Didn't feel much like going out today but it was better than sitting inside stewing in my own head and I knew I'd kick myself over the coming week(s) of forecast crappy weather if I didn't make the most of the glorious sun today!
With fond memories of my recent ride in that direction I headed out east again; this time with a strict road-only agenda thanks to some chipped paint on the new bike from chain slap... so it's tarmac only until it's touched up and I can source / lash up a viable way of protecting it
Through town and this time up the hill and through Elsfield, out past Beckley and on to Horton-cum-Studley, over the M40 into the hitherto uncharted territory that is Borstall, then up a questionable amount of hill to reach Brill; complete with the stunning view over Oxfordshire enjoyed by its windmill.
Sadly the potatophone struggled to capture the view (shooting into the sun can't have helped either) but here it is, FWIW. Very much looking forward to getting the head unit off the stem and out in front, once I've got an order together for one of the few places that stocks the mount..
Also took one of the bike at the base of the windmill, not that you can tell what it is
View taken in, I elected to travel SE to continue my loop; however a combination of tiredness and some anxiety-fuel noises from the bike made me question the distance I'd strayed from home, so while I'd planned to have a quick shufti around Thame I peeled off a little earlier at Long Crendon and headed back through Shabbington, Worminghall, Wheatley, Garsington then back into town and home.
All in all a sedate, mostly HR zones 1&2 saunter around the countryside; something the Genesis lends itself well to and the type of ride I probably wouldn't have bothered undertaking on the road bike. Again the 34t cassette made the hills manageable, although on the steepest bits I did still find myself shifting up a few gears and getting out of the saddle as I couldn't keep the cadence high enough to be comfortably seated with my legs as unenthusiastic as they were.
The ride ended up at 43 miles with 1900ft of climbing at 13.0mph and an average HR of an unstrained 115bpm. The only time I pushed the boat out was super-manning it back through town from the Plain roundabout, down the high street, Queens street and just past the castle mound; a Strava segment that I'm unfeasilbly only just outside the top 5% for; helped no doubt by the current circumstances as traffic could ruin ones' time in a number of places.
EDIT: Forgot to add that the amount of people out on bikes was insane today. Nearish the city there were far more bikes than cars; with what seemed almost like a steady stream in both directions. Within maybe five miles of the city I was rarely alone on the road; which was a nice thing considering most were pretty casual and like me apparently just happy to be out on two wheels in the sunshine. Further out the less-committed were replaced by a small amount of tourers and the usual glut of roadies; whose attitudes as always ranged from friendly to entirely ignorant..
Anyway, it was good to get out and I'm now well fed (following an unplanned stop at the Iffley rd chippy) and enjoying that warm / buzzy feeling in the limbs that comes with perhaps over-cooking the mileage a bit. Today rounds off a week of 173 recorded miles (probably more like 180-185 including last night's unrecorded test-blast) which is a lot for me. Perhaps it's a good thing that the weather will probably put me off for the next few days..
