Not today, but yesterday.
I went out with the plan of getting between the showers having delayed the ride until the afternoon, but life was not to go to plan.
First of all a road a usually use to avoid the 'main road' was closed for repairs. The guy on the road closed sign duty did say I could go down the lane, but it was full of holes. My reply was that it was always full of holes, but when I looked from the road closed sign, it really was full of holes this time and with a bad back and the depth of some of those holes, I wasn't going anywhere near it! It is closed all week, so off I go to find another route. Never mind there is a touch of lee way in my route so I can still get to 20 miles.
Just a field of dandelions I enjoy.
Off through Delamere and I come across some roadworks signs... not quite road works, but a film crew parked up on one side of the road and making a huge mess of the other side of the road... one of the road maintenance guys spots me waiting at the traffic lights and comes over to put them onto manual for me because they haven't triggered and as I was to find out, I was never going to get through on green otherwise - it was very kind of him.
Then a hill I have been doing for a while now, only this time it is the first time I have seen the front of the sign post - I go up... why don't I get a notice about how steep it is?
Towards the top of this section, I spotted the opportunity for a view, but was sorely mistaken. That squall was to get me later in the ride.
In the mean time, the wind is making life interesting and bending my flag pole backwards! Isn't it worrying how well the hi-viz yellow on my flag blends with the hedge row? It is why I have orange on there as well.
And at the top of the next climb, Wales can be seen and it is sunny again and way too warm for waterproofs.
And Runcorn can also be seen, but this horse is way more interested in whether I will feed him than the weather or the view.
And at the top of another hill and as high as I can climb around here it looks great in this direction ....
.. but not so great in this direction. I'm off home. It is too windy and there is another squall blowing through and somehow yesterday my heart was not in it.
Often the view in the rear view mirror is much better than in actuality...
... but possibly not this time.
Ride aborted. 15 miles instead of 20 miles at a disappointing 7.7mph but most of the climbing is done in the first hour!
https://www.strava.com/activities/298655301
well done on getting round
) across the fields and up the hill to Earls Barton was fairly easy as the wind was pushing me along. Home was via Sywell Reservoir and Cut Throat Lane, a byway that gets me to within half a mile of y house.
