after an acceptably productive weekend I'd planned to leave the homestead to return to the city early-mid afternoon, based on the weather forecasts which suggested a 10mph tailwind and a 10% chance of rain. By about 14:00 it was getting decidedly dark outside and a quick check of the forecasts revealed an immediate 50% chance of rain, worsening as the afternoon drew on
Most of my stuff was already together so I made a swift departure before tempting fate further.. beginning the journey with an anxious start as I wasn't sure if I'd forgotten anything. While I'm generally waterproof I was only wearing a base layer and lightweight walking trousers with no waterproof clothing, so didn't fancy the prospect of getting drenched with 20-odd miles to go and a good wind blowing.
I headed south straight out of the village on the main road in the interest of saving miles and time; the dark clouds hanging behind me / to my right and I guess heading my way given the prevailing wind. At the next village I left the main road to cut across west and eventually join the NCR5, the brooding skies and threat of rain making for an atmospheric ride and driving me forward with a renewed sense of urgency and purpose; further aided by my epic techno soundtrack
The rough bridleway leading to the cycle track was attacked fairly ruthlessly; maintaining speed to skip over the uneven ground while pro-actively weaving in an out of the deeper ruts and rougher spots, aided most of the time by the tailwind. I spent a lot of time out of the saddle, with hills being attacked with a nice bouncy tempo in time with the glorious rythm in my ears. These rough uphills made me particularly appreciate the STI shifters, allowing an effortless segway down through the gears with the minumum of movement and retaining full control over the brakes and steering. It pleases me that after years of using such shifters I'm still struck by how pleasant they are to use; something further enhanced by the 105's particualrly nice ergonomics and shift quality
Despite the threat of rain there were still quite a few people on the cycle path; all of whom got fair warning of my approach and obliged in getting out of my way.. a few even managed to return my smiles or at least acknowledge my thanks. I did get stuck behind an older couple doing about 8mph and clearly in no hurry; I followed quietly at distance for a bit and once the path opened out to a section of double-track took great pleasure in blasting past them, feeling great to be piling on the speed having had to reign myself right in for a few minutes.
By the time I shot out the other end of the path at Woodstock I had a big grin on my face and felt fantastic; a welcome contrast to Friday night's misery at the same spot as I wrestled to remove and correctly refit my chain with no tools...
I continued through Woodstock, Yarnton, Begbroke.. across the peartree again which this time had a noticeable amount of traffic present. Once on the Woodstock road I cut across to Wolvercote with a mind towards crossing Port Meadow.
Until this point I'd been lucky that the rain had been limited to the odd spot, despite many of the areas I'd passed through evidently having recently had showers. Unfortunately while passing through Wolvercote the weather finally caught up with me. I carried on regardless, the mudguards doing a sterling job of keeping the ground water off me on the road, while thankfully Port Meadow's surface was still very dry as I imagine the rain was just soaking straight into the bone dry, cracked earth.
What I'd failed to account for in my route planning was the dust that the rain failed to damp down - the bike filthy by the end due to the dry particulates blown onto its frame and adhering thanks the rainwater present.
Leaving Port Meadow - the potatophone's under-cooked it but you get the general idea; pretty grim.
By the time I got home my clothes were fairly saturated and the rain had died back to almost nothing.. I contemplated washing the bike but instead figured I'd leave it (in the warm kitchen where it could dry off fairly quickly ) and brush off the bulk of the crap tomorrow.
This is the first time I've ridden the bike in the wet and I was mindful not to overcook the cornering on the fat slick tyres, while I know they'd be bloody useless in mud so I'm tempted to sort out some proper knobbly tyres for poor weather routes with a significant amount of off-road (assuming I have need / desire to ride the bike in such conditions). The bike did feel a little more sketchy on the damp cycle path than when it's bone dry and I think I'd quckly find myself out of my depths on the slicks had the track seen some proper rain.
When I got back I discovered a significant bloody scratch on the downtube; not the end of the world as it's thankfully only gone through one layer of paint although it looks crap and I'm at a loss as to think where I picked it up; unless I clipped something particularly hard and thorny down the cycle path. While irritating it's tolerable since the bike's no longer brand new and I find cosmetic scuffs arising from fair use / actual riding infinitely easier to stomach than damage caused by my own thoughtlessness or oversight. I'm still trying to find some touchup paint for the frame, but it's proving elusive..
Anyway, an enjoyable ride in parts spoilt by the last bit and paint damage especially. Thanks to the tailwind, overall downward gradient and my enthusiasm it was relatively quick for me; a bit under 22 miles (of which about a quarter was off road) and 640ft at 15.4mph and 144bpm. I reckon I've saved a whole £15 in fuel now on my trips home and back; so only another 250 round trips and the bike will have paid for itself
. Finally up at 0900 and it's now raining 
. Checked the weather app looks like 1300 gets a break . So pottered about had lunch finally ready at 1330 goes to get the bike and it's raining 
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