After last weekends abandoned ride, I tried again this morning - after yet another week off the bike...
Wrapped up warm with Roubaix bibtights, overshoes, three layers on top and full gloves and got it just about right - a bit cool leaving home but once I'd warmed up it was about spot on.
Given recent events I wanted to try get a qualifying ride in for the Half Century Challenge today as the weather was so good. You never can tell at this time of the year can you? I was aiming to try and keep the route flat(ish) too to avoid overdoing it.
So, the familiar furrow up Coal Road, Skeltons Lane and then the descent of Sandhills into Thorner, letting gravity do much of the work on the downhill bits. Through the village and onto Milner lane for the climb onto the ridge, which I coped with OK today and then along betwixt the hedgerows al the way to East Rigton, which was oddly busy this morning (2 cars and a van
). I'd already discounted riding down Bramham Lane given it was likely to be a mudfest given recent weather, so took the other fork along Compton lane, which was also muddy in places but still rideable. Farmers, eh?
At the cross roads I turned left down Jewitt Lane heading for Collingham. This is always an interesting descent as a couple of the corners are unsighted, so I was already taking it steady, but about halfway to the village it turned into a horrendous mudfest. It was so thick I couldn't see the tarmac or white lines and I despite slowing down to near walking pace through the worst of it the bike was slithering about like no-ones business. There was clear evidence of mud being dragged out of the fields by farm machinery AND all round the building site on the fringes of the village, but the amount of mud on the road was just ridiculous. Something for
@Old jon and anyone else who get out that way to bear in mind. Thank goodness for mudguards...
Even over the slight rise before the final descent into Collingham it was still bad and I was grateful to finally (and carefully) turn onto School Lane and get out of it.
Across the A58 and a quick wiggle onto the A659, before taking Linton Road and over the river into the village for the ups and downs all the way to Wetherby, where after a half loop of the town centre, I dropped down to the Wilderness for a breather and a pic:
Back in the saddle and up the hill past the fire station and out across the A1(M) past the race course and eventually right towards Thorp Arch village, with an extended loop around Church Causeway before dropping down over the river and climbing up the other side into Boston Spa, getting a close pass from an Audi-ot for my trouble.
A couple of quick turns in the village and off to Clifford, before the welcome drop into Bramham and the climb back out, where I stopped on Paradise Way for another couple of photos:
From there it's a straight run all the way to Bramham cross roads where I crossed the A1(M) again and navigated the A64, before the straight and mainly downward run to Aberford.
In the village a Fiesta was stopped alongside a van on the brown of a hill, presumably to let someone through, so I stopped a few car lengths behind him as I was unsighted and another car stopped behind me. The Fiesta driver then put the car in reverse and started coming straight at me. This sounds ridiculous now, but I rang my bell and he kept coming - at this point I started yelling "Whoa" about as loudly as I could and thankfully he stopped about a foot off my front wheel as just I hopped off the bike in an effort to get out of his way. He then pulled forward and parked up. I bit my tongue and said nothing as I manoeuvred around him, but got nothing at all - no apology, no acknowledgement, he didn't even look at me. That's as close as I've come to being offed and it was too blooming close for my liking.
Still, the adrenaline rush came in useful for the climb towards Barwick on the lumpiness of Cattle Lane. The climb through Barwick and on to Scholes was dispatched without any further excitement, and needing a few extra miles for the Half Century, I carried on through Scholes rather than heading for home.
By now it was 11am, so I stopped at the roadside for the two minutes silence. A council road crew were working about 100 yards along the road, and also stopped to observe the silence.
On through the village and out to the race track that is the A64, fortunately only for a couple of hundred yards and I got a nice gap in the usual madness today, before taking a right onto Thorner Lane and then Skeltons Lane again. Still looking short on miles, I headed up Red Hall Lane almost to the A58, then looped back round, before taking Coal Road and onto local Roads toward home, with yet another extended loop added onto push the mileage on.
31.31 miles (50.38km) in a steady
2h 26m at an average of
12.8mph with
1,548ft climbed (so quite flat for these parts
)
Today was all about getting out there and getting a decent ride in after the last few weeks and I made it unscathed, so it's all good. Really good to simply manage a decent ride and the good weather and getting a metric half in as well just put the cherry on it.
Needless to say the bike needed a good hosing down and I've reported the state of those two roads to the council online (I did try the out of hours number, but despite my call 'being important', no-one was picking up).
And to end, the map:
then back via redworth shildon and along the railway cycle path.... then called into the navy club for a quick pint ..this girl always has great idea`s 
