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Monday, November 30, 2009

30th November 2009

Got in from work and felt very tired, ate tea...then relaxed in front of the computer...

I have planned next Sundays ride :-)

Sunday, November 29, 2009

29th November 2009 (Sunday)

Woke up in the middle of the night sneezing! Eventually woke up this morning and still felt tired :-(

Dragged myself out of bed, put on the cycling gear and made some porridge for breakfast. The weather forecast for today was grim....

I headed of to the Herman Miller roundabout for the club leisure ride start at 9:30... I followed one of the guys in (Paul) arriving at the roundabout at the same time as him...Another 2 guys turned up...Nobody else ventured out....(Wimps!)

The route sheet stated..."Leisure Ride to Woodbourough - Duffield Challenge route modified (55 miles)"

Everybody was optimistic as we set of that we may remain dry....I was not! and I was proved right in a big way.

The route to Woodborough was quite straight forward, Chippenham -> Lacock -> Headington -> Stockley -> Cherhill -> West Kennett -> Alton Barnes -> Woodborough

What was NOT straight forward was the strong headwind and the strong rain..at one point I actually had to shield my face as the rain was hitting so hard it was stinging :-(

I was happy at how well I climbed Bowden Hill on the Peugeot... I was expecting some real hill climb issues, however I did myself proud.

At Woodbourough we stopped at the Garden Centre Cafe...I had a nice hot cup of tea and a Bacon Sandwich, unfortunately as I was damp all over I started to cool very quickly and was itching to get going again to warm up.

The ride back to Chippenham was very indirect, taking us south of Devizes then to Trowbridge, the tailwind was very pleasant and I held a good pace....

We then headed north to Atworth, Neston and back home. It was nice to get back out on a group ride other than the chain gang, but I did find myself setting a reasonably quick pace and either towing everybody along OR leaving them behind and waiting for them every so often. It did keep me warm :-) I hope I didn't annoy them.....

The Garmin had the ride as 63.89 miles in 4 hours 9 minutes with an average speed of 15.3 mph, route here...

Interesting as we did followed the route sheet exactly and it said 55 miles....

When I got back home I changed into some warmer, dry clothes and gave son a lift to Melksham.

I spent a quality afternoon washing and lubing the bike....During the ride the back brake was getting less and less responsive, I had adjusted the cable as far as it would go on the ride, but the lever was pulling all the way back to the handlebars....

Another very warn set of shimano "Dissolve in water" brake blocks...

I have replaced them with some slightly different ones.....hoping that I don't wear the rims out now!

After a nice warm shower and another change of clothes, I started cooking Roast Pork for tea :-)

Now listening to the new Epica album :-)

Saturday, November 28, 2009

28th November 2009 (Saturday)

Got up and headed to Chippenham Cemetery for the Sunday Chain Gang...

The mud flaps worked perfectly :-) I didn't get soaked from the front wheel and almost everybody that followed me commented on how well they worked :-)

When I got back home (after I showered and changed) I made myself a bacon sarny then took Rosie (Dog) for a walk.

I then started to feel incredibly tired......after A few hours chillin I walked into town for a haircut.

The Garmin had today's ride as 40.86 miles in 2 hours 17 mins with an average speed of 17.8 mph, the route can be found here...

Friday, November 27, 2009

27th November 2009

Got home, ate a nice Moo Pie for the evening meal :-)

After tea, I set about making some mud flaps for the Peugeot, I am hoping that it will a) Help stop the running gear getting so manky b) help stop anybody following me getting manky.


I also swapped the hand me down Schwalbe Blizzard tyres for the Michelin Krylion Carbon tyres that I removed from the Merida, Although the tyres do not have any tread they do have a VERY good anti-puncture band...I am hoping for a decent set of winter tyres for my Xmas prezzy.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

26th November 2009

Got in from work late......again...

Was home-alone,and games night has been moved to Tuesday so I thought it would be a good idea to go out for a 'proper' ride :-)

I enjoyed yesterday's almost 'Normal 20' ride so much I thought it would be a good idea to do the actual 'Normal 20'..I haven't done the ride for ages (Just checked and it was 14th September).

It is more than a little disheartening to think I was achieving 20+ mph average during the summer, today it was 18.2 mph but I suppose the 6 deg temperature the 10 mph wind the fact that it is pitch black out and the heavy steel framed Peugeot is geared completely differently all contribute to it...

The Garmin had the ride as 21.27 miles in 1 hour 10 minutes with an average speed of 18.2 mph, Route here....

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

25th November 2009

Worked from home today :-)

Managed to stop and get out on the bike at lunch time....It was windy but relatively warm and sunny, I thought I would give the old 20 mile Lyneham loop a go...The peugeot was lovely and clean, I had lubed the chain and rear dérailleur jockey wheels and it was smooooooooth!

I set of at quite a good pace and was just over the 30 minutes at the 10 mile point, not bad for the heavier Peugeot bike and I was still trying to refrain from using the larger chain ring!

As I turned the Lyneham corner I felt a few drops of rain :-( By the time I was heading down the fastest part of the ride it was a full on downpour, I got soaked :-(

John's top tip in the winter wear a water-proof/wind-proof top even if you set of in the sun!

Second tip...wear cycling glasses at all times because cycling down hill at speed into a downpour is very difficult when you cant see where you are going!

At Christian Malford I descided to use the country lanes as the bike was already wet, and the Christan Malford -> Tytherton Lucas -> Chippenham - lanes are not normally to dirty.

Unfortunately I had to cycle through two quite deep floods :-(

The bike didn't get back home toooooo dirty, but it did get wet :-(

The Garmin had the ride as 23.55 miles... Route here...

I managed to complete the work I was doing just after 6pm, and I was in two minds whether to go to the cycle club or not.

As it was the AGM I decided to leave the nice warm house and brave the cold outside world...

I fitted the water bottle battery to the Peugeot and set of directly to the club, after an entertaining hour and a half the meeting closed...I bought a couple club branded 750ml bottles, then cycled directly home.

The Garmin had the ride as 4.1 miles.... Route here...

Ohhh I registered for my first 2010 event today as well :-) I am going to do all three Tour of Wessex days.... (325 miles in 3 days....best I get training as soon as the weather brightens up!)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

24th November 2009

Games night has been moved from Thursday's to Tuesday's by popular demand...

So spent a quality evening shooting zombies :-) .....Left4Dead 2 ....

Monday, November 23, 2009

23rd November 2009

Got home from work, washed bike....

Ate evening meal, finished cleaning bike :-)

The Peugeot is now lovely and clean...Chain is now back to silver and all of the gunk in the rear cassette is now gone :-)

I did notice the rear wheel has gone out of true...Wifey is going to take it to the shop tomorrow....

Sunday, November 22, 2009

22nd November 2009 (Sunday)

Got up and went for a nice walk with wifey and dog :-)

When we got back I ate lunch then set of on a shortish ride, I wanted to go for a walk, cycle and cook..I also didn't want to be out all day!

I decided on a nice 35 mile route, I set of cross country....unfortunately it was into wind!

I plodded along into wind for 8 miles then turned down onto a nice long downhill with a tailwind :-)

The plan was to cycle through Devizes on the road, but just outside Melksham I decided to drop down on to the Kennet and Avon canal tow path. It it a hard surface and good enough for a road bike :-)

After Devizes I headed towards Calne and then home.

The cycle computer had the ride as 33.83 miles in 2 hours 17 minutes, the route can be seen here...

Although the canal path was solid enough it was also wet and mucky...the bike definitely needs a good clean now...

Saturday, November 21, 2009

21st November 2009 (Saturday)

Only a fool would get up and go cycling when the weather forecast looked like a monsoon mixed with hurricane...

So I got up changed into my cycle gear and cycled up to the cemetery to join the cycle club chain gang :-)

Even though 'nearly' everybody had mudguards fitted, you still get covered in road grime on a group ride where everybody rides so close to each other.

The sealskinz socks worked wonders :-) my footsies remained nice and warm :-) although me and the bike were minging...

The cycle computer had the ride as 40.64 miles in 2 hours 13 minutes with an average speed of 18.3 mph,the route can be found here...

Friday, November 20, 2009

20th November 2009

Was going to go on the turbo..or even have a real ride out.

But I have had a really tough day at work so didn't!

Instead I shot at things on the computer :-)...Now I feel guilty about not going out!!!!!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

19th November 2009

Got in, fitted the yellow turbo tyre to the spare back wheel.

After tea I had a 30 minute session on the Turbo Trainer, the idea was to try and hold a high cadence for the entire 30 minutes.

After a rather nice shower I spent the rest of the evening playing computer games....

This evening was Left4Dead 2 :-)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

18th November 2009

Worked from home today :-)

Managed to get out for a lunch ride...although I was sorely tempted to forego the windy conditions!

But as always the thought of going out is far worse than the act, and as per normal I enjoyed the ride :-) - It is a chance to blow the cobwebs away..

The Garmin had the ride as 16.04 miles...route here...

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

17th November 2009

Worked late, got home late, ate tea late...

Was going to fit the shiny yellow turbo tyre to the spare back wheel and give the turbo a go...

But I just cant be bothered! I am having an extremely sh1te week!

Monday, November 16, 2009

16th November 2009

Got in from work and started cleaning the Merida (I haven't cleaned it for a couple of weeks, I committed the ultimate sin of putting clean oil on dirty chain yesterday!)

I took the chain off and soaked it in white spirit and then set about washing the bike.

After tea I dismantled the rear cassette and cleaned it of using white spirit, as it was getting cold out I brought the wheel and cassette indoors to dry of the cassette and re-assemble it on the wheel.

I also dismantled the rear dérailleur jockey wheels, cleaned them up and re greased the bearings.

As I was feeling industrious I also lubed all of the cables as well.

I really do think it time to put the bike to bed for the year now! (Although I will probably use it on the turbo trainer!)

Sunday, November 15, 2009

15th November 2009 (Sunday)

Got up chilled for a while the took Rosie (dog) for a walk with wifey up Morgans Hill, the weather was completely different from yesterday, the sun was out and it was lovely and warm :-)

When we got back home I got changed into cycle gear, had lunch then set off at 12:20 ish, I was a billy no mates and went of by myself....

Although the weather was fine and dry the roads were still a bit distressed from yesterdays rough weather.

I headed out to Biddestone and picked up part of the Chain Gang route in reverse, we always cycle up the Fosse Way into wind and I thought it would be nice to cycle down it with a tail wind...and it was nice....very nice :-) Perhaps we ought to employ Romans to build modern roads??

I headed down some of the roads? or were they farm tracks! that I traversed last weekend with Richard

This time I had a good view of the tree lined road going into Chavenage House

Chavenage marked the first real climb and things were going very well :-) There was a short, and slow descent (Due to a wet and leafy road) before the next and slightly more significant climb towards Hyde. Then what would in the summer be a mighty fast descent to Old Neighbouring, unfortunately due a wet, leafy and pot holed surface it was a slow descent... I actually had to stop half way down to retrieve a full 750ml water bottle that had vibrated out of the carrier :-(

Then things started to get interesting with a series of challenging climbs...

Old Neighbouring to the top of Chalford Hill not sure of the gradient but I would guess 1:6, I warmed up nicely :-)

Then another slow on the brakes descent :-( But the valley at the bottom was worth the ride :-)


I think I did see a few glimpses of the Thames & Severn Canal route...

After a short respite it was into another steep climb, this time the lane was a bit less traversed and a lot greener, staying seated was the only option, any standing left the back wheel to spin.

Another short slow descent and then last of the 'real' climbs...

Then it was quite literally down hill home! Even the headwind made very little impact on my ride back home!

I did get back home a little later than I had planned, I hadn't really factored in to well the impact of the climbs and the slow descents (Some of the descents were almost as slow as the climbs!) It was good to get back out onto a 'normal' road surface and get a decent speed up.

I stopped to take a photo of the sun going down.

It started to get a bit cold at this point! but as I knew my planned route home I switched the Garmin display to Virtual Partner and raced the baseline 15mph avg me home (I was over a mile off the pace, I got home just under half a mile ahead - not bad over 12 miles)

The Garmin had the ride as 68.3 miles in 4 hours 31 minutes with an average speed of 15.1 mph, route here...

When I got home I showered and changed then cooked tea...I will wash and lube the bikes tomorrow evening!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

14th November 2009 (Saturday)

Well they forecast sh1te weather, when I got up and changed into cycle gear, it looked surprisingly pleasant out...

I thought I would try out the SealSkinz socks and I generally dressed up for the Arctic conditions.

I set of to the Chippenham Cemetery to meet up with the Chain Gang at 9:30....My feet were feeling toasty :-)

About half way round the heavens opened, and we turned into a painful headwind, strangely I was feeling good (A week off the bike must have done me some good!)

My feet were still warm! but my toes were a bit like goldfish in a fairground bag, the socks are waterproof, but when the water runs down your legs the fill up!

When I got back home I dried the Peugeot down and gave it a quick spray of WD40, threw all my clothes straight in the washing machine and warmed up in the shower, then I spent a quality afternoon converting my Freenas box to a Windows Home Server ... As nearly all of my network is running Windows 7 it makes sense to use libraries and integrate some of the Microsoft functionality. Whilst the server was rebooting for the six millionth time I dismantled a friends old laptop to repair it....Unfortunately its not repairable :-(

The Garmin had today's ride as 40.7 miles in 2 hours 23 minutes with an average speed of 17 mph, route here....

It was a VERY slow chain gang today....(And I was feeling good and raring to go!!!)

Friday, November 13, 2009

13th November 2009

Ohhhhhhh noooooooo it's Friday 13th!

As you may or mayn't know the origins of the superstition are the circumstances surrounding the destruction of the Knights Templar.

I am not cycling again today…I rushed home from work, picked up wifey and headed into Bristol shity, for the second part of wifey's b'day presy, I am currently in the Coleston Hall listening to the Alison Moyet warm up act…

Unfortunately 80's pop music isn't my thing, I am more a metal fan.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

12th Novemeber 2009

Another night off the bike....Played computer games :-)

Did my 'normal' lunch time walk, stopped in WH Smith and noted you can buy a magazine for almost anything!!!

Tomorrow is definitely another night off the bike as I am going to a concert with wifey...

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

11th November 2009

Worked from home today :-)

Managed to get out at 12 for a quick hour's ride on the Peugeot, I took it nice and easy, but it was bloomin cold.

I was obviously smiling to much, and I got a cold tooth!!! that gave me a headache and a stomach ache....All in the space of an hour!!!! (Mad thing was I still enjoyed the ride????)

I am however sticking to my reduced cycling regime this week and NOT going out this evening!!!

The Garmin had the ride as 16.03 miles in 1 hour 2 minutes with an average speed of 15.5 mph, route here...

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

10th November 2009

Got home late again!!!!!!

Plan was not to cycle anyway, I got in and shared cooking duties with wifey :-)

Cooked the Pork Mince with Soy and Honey...Thanks to Freestyle Cookery

I have sorted out the route for this Sundays ride, weather forecast is looking good :-) Although there are some kin steep climbs at the half way point...Planned route here...

I have fancied riding down the Fosse way for a while instead of always riding up the thing into wind. (The start of the ride is a reverse of the chain gang)

Company is welcome on the ride...planning to set of from Chippenham Cemetery at 12:15 on Sunday.

Monday, November 9, 2009

9th November 2009

Got home late from work...decided I would take everybody's and my own advice, and stay of the bike for a few days...lets see how long I can last???

I have purchased some SealSkinz thermal waterproof socks today, recommended by Rich..Lets hope they sort out my cold tootsies...

I think my cycling agenda worked well this weekend, with chain gang Saturday morning, and non cycling things in the afternoon. Then doggy walkies and chilling Sunday morning and cycle in the afternoon.

So over the winter I will try and keep to this schedule, with cycle club Challenge rides every 5-6 weeks.

This means I wont be doing any cycle club leisure rides, but I fancy doing some exploring anyway :-)

This Sunday I plan to explore more of the Thames & Severn canal route, with a ride to Chalford which is described as....

"The 'alpine' village of Chalford marks the entrance to the Golden Valley - an autumn visit confirms the name. Locks come thick and fast as the valley becomes ever steeper and narrower until, finally, the summit pound is reached at a height of 310 feet above sea level at Daneway."

So lets hope the weather is good, my new warm socks have turned up and I have a bit more energy :-)

Sunday, November 8, 2009

8th November 2009 (Sunday)

Got up and did some chores around the house, poked the fire and put some coal on it to keep the house lovely and toasty :-)

Took Dog for a walk down the Chippenham/Calne cycleway. It is the old Chippenham branch line - I found it interesting that some of the fencing posts were borrowed from the railway line, I don't normally notice that sort of thing when I am flying along on the bike :-)

I also find the old railway bridges interesting :-)

I didn't fancy doing the cycle club leisure ride today, a while ago I had seen the route of the club Audax ride (The FlapJack) on line and I fancied having a little go at it :-) I had an email conversation with Richard Buckley and he said he would join me...So at 12:20 I pedalled to the Chippenham Cemetery to meet up with Rich.

I had a very short wait and we were soon heading of North...Directly into a headwind!

1200 Medium-level Cloud 6.2 °C N 13 mph
8 km 1007 hPa, Rising
1300 Medium-level Cloud 6.9 °C N 14 mph
12 km 1007 hPa, Rising
1400 Medium-level Cloud 7.3 °C N 13 mph
12 km 1008 hPa, Rising
1500 Medium-level Cloud 7.9 °C N 13 mph
12 km 1009 hPa, Rising
1600 Medium-level Cloud 7.4 °C N 11 mph
10 km 1010 hPa, Rising

And it was COLD! (I was wrapped up in multiple layers again today, with multiple pairs of socks - and my feet were still cold!!!)

There were a couple of local steep climbs along the way, I have long since reasoned it's a waste of time trying to get up the hills at the same speed as Rich...He has the annoying habit of spinning up them at high speed. I had however decided to take the shiney clean Merida out, otherwise I may have been walking up some of the hills! (Unfortunately the lanes we traversed were not clean and dry...the bike is now minging again )

The ride took us north through the Cotswold Water park, I would never have found some of the little lanes without the Garmin.

However some were little more than farm tracks...

At the most northerly point of the ride (Siddington)we crossed over a canal bridge with no canal....

A little bit of research when I got home showed that it is part of the Thames & Severn canal

We then headed west to Kemble then passed to the north of Tetbury (The climb from Kemble to Tarlton was long and very draining...sad considering its not steep or high)

It was then downhill (Well south anyway) to Westonbirt and Sherston - Somehow we didn't appear to get the benefit of the tailwind?

We then joined the familiar route to Grittleton (The Saturday Chain Gang goes down it every week) we left the familiar route and joined the cycle way to Castle Combe, we passed through the village and ascended the climb out the other side.

After crossing the A420 at Ford we headed up a rather green and steep lane towards the rather cool named 'Slaughterford' then Biddetone before a nice speedy sprint to the Chippenham rugby club.

On Sheldon road Rich and myself parted company, and I continued at a reasonable pace home.

The Garmin had the ride as 64.64 miles in 4 hours 2 minutes with an average speed of 16 mph, route here...

I enjoyed the ride a great deal, thanks Rich, I am starting to wonder if I am going down the same route as RedBikes, I found the ride more problematic than I should have done, the climbs were ALL hard work! perhaps I just need a short rest? Or is it simply the time of year? its cold, wet, windy, miserable...all the things I hate....But I enjoy getting out on the bike. After the great gains I made over the summer I seam to be loosing it all :-( is this normal?

Saturday, November 7, 2009

7th November 2009 (Saturday)

Got up, showered, changed straight into cycling gear, lovely bowl of porridge for breakfast...

I set of at 9:20 to meet at the Chippenham Cemetry for the cycle club chain gang, I set of on the Merida (It was already disgustingly dirty) - I was wearing Thermals, Long sleeve top, long trousers, Jacket, Hat , 2 pairs of socks, shoes, over shoes, gloves and sun glasses (It was sunny!) - loosing weight is doing nothing for my tolerance of cold weather!...

The ride split into two groups and the pace was very pleasant, I really am struggling to hold a decent pace now...I really do suffer in the cold...

At the end of the chain gang instead of going straight home I continued on to Melksham and Devizes adding a few hills and at least 15 miles to the ride :-)

Today's ride was 55.14 miles in 3 hours 9 minutes with an average speed of 17.5 mph, route here...

When I got back home my feet were frozen! I winged and wined enough for wifey to by me some heated socks :-)

After a rather fine lunch I spent some quality time sorting out the SKS RaceBlades and swapping the lights onto the Peugeot. Then I set about cleaning and lubing the Merida...The CrudCatcher's worked perfectly :-)

The Merida will probably stay parked up in the hallway for the rest of the year now (Probably only being used for longer rides on nice days), the Peugeot will now be the main bike until the Spring.....

Seeing as how I let you know what I was listening to whilst blogging yesterday, I thought I would give yo the same treat today :-) I am a big Iron Maiden fan...I am also a fan of Classical Music...So what can be better than a String Quartet playing Iron Maiden :-)

Friday, November 6, 2009

6th November 2009

Got home and it was raining..

Choice was brave the rain, fit the turbo tyre to the back wheel and have a turbo session or satisfy myself that I have a weekend of cycling planned and missing a wet Friday night wasnt the end of the earth...

I opted for option 3...I did however fit the Crud Catcher RoadRacer mudguards, that turned up today. (Thanks Rafe for the recomendation).

The SKS RaceBlades will now be used on the Peugeot over the winter.

Now listening to Ennio Morricone.....bet you whistle...

Thursday, November 5, 2009

5th Novemeber 2009

No cycling today....Computer games night...

I stumbled across a good and honest poster today...


Also if you have never seen V for Vendetta, you must! and you must watch it every November the 5th...

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

4th November 2009

Worked from home today :-)

I really needed the rest from getting up early, I was shattered...

I didn't make it out for a lunchtime ride, instead I took the dog for a walk.

At 620 I set of on the Merida for a pre-cycle club cycle, I set out down Stanley Lane and over Bencroft Hill, It was a good way to warm up as the night air was fairly nippy.

I headed out the long way to Foxham then started out on the 10 mile TT course, then realised I was being to ambitious, the cycle club starts at 7:30 and it was already nearing 7:10...I loathe this time of the year, and now I enjoy cycling its even worse! places where in the summer I am averaging 20 mph + I struggle to do 16mph now :-(

I diverted from the TT route and headed straight for Great Somerford, then picked back up the TT route having shaved 3-4 miles from it!

I ended up getting to the cycle club at 7:50..But I didn't miss anything :-)

Tonight's very chilly ride was 25.62 miles in 1 hour 37 minutes with an average speed of 15.8 mph, route here...

Some photographs (with me in them) from Sunday 25th October - Dartmoor Devil have been published


And some photographs from Sunday 1st November - Exmoor Beast


Not quite sure why I was smiling on the last one, I was rushing towards a ford, and struggling to slow down on the wet leafy road.

The times have also been published for the Beast

I finished 266 th out of 1090 finishers with a ride time of 4 hours 44, the fastest was 3 hours 42 and the slowest was 10 hours...

Out of the two rides I much preferred the Dartmoor Devil, it was harder but a lot more friendly.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

3rd November 2009

Got in from work at 6:30, got changed and went out on bike at 7pm...

It was cold and dark, but thankfully dry! ...The bike got dirty again though :-(

I only had an hour so restricted myself to a mere 16 miles..Route here... (Being out on the road is far better than going on the Turbo Trainer!))

Monday, November 2, 2009

2nd November 2009

Back to work today :-(

It was dark when I got up and Dark when I left work....

When I got home I started cleaning the bike, I took the chain and cassette of and white spirited them.

I ate tea, then got out and washed the bike...It was absolutely minging from Sundays ride.

After I re-assembled and lubed the bike, I re-set up the gears...now I am finally chilling out in front of the TV

Sunday, November 1, 2009

1st November 2009 (Sunday)

Got up early o'clock, sorted out the bike and set of on the short pedal from the Quay Inn to Butlins for the start at 7 am.

It was VERY wet and VERY...VERY windy!

After a little wait we were told that the start had been delayed from 7 till 8, due to the inclement weather and the very strong winds (Gusting to over 51 mph).

A little while later we were told that the 100 mile route was cancelled, all riders would be doing the 100k route.

I milled around for over an hour then managed to get myself at the front for the start.

Once we set off I started with a good pace, overtaking quite a few, then on the first hill I was passed by a few.

The first cattle grid was on a steep incline and was very slippery, I didn't chance cycling over it to hoped of and walked, I watched one guy attempt to cycle it and he almost came a cropper, the back wheel started spinning and he went backwards, eventually stopping.

The ride although very wet was not windy...

Then it all changed we started pedalling up on top of the moor, it got VERY steep, VERY wet and VERY windy. We were battling up a steep gradient directly into strong gusting winds. The combination of the weather conditions turned the top of the moor into a pea-souper.

After a tough ride into wind we changed direction so that it was blowing across the road, it was a bit dangerous as when the wind gusted I got blown more than halfway across the road on a number of occasions.

Then there was a short respite as we turned and had a full on tail wind. It was a bit scary! at one point I was squeezing the brakes full on and was still doing 30 mph.

Then it was back into wind again :-(

The 25% descent into Lynmouth was a very welcome break, at the bottom of the hill we turned left and had a nice sheltered climb back to the top of the moor.

I stopped at the first food station (34 miles) as I was busting for a pee.

After the food station (Simonsbath) it was a nice tailwind, none of the hills were an issue at all :-)

There was a short loop about 15 miles from the end, to pad the miles out a bit I guess?

After the loop it was downhill nearly all the way back to Minehead and the finish.

I enjoyed the ride, even though the conditions were bad, there was a constant stream of people overtaking me, but I still finished in a reasonable time, and at a reasonable time :-)

After the ride I got changed, and wifey n me went to 'The Ship' at Porlock Weir for a nice roast lunch.


The Garmin had the ride as 60.91 miles in 4 hours 38 mins with an average speed of 13.1 mph

The statistics for October are...
Distance:927.52 mi
Max Distance:126.29 mi
Time:59:00:44 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:36,555 ft
Max Elevation Gain:8,045 ft
Avg Speed:15.7 mph
Max Speed:45.2 mph
Calories:69,859 C

I have cycled 318 miles between last Saturday and Today....Not bad considering I had a relaxing week off :-)