hard days play!
I dragged my self out of bed this morning with the feeling of apprehension, would my back hold up for the planned ride, would the weather hold (it was not raining when I got up). Breakfast was followed by the filling of the camelbak and getting the bike out of the shed. I was wearing my new padded under shorts, so I was wondering what these were going to be like, half expecting them to start chaffing at the furthest point from home. I left home just before 9:00am hoping that I would miss the rush hour traffic on my ride to Colehill. By the time I had got to the bottom of the road I was beginning to wonder if I should on put my long sleeved top and trousers on it was that cold but at least it was not raining.
I had planned to check out a couple of footpaths to keep me off the main roads (its a very busy single carriage way road). The footpaths were quite overgrown and and with 7 gates\hurdle to climb over in less than half a mile I guess they were trying to keep cyclist of the route, suffice to say I decided to seek a different route home for my return.
After a 7 mile ride into a head wind I made it to the woods and started to make my way to Horton Tower some 5 miles away, the route would take me along fire roads, single tracks and bridle ways. With the rains we have had over the past few days some of the paths were what you would expect to find during the winter. The run up to the tower was as I had expected, bumpy and hard work, so I cheated. Where the fields adjacent to the path had had sheep in them the grass was nice and short, so I climbed over the fence with my bike into the field and rode up the field next to the path, it was a lot easier (the sheep were way down the other side of the field). My back was holding up quite well and by now the sun had come out to play.
From the Tower I knew the route for the next 8 miles except for a loop around the Woodlands Golf course (which I found no more interesting than my normal route). Once you pass Woodlands Golf course there is a hill which on my previous two rides around this course I had failed to get up, despite three attempts to get up the hill, this ride was to be no different. Its not a large hill it just that it is made up of loose gravel and sand and with the rain of late, gulleys. It was the only section of the ride that I walked.
I was soon on to Holt heath, this was very wet in places particularly where I lost the route, the path I was on was barely visible through the bushes but when it came out into the open it disappeared. I could either follow the GPS through the long grass across the heath or take an alternative track that I could see that would join up with the track I should be following, I opted for the later. This track led me back into the forest area that would take me back to Colehill, my legs were by now getting quite tired.
Once back at Colehill and onto the road I was grateful of the downhill run to the roundabout, I could give my legs a rest. By now the Friday afternoon Bank Holiday weekend rush was well underway and the traffic was very heavy. I eventually made it back home at 1:35pm, 4hr 40min for a 30.9 mile ride, it won’t break any records but it was my longest single ride and my back had survived although by now aching.
