Got up early'ish....Got changed into multiple layers of cycling gear, cooked some porridge for breaky....then set of at 8:30 towards Grove (near Wantage) to meet
Matt and go for a nice ride around Didcot with him :-)
I am never quite sure how sane it is to set of on a 100+ mile ride when the starting temperature is -2 deg C, there was an unhealthy amount of ice on the cars and any water on the ground was in it's solid state.
Getting back on the Merida after being on the heavier steel framed Peugeot was like cheating, the hills were so easy and the bike so light.
The only minor issue is that the new chain jumps under load on the 12 tooth gear...guess I left it to long before changing the chain :-( On the plus side as I have been riding at a higher cadence I don't appear to use that gear very often any-more :-)
I needed to get to
Matt's for about 11 or earlier to fit in the leisurely 25 and for me to get back home before dark, I was also a bit worried about ice on the roads, so I opted for a high speed main road jaunt down the A4, then onto the A4361 at Avebury to Wroughton.
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The ride took me past Sibury Hill and through the Avebury stone circle
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The air temp was still below freezing and the ground had a healthy covering of frost, but I had warmed up nicely, if anything I was too warm!
It was quite nice at Wroughton to get off the main roads and start heading across country, although ice in the shade was a bit of a concern...
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I was starting to get a bit concerned that I wasn't going to make it to
Matt's on time, then I reached Ashbury and my mind was eased a little as I only had 11 miles to Wantage and I still had about 30 minutes in hand:-)
I had to stop to take the obligatory photo of the
Uffington white horse:-)
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Unfortunately the sun was low on the horizon and the horse isn't clear on the picture...
Whilst I was stopped I took a pointless picture of the road :-) - There is a funny story about me and a
Fiat Miafiori I owned and brake pads on these very corners :-)
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The car decided to eject its brake pads whilst I was going down the hill, it also blew a massive hole in the exhaust in the same journey...I scrapped the car the same weekend.
From Uffington I was head down and powered to Wantage, through the town centre, then headed towards Grove...
I have never had an issue getting to places...towns etc...its always getting to the actual address that gets me...This was no different!
I passed right past
Matt's front door and turned right...then cycled up the wrong road for a bit, before turning around and realising that
Matt's front door was across the road in front of me :-)
I was invited in for a lovely cuppa, and we had a nice chat.....well I waffled on about bikes.....and me.....
Once the tea was drank we set off.....
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I didn't really know what to expect, I had visions of a 10 mph slow bimble around Oxfordshire...
I was happily surprised to find
Matt flying along in-front of me at 17-18 mph.
Matt is a big chap, tall and big framed, even when he has slimmed he will still be somebody you won't want to upset. I was quite happy sitting on his back wheel but I couldn't see the pot holes and detritus in front of him, so I did the decent thing and went in front :-)
The sun was out, it was warm, we were cracking along and it was great :-) We flew past a fellow cyclist as if she was stationary. A little before Didcot the pace got the little better of
Matt and we pulled over for a chat and a breather..
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After Didcot we pulled onto the A417 into a headwind and up some hills..
The pace obviously slowed a little, I was on a light weight road bike with 700 x23 tyres pumped up to 110 psi, I have also cycled a fair few miles,
Matt was on a heavy upright bike, with wide heavily treaded touring tyres....
I cycled up the hills at my pace and was quite happy to wait at the crest,
Matt did much better than I did when I started!
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It also gave me the chance to take another obligatory photo of Didcot power station...
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It was a nice steady ride back to Grove and
Matt's house. I was fed some much needed energy (in the form of Beans on Toast) and another nice cuppa.....then I set of back the way I came...
As flat a Oxfordshire and Didcot was...the ride from and to Wiltshire goes over the Ridgeway....
It is steep and annoying.....and I had NO choice :-( The skies also darkened and the threatened wintery showers also fell....thankfully as I descended to Wroughton the skies cleared and the sun came out again :-)
I was in two minds when I got to Wroughton whether to follow my planned route over the steep climb of the A4361 or to wimp out and go via Wootton Bassett at the cost of a few more miles but NO steep climb....
I was still feeling surprisingly fresh and well so I did the righteous thing and followed the plan......Now that was a real hill!
And thankfully it was the last significant climb of the day as well!
I plodded on through Broad Hinton, Broad Town, Bushton and cross country to home...by the time I got to Stanley the sun was low on the horizon and the shadows were getting long...
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The Garmin had today's ride as 109.38 miles in 7 hours 7 minutes with an average speed of 15.4 mph, route
here...It was a really nice day out, splitting the day into 3 parts certainly helped cope with the year's first 100.
Thank you
Matt for a nice day out, the baked beans on toast was much needed and got me home :-)
Ohhhh I have now done over 1000 miles this year.....