well i suppose i did learn something yesterday
And what was that you may ask? Okay, i learnt that the effect of weather and just plain inertia means i'm not as fit as i'd like to be!
But lets take a step back to Monday. If you remember i've bought a towing arm to tow my grandsons bike and i must admit to a case of total brain freeze for much of the day. In the end Aunty Bev drove me out to Portishead to pick it up, after a confusing and over complicated access to the private address, i collected the bar which is pretty much like new. Definitely a win, a new boxed unit is at least 5x what i've paid, i may upgrade some of the fixings to stainless but i'm still way ahead on the deal!
Tuesday then, my Birthday, i'm now over 20% of the way from three score to three score and ten. In the past i've done some exciting trips to the likes of Munich to 'celebrate', for the last few years i have instead taken a cheaper, less exciting option of a bike ride covering at the very least, my new age in km but preferably in miles. The forecast looked good, dry, sunny, not too much wind but temperatures in single digits.
I set off with some vague ideas but no specific route or destination in mind, it was only some 25km in that i decided that Stroud, for a second year, would get the Birthday honours. The wind, what there was of it, pushed me along quite nicely across the Cotswolds past Tetbury and through the lanes towards Cirencester. I was tempted to change destination at this point, being closer to the Roman town than my chosen target but common sense saw me instead dropping into the local version of River Frome valley and down the valley into Stroud where i stopped at my 'regular' eatery.
My minimum mileage target of 62km was already completed before i stopped, a wholesome meal of omelette, chips and beans girded the loins for what i was expecting to be a headwind return to Brizzle. I hadn't been going too long after eating before i had an unexpected sprinkle of H2O but it didn't last and i was soon bypassing Cam & Dursley, the expected headwind not making a lot of impact. In fact, as i made my way towards Yate if anything the invisible force seemed to be giving some assistance, my speed nudging 30kph at times without really trying.
The kilometres continued to pile up, the 100km point easily surpassed although a second bit of damp threatened to spoil the party. I was feeling a bit fatigued by the time i hit the edge of 'greater' Brizz but there was only @ 5km of riding remaining, one last draggy ascent then it was over. 118km, 880m of up, my longest ride since October last year, the 'challenge' was complete, the penalty, significant weariness, when i looked at the numbers the reason became a bit clearer, most of my rides average @ 20kph, this one was 22kph! Clearly the wind wasn't as helpful as i thought, i'd instead over compensated with my effort, maybe i haven't lost as much condition as i thought.
Of course, what's a birthday without a celebration meal, call me boring but this year's choice was steak & kidney pudding (boiled suet type) with mash and gravy. And there was cake to follow, red velvet, not home made but just about up to the job.
Today? well i am taking it a bit easier, its Aunty Bev's birthday so there will be more cake later, lol. The weather is a bit more mixed, damper for sure but i'll take a walk shortly, get the blood pumping a bit and maybe get some lunch, maybe. Writing and riding are the hopes for the rest of the week as February closes and March approaches.
The weekend will see more Gaby posted but until then,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid
