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 |  | 6.2 °C | N | 13 mph | 8 km | 1007 hPa, Rising | |
| 1300 | | 6.9 °C | N | 14 mph | 12 km | 1007 hPa, Rising | |
| 1400 | | 7.3 °C | N | 13 mph | 12 km | 1008 hPa, Rising | |
| 1500 | | 7.9 °C | N | 13 mph | 12 km | 1009 hPa, Rising | |
| 1600 | | 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?
7 comments:
That looks like a top ride Mad-John
It was pucka :-) But I am finding it tough going at the moment..
Well along with Red, I was forced off the bike for 2 days last week, think its just a case of your body needing a rest and its happened to all 3 of us at the same time.
I think I will rest up until Wednesday....need to clean the bike again!
Saying that I will probably get bored and go out anyway! I am sure its just the time of year...I found it tough going last winter to...
I have also been doing some hard hill climbs....
The Doc told me to say off the bike all week, by Friday I was back on it and did 20 miles, I was bouncing off the walls, I actually had no issues last winter at all, not even a cold, crazy really.
Hills ? ;)
Cheers for the ride today M-J, I enjoyed it and was pleased the weather held up. I enjoyed the final sprint - with you shouting it is not a race then proceeding to pass me down on the tri-bars !
Sorry about the hills mate, just can't help it. I agree with Gaz and think you need a few days off to let your body catch up with your efforts. Catch you soon.
I too like looking at architechture, especially engineering architecture like bridges. If you think that they didn't have CAD, FEA, CAM or even power tools it becomes even more impressive.
I'm agreeing with the others. Have a few days off cycling. Reckon that either a) you'll feel better or b) whatever's habouring in there will come to the surface so you can deal with it. Will give you a chance to answer my email :)
Cleaning bikes is a bit of a PITA but better that they get used.
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