Forgive me CycleChatters, for it has been 13 days since my last ride.
And blimey, who turned the thermostat down since then? I'd already decided it would be longs today, but also added a base layer, arm warmers, a 'thermal' long sleeved top, buff, full finger gloves and put shoe covers on. And put my Santini windproof jacket over the top of that.
And it was still chilly.
Before we go any further I'd like to state now that I've got a cold, so I've given myself a TUE and todays performance was enabled by Wilko Decongestant Spray.
Anyhow, Coal Road, Red Hall Lane and a squirt along the A58 took me to the quiet lane out to Shadwell, then up to Slaid Hill lights, through the dip and loop back round into Scarcroft.
Back onto the A58 and the long descent all the way to Bardsey, the short incline to the traffic lights and then more gentle down-ness to Collingham. Did I mention it was chilly? It certainly was after 3 miles of descending...
Anyhow, the dogleg and over the river into Linton where the lumps and bumps restored some warmth, as did the climb up the hill from the fringes of Wetherby heading for Spofforth.
Through there and across the causeway and straight on at the corner onto the quiet road to Little Ribston which is one of my favourite cycling lanes. It was quite busy today as I was passed by three cars and a van. It was like blooming rush hour!
Right in the village and back out into the countryside, before taking a left onto Ox Close Lane and more ruralness. Over the A168 bridge (deserted, as usual) and then the A1(M) bridge (very busy), and the twists and turns through to Cowthorpe and beyond, getting passed by a group of around 8 riders. I tried to get a tow, but they were doing 22mph+ and I soon realised I was much happier at 17/18mph
As they peeled off left towards Cattal, I turned right onto Rudgate past the former airfield and industrial estate (it's nice than it sounds!) down to Rudgate Crossroads, where it was straight across and onwards, eventually taking the right for the back road into Walton, where I stopped for a couple of pics by St Peters church:
I've meant to get a pic of the church here for a while but it's quite tricky to get a decent shot - the road is quite a bit below the footpath outside the church and the church is higher still and surrounded by mature trees masking it from view. Still, there we go.
Back on the bike and off again, now down through Thorp Arch, across the river and up into Boston Spa where a quick wiggle along Main Street saw me onto the road to Clifford, up to the top of the village and the plunge down the hill into Bramham. Which was followed by the inevitable climb back out of Bramham and over the A1(M) bridge and the steady incline alongside Bramham Park.
I was joined at this point by another rider, who'd just set off rom Bramham and had chased me up the hill. We had a brief chat, mainly about how chilly it had got. As we passed one of the several entrances to Bramham Park it was being guarded by two uniformed police officers and a soldier...not sure what was going on there? At this point, the other cyclist said his goodbyes and pushed on, while I kept it spinning, before taking the right fork onto Thorner Lane and through the dip, then the long straight to Milner Lane, which I took along the ridge and down into Thorner.
Through the village, staying on Main Street and not taking Carr Lane for a change. Noticed that the village shop appears to have shut, with a sign outside directing people to the shop in Scholes (a good ten minutes away by car) instead.
Going this way was the more direct route home but it meant tackling Sandhills, or Van Zyl Hill as it's become known. A mile of up, but with only one steepish ramp and a couple of places to get your breath back, so I was soon passing the now very faded writing on the road from the inaugural TdY which means that you're nearly at the top.
Right onto Skeltons Lane, along there and onto Coal Road, then local roads down to home.
38.68 miles (62.25km) in a steady
2h 48m at an average of
13.8mph with
1,876ft climbed and an average temperature of just
7.2°C
Despite the chill, I enjoyed that. I need to get the layering sorted though as I've been out in colder but I really felt it today and even had cold fingers despite wearing the gloves that saw me through nearly all last winter without issue. Quite a few cyclists out and a decent number of mixed groups, so that's all good.
Even better, the apocalyptic weather forecast for tomorrow has now been re-routed far to the south and the local weather warnings cancelled, so it looks like I'll get a ride in tomorrow all being well.
And to end, the map:
(Garmin are clearly having a laugh with that weather symbol as we haven't seen the sun all day round here...)
Got there in the end
I'd put the road route in the too difficult box, so figured head down and see how far back I could get before the bulk of the riders came through. The first rider with a number I passed some 10 miles into the return journey, then dribs and drabs before the bulk of them some 25 miles of so in. That left 15 - 20 miles of riding against the flow, and to be fair 99% of the riders were great, we had walkers and dogs to deal with too and there are some very narrow bits on the Downs Link so I was surprised at how smoothly it went. 
