13th March 2010

I got up and dressed in the winter cycle gear, but it was almost too warm!

0900		4.2	°C	NNW	6	mph			20	km	1032 hPa, Rising
1000		5.2	°C	NW	3	mph			25	km	1032 hPa, Rising
1100		6.6	°C	NW	5	mph			25	km	1032 hPa, Rising

It was the first time this year I headed out without overshoes! My feet were toasty and warm in the sealskinz :-)

I decided to take the Dawes on the chain gang! I was expecting to be dropped in the first mile, but to my surprise I was holding the pace with ease! In fact in many ways I found it easier than on the winter road bike.

I thought the guys would look at me in disdain for bringing such a bike on the chain gang but I was pleasantly surprised when some admiring comments were passed :-)

I am seriously wondering why the hell I didn't use the Dawes on the chain gang over the very icy and snowy winter?

The upshot was I had a very enjoyable 40 miles on the chain gang, the ONLY thing I dipped out on was the sprint from Biddestone to Corsham, there was NO way I could keep up with the road bikes when they dropped down and went for it, but I caught up at the traffic lights and joined back in with the group.

A guest rider (from the London smog) was with us and I volunteered to lead him back to the start (He had parked his car at the Cemetery) so it gave me an extra mile :-)

The Garmin had the ride as 42.29 miles in 2 hours 19 minutes with an average speed of 18.1 mph, route here...

What a surprising and thoroughly enjoyable ride that was! I was gob smacked that I not only held on to the group but actually found it easy!

When I got back home I milled about for a while waiting for wifey to get back home from shopping, I helped unload the car, then cooked some Bacon Sarnies for wifey and me...and a few extra rashers for Rosie (dog) :-)

As the sun was out and it looked set for a gorgeous warm day and we had no plans, I grovelled to wifey to let me go out on an afternoon cycle.....like the man from Del Monte she said YES :-)

I really wanted to take the Dawes over some really rough terrain to satisfy myself that the wheels, tyres, frame, bits n bobs and me were up to the NCR5 job...So I sat down and planned a quick route to the Ridgeway then round to Wootton Bassett for a cuppa at the mother in law's, then on home...

I also wanted to gauge how the rough terrain would effect the average speed and the length of day on the NCR5 ride...

1500		10.1	°C	WNW	9	mph			25	km	1030 hPa, Falling
1600		9.9	°C	WNW	8	mph			25	km	1030 hPa, Falling
1700		9.5	°C	WNW	7	mph			30	km	1030 hPa, Falling

So I set off from home at 1:50 and headed straight out to cycle route 403, I already knew that the Dawes was more than capable of this terrain as I have used the bike between Chippenham and Calne many times before....

After a mile or so of rough but level gravel the track joins a road, then its a quick jaunt down the road before joining back on to another off-road section, this time its much smoother and wooded :-)


When I got to Calne instead of following on the cycle route I decided to head on the A4 and then rejoin the cycle route at Cherhill (In October I got bogged down at a rather unhelpful cycle way re-route-through a swampy part of field near Compton Bassett)

The cycle path past Yatesbury was nothing but a muddy farm track, probably OK for knobbly mountain bike tyres but a lot slippery with the Schwalbe Marathons (I hope it isn't wet in April!)

Then I came to the funniest part of the cycle path, a bit that I have pointed out before...not a path at all but a grass track down the edge of a field...

At the end of the grass track it turned back into a farm track...then a lovely quiet lane.

Once through Avebury the road stops and turns into a rather rutted chalk byeway.

My forward speed plummeted to about 5 mph, the rutted track was rather difficult to cycle along but I kept it going!

I carried on past the walking cyclists..,

At the top of the hill it the chalk gave way to a rutted grass track and the going got a little easier.

Then it ramped back up and got VERY rutted, I had no choice but get off and walk to the top of the rise, the smooth grass was to narrow to cycle on and the deep ruts were so deep that the pedals couldn't turn.

At the top there was a short stretch of smoothish grass then I joined the Ridgeway...

Then it was more rutted, slow and very rough uphill cycling...


Eventually the Ridgeway became less rutted and started descending, I am not sure if this was a good thing, the vibration through the handlebars was quite bad and I had to keep the brakes applied as I was more than a little concerned of sliding on the gravel.

I don't think I was going that slowly as the only other cyclists I saw were ALL going slower than me :-)

Eventually (Thank God) I reached the road I was heading for (The Marlborough - Broad Hinton road) then I had a really nice smooth and very fast descent down Hackpen Hill.

Unfortunately I had the tail wind all the way up the Ridgeway where I couldn't use it, when I hit the smooth roads I was cycling into wind :-(

The road from Broad Hinton to Broad Town was really nice and quiet, there were signs all around saying the road was closed, I of course ignored them...if the road was blocked I would just get of and walk.....as it turned out it was NOT and was still clearly passable :-)

I stopped at the mother in law's at Wootton Bassett for a cuppa and to fill the water bottle up (The ridgeway had built up a thirst!)

From Wootton Bassett I came home via the lanes, holding a reasonable speed :-)

The Garmin had the ride as 41.24 miles in 3 hours 15 minutes with an average speed of 12.7 mph, route here...

It was a REALLY enjoyable ride, the bike and me held together very well, the ONLY issue was the saddle bag kept unclipping from the seat mounted clasp, I have remedied this with a strategically placed tie rap.

I am now confident that the bike and me are up to the job of NCR5 :-) - It just may be a little slower than I had hoped.

I don't think mountain biking is my thing, I prefer the speed of road riding....

When I got home I started cooking tea, had a shower then finished cooking tea....no rest for the wicked!