Up at stupid o'clock this morning to drop Mrs ND at work for 6am (on a Sunday!), so was out on the road bike by 7.15am.
I had debated going out on the hybrid but decided that after last nights monsoon that any off roading would probably be excessively damp, so the Road Comp it was (again).
I set off on a broadly similar route to yesterday, out to Thorner, then up towards Bramham, Wattlesyke, Boston Spa, etc.
The roads were in a right state after the storms - pools of standing water, mud, stones and goodness knows what else washed out of fields so no records were going to be set by me today. Going through the dip at Wothersome was 'interesting' given the amount of detritus in the road - I dared not use the brakes for fear of losing control. Thorner Lane was equally bad with standing water nearly reaching the middle of the road.
in Boston Spa i turned earlier than I had yesterday and took Clifford Lane, where I stopped on the edge of Clifford village for a drink and a photo:
Sadly I didn't see any big red dogs though - maybe next time...
Through the village and down the hill to Bramham - here again the stuff washed into the road made progress fun.
Up Town Hill, passing a jogger heading in the opposite direction, then a person in a Fiesta decided not to wait for me to get the 20 metres to the top of the hill and barged through. Thank you so much.
NCN R66 to Aberford, nearly getting taken out by a pair of joggers who didn't use their Green Cross Code, then Cattle Lane towards Barwick.
Got overtaken by another cyclist on the drag up to the village from Cock Beck by a cyclist who was literally flying. Serious respect for that turn of speed.
Through Barwick, onto Scholes and then a minor miracle. For the first time I can recall there wasn't a nasty headwind facing me on the descent down Leeds Road.
Did this section at a respectable 21.3mph (4mph faster than my average) and enjoyed every last second of it.
Then up to home.
23.29 miles in 1hr 37m at an average of 14.3mph with 916ft climbed.
Quite pleased with that considering I'd had to take it steady in so many places. More importantly it puts me over 200 cycling miles this month (a new record).
I'd like to try for 300 miles cycling this month, so need to get another 80-odd in the next week or so.
The bike was absolutely filthy. although to be fair I wasn't much cleaner - might have to consider a set of mudguards for the winter months even if it will spoil the lines of the bike.
So cleaned, fettled and lubed the bike, prepping it for my next trip out