After yesterdays epic, I saw a certain irony with the wrapper of the emergency Snickers for todays ride:
Anyway, this morning it genuinely was warm enough for a short sleeved top and bib shorts, so I set off with only a vague route in mind.
Within half a mile of home I'd been brake checked by a plum in a Golf who stopped dead in the middle of the road in front of me for no apparent reason, so I did have a few doubts about what sort of day it was going to be. Fortunately it got better...
Onto Barwick Road and up the hill to Scholes, assisted by a tailwind that while not as forceful as yesterday was certainly 'there' if you know what I mean.
Up the hill at the Coronation Tree for Barwick, which soon becomes a long descent into and through the village and all the way to the Cock Beck bridge where the lumps of Cattle Lane await as you head for Aberford.
It was here I noticed that the Garmin was playing up - it had taken an age to get a satellite fix when I'd switched it on and it was now showing me riding along below sea level...
Up the hill to Lotherton Gates and left between the farm yards, stopping at the county line as the panorama opened out in front of me for a photo:
Back on the bike and the long descent all the way down to the Crooked Billet, getting passed by a couple of vintage motorbikes (there always seem to be a few of these out here), ignoring the turning for Saxton and carrying straight on as the road climbs up to the battlefield site just before Towton.
From here it gently drops into the village and combined with the tailwind I was bowling along in the high 20s (mph) while putting no real effort in at all.
I knew I'd pay for it later, but you've got to enjoy it while you can.
Through the village on the A162 and straight on, dropping down the hill and turning left for Stutton, across Cock Beck for a third time and climbing up Garnett Lane, across the A64 bridge then across the A659 and dropping down onto Toulston Lane and heading for Bramham, briefly hanging on the tails of a very quick club run until the head wind got the better of me.
At the top of the village I turned right to tackle 'The Windmill' - I suspected it might be a quick one with the wind behind me, but I was still pleased to crack 40mph on the "winter" bike
as the gearing started to spin out.
This brought me quickly to Clifford, for a wiggle on Main Street and on to Boston Spa, where the streets are lumpy and drivers impatient, so it was down to the bridge, across a full looking River Wharfe and back up the other side, taking a right onto Church Causeway to add the loop on, doubling back on Dowkell Lane and on towards the Wetherby Road.
I had a crosswind along here and it was a bit blowy to say the least, but on a brief stretch you turn directly into the wind and it damn near stopped me!
I'd been wondering how the fast road into Wetherby (and the wind) would be from here and that made my mind up - despite knowing it would be rough on the bike I took NCR665 at the end of the road which kept me out of the wind under the trees but put me on some of the worst tarmac in the area.
Fortunately it was quiet and I only passed 3 people all the way to the A1(M) underpass, popping out onto Freemans Way, then Hallfield Lane into Wetherby itself, a quick scoot across the town centre and onto Linton Road, heading for the village and bridge across the river.
I haven't cycled this way for a while and had forgotten how lumpy Linton is in this direction, but I was soon at the bridge and back across the Wharfe into Collingham, where a brief bit of the A659 and A58 saw me onto the Col de Jewitt Lane.
I knew this would be hard work and I wasn't disappointed
but I slowly ground my way to the top and turned right onto Compton Lane. I'd hoped I'd be largely sheltered from the wind up here, but I was wrong so I kept it spinning and ground out the distance, even pedalling on the downhill bits
With all this hard work, I felt justified in stopping at the bench for a breather, and a couple of pics:
I also demolished my emergency Snickers...
Back in the saddle and the drop down into East Rigton at least took me out of the wind briefly, but I was nearly taken off at the Green by another cyclist cutting the corner as he headed in the opposite direction
Anyhow, onto Holme Farm Lane, then Milner Lane, battling the alternating head / cross winds, while a couple of racing snake types zoomed past seemingly effortlessly
Down the hill and back up into Thorner, passing the pram pushing jogger (not seen her for a while, so glad to see she's still out and about), onto Main Street and then Carr Lane to climb back out of the village and onto the A58.
A brief sprint along there and up onto Coal Road, before dropping down onto local roads to home slightly vexed to find two of the three traffic calming chicane bike avoiding lanes blocked by indiscriminately parked works vans...
33.41 miles (53.77km) in
2h 31m at an average of
13.2mph with
1,866ft climbed
I'll take that for today with that wind, as where it helped me along on parts it certainly didn't on others despite my best efforts to mitigate it. It's another ride for the half century challenge too and it's always good to get a few miles in isn't it?
Edit to add: Just noticed this puts me through 2,000 miles for the year, which isn't a lot compared to some but it's a target I'm really pleased to hit after a really poor start to the year.
And to end, the map - and today I've added the elevation too, just so you can see how much time I spent below sea level
