I had planned to hit my 25mile local loop Saturday morning before my better half finished work, however at 8am when the alarm went off it was wet, so like a proper man I curled up in the fetal position and did not rouse until about midday, I can't remember the last time I layed in for that long but I must have needed it. So with Saturday gone it was my very good intention to go out at 3pm on Sunday after work, I pack my hydration pack and headed for work. It was a lovely morning, mild, sunny with a slight breeze I couldn't wait, at 3pm, BOOM! rain, strong winds just general unpleasantness. No more excuses I exclaimed to myself and off I went. Why is it when it's that windy no matter which way you go it's always a bloody head wind? Oh just before I left I had a stroke of luck at work which was too good to pass up but it involved me being back there at 5pm (more on this another time) so the 25 miler was out. I decided to cut the loop in half to take on the best bits. So heading from the local leisure centre it was onto valley walk. A really good long spin to warm up my legs, which were feeling really good - must have been a combination of having a very relaxed day off and a monstrous lay in. With this done it was a quick blast around Rodbridge it's very twisty and rooty I like to think of it as a special stage within the ride, try to do it with out dabbing a foot, on this occasion I failed. Next I headed for Henny to take on a couple of nasty climbs and some really grin inducing downs. On the negative side while shooting down spinal column, which is a downhill with really deep ruts either side of it due to farmers and 4x4ists driving up and down it, you are left with a column just as wide as your bars that you would not want to come off. As I was blasting down this I glanced up briefly just in time to notice a massive log maybe 8 inches in diameter laying across the track, if i'd hit it it would have been game over, with nowhere to go I heaved up on the bars and hopped over it clean, this little bit of improvisation gave me a little kick and big smile. Lately this seems to be a recurring theme on some of the fun fast sections of the ride, not sure if it's just unlucky or whether I have finally annoyed multiple local people with my riding and they are out to get me. If they are, unlucky! After this it was back along Valley walk and past Daq's house, it was his birthday today so I dropped in a card that was a little worse for wear as it had been thrown about in my camelback for the duration of the ride, he wasn't home, so Happy Birthday dude hope you had a good one, I'll get you a beer next time we are out. On to the country park and home, job done. 16 miles off road in just over an hour with a stop to post a card, not a bad effort.
Route here: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/hBC_Nz0AjDk
Reatin rides on.
