - luckily the easier gradient was closer and I just (this is a very big just) survived. I know it was almost impossible to balance and cycle any slower... so know my cadence must have been in the low 40's which is my lowest limit. If I knew how to get the data off my new Garmin Edge 500 (with cadence meter) I would tell you what it was at, but I'm not sure if I have it set up correctly yet... the height readings for today are a touch 'dodgy' to say the least... It thinks we have climbed 1,128m - the Garmin Edge 200 records 340m instead! Much more like it I suspect... guess it is probably user error from forgetting that it was on 'pause' for 3.5km of my route!
Then it was a less than speedy return home, getting home 15 mins before the next squall came through... time in our favour yet again. Now exhausted and suspect that this could be the last 'pleasure ride' my OH gets in before returning to work on Monday - though we may sneak a sneaky Sunday mtb ride in if the weather has not brought too many trees down... http://www.strava.com/activities/103729567
It didn't last long though and we set out in heavy, cold rain into a headwind uphill and cursing; the rain soon through hail at us just to add insult to injury and thoughst along the lines of quitting were coming into my mind - exactly how stupid am I?. Before long we met 2 other cyclists - they looked happy - downhill and tailwind... humph.... equally mad were my thoughts. A few mins later, we actually found someone madder than ourselves - actually 2 people madder than ourselves, 2 horse riders. Now at least we are generating our on warmth... 30 mins later and the torrential rain stopped as suddenly as it started and the sun came out - but it was to take another hour before we have 'dried' off.
Lunch was taken somewhere on the Cheshire Greenway, the 2nd picnic bench... the first being too exposed in the wind for my liking...
Then it was a case of we had decided to follow the Cheshire Greenway all the way to the end. It sounded so simple on paper, but paper never comments about headwinds or rain.
Rain front - you can stop of 1 photo only, then keep going otherwise we are going to get very wet....
Looks nice towards Wales - keep going....
Not so nice looking back towards England.... Yeh - OK I baled and took shelter under a bridge!
Don't cycle too fast - England looks rather wet again....
Err - not so nice behind (back towards Wales)
Looks better towards England, but its a nasty side wind that has just enough of a hint of a headwind to it to really slow you down...
Somehow we managed to dodge most of the rain, but not all of the wind! I have reached the conclusion that the River Dee is not a good place to cycle on a windy day.... I struggled big time and frequently needed my OH for shelter to keep the speed at something respectable.
Just as the worst of the weather found us in Chester, we happened to be alongside a Costa Drive Through, so we, OK I baled and decided that a soya latte with loads of sugar was the order of the day. I took advantage of the toilets to dry my merino wool top (sweat) on the UV light had drier, so have zapped the bugs for another day of supposedly not smelling
and we waited the worst of the squall out and then set off again for the final leg home and the biggest and steepest of the climbs as well. I had absolutely no power/strength left in my legs when we hit the 15% gradient and it showed... I almost came to a complete and utter halt at one point - even standing on the pedals said my legs had nothing left in them... exhaustion was close - luckily the easier gradient was closer and I just (this is a very big just) survived. I know it was almost impossible to balance and cycle any slower... so know my cadence must have been in the low 40's which is my lowest limit. If I knew how to get the data off my new Garmin Edge 500 (with cadence meter) I would tell you what it was at, but I'm not sure if I have it set up correctly yet... the height readings for today are a touch 'dodgy' to say the least... It thinks we have climbed 1,128m - the Garmin Edge 200 records 340m instead! Much more like it I suspect... guess it is probably user error from forgetting that it was on 'pause' for 3.5km of my route! Then it was a less than speedy return home, getting home 15 mins before the next squall came through... time in our favour yet again. Now exhausted and suspect that this could be the last 'pleasure ride' my OH gets in before returning to work on Monday - though we may sneak a sneaky Sunday mtb ride in if the weather has not brought too many trees down... http://www.strava.com/activities/103729567
I do wonder about these sort of showrooms how busy they get with the cars being such a niche product,i would go mad working there 
