Well the weather this part of the world has been pretty horrendous but I thought it would be alright to head out onto the levels having been out in the car the day before.  Some days the best plan is to stay at home.  The wind was reasonably strong but I was having a very pleasant ride out.  The levels were a different place to usual with the water table being so high and all of the drains being full.  I guess I should have foreseen what happened next, I turned the corner to head the back way into Mark village to find the road covered in water and road closed signs in place.  I could see that the water was no more than a couple of feet deep so I headed on through, it was refreshing to say the least but about half way through disaster struck as I felt the back tyre lose pressure.

Well I made it out the other side and then had a very cold 20 minutes or so changing the inner tube with all the extremities soaking wet.  The change went well and I had a pleasant ride back home.  When I got home everything was wet through including my GPS which was full of moisture.  More of that later.

Anyway here is a picture of the high water

 

Ride data here:

For the first time in what seems like weeks I set off today under a clear sky, it was almost cloudless and the sun was shining, I even gave the waterproof a miss and just slipped on a gillet over my jersey.  The plan setting off was to cover just more than 35 km giving me a 100 km weekend, nothing set in stone but more a impetus in case the legs felt rubbish. With that in mind I set off towards Weston-s-Mare knowing that my usual trip to the train station was a 30 km round trip so rolling along the sea front was going to achieve the target.  The legs felt great and the sun shining made everything feel reasonably easy so when I saw how busy Weston seafront was I pushed on out of the north end of Weston towards sandy bay in search of somewhere for a cup of coffee and a slice of cake.  I dropped down into Sandy Bay only to find it a bit too busy so headed back toward Weston stopping in at a place I had passed called the cliffs where I had a cream tea and took some pictures of Birnbeck Pier and the coast in general before setting off back towards home.

As my legs were still feeling good, and as form of penance for the beautiful cream tea, I took the lumpy way home dragging myself over Bleadon Hill before heading back.  Got home to a Sunday Dinner with cake and custard... maybe I should be heading out for another lap.

Well today was one of those strange days which surprise you every now and then.  Woke up early enough for a morning ride but procrastinated my way out of an early start with breakfast in bed and Saturday morning cooking telly.  Finally made it out not really feeling it at all and expecting that to some extent I would be going through the motions, the sky was grey and my motivation was minimal although I suspect that may have been in some ways related to the washing machine malfunction which resulted in my going out in summer bib shorts and leg warmers.  Whilst I love the idea of leg warmers I have never got on with the practicalities of them, they either feel as though they are cutting off the circulation in my legs or slip leaving a gap between them and the bottom of the shorts and always, without fail, wrinkle and bunch behind my knees feeling uncomfortable on the tendons there.  

Anyway that moan over with I had a pleasant and rare surprise of a headwind as I set off which meant the chances were good of a tailwind at least some of the way back.  Having gone through the motions for the first 20 minutes or so I settled into a happy place and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  Stopped at Costa in Cheddar for coffee and cake (for a change) and even tagged a bit extra on at the end as I was enjoying myself so much. 

I even managed to avoid getting too annoyed at the fact that the roads around here are like mud tracks at the moment although I think I may have to spend rather a lot of time cleaning the bike shortly as it looks more like a cyclecross bike at the moment than a road bike. Not to mention the amount of mud plastered on me bu the time I got home.

Ride Data here...

Another trip to pick up train tickets is met by more wet miserable weather, but once you are wet you soon don't notice and the legs felt good today - to some extent I would have love to extend the ride by another hour or so but typically work gets in the way.

An interesting observation... this months rides to date are roughly equivalent to the first day of the challenge!!

Ride Data:

Busy weekend of family things up in Stoke this weekend.  Still managed to put the bike in the car and made it out for a ride on Saturday.  Picked out something I knew would be lumpy.  Did I suffer?  oh yes but in a good way! nothing long lasting but I had leg burn.  

One thing to consider for those unfamiliar with the area are  Staffordshire Council doesn't spend enough money to get smooth roads, accordingly they cover the roads in stones suitable for use in slingshots stuck to the surface with old chewing gum resulting in friction comparable to moving through treacle.

Personal plus points: over 50kph for the first time in a long time, first level 3 ride according to brytonsport since the bad back.

Ride data:

Today's ride was purely functional, a quick trip out to get my train tickets from the closest self service machine in Weston-super-Mare.  I should gone earlier in the day when the sun was shining but instead I used work to to procrastinate and set off just after the heavens had opened and the wind picked up.  Its only a bit of weather though :)

Interestingly looking at the ride data (link below) my average speed uphill was faster than my average downhill, that will be the wind!

After crying off yesterday due to really grim weather and spending the afternoon cleaning and fettling the bike I braved the weather and headed out this morning.   I'd wrapped up well which was fortunate as it felt a lot colder than the thermometer implied and to say that there was some water around would be an understatement.  I think the picture of the road in Cheddar Gorge tells the whole tale....

Anyway before I got to that I went exploring a little, I have to ask myself why I seem to go exploring on days like today when any slight uphill seems like disproportionately hard work. I think the moral of the story may be a) beer the night before is never a good idea, b) two rounds of toast is not the breakfast of champions c) I think I might be coming down with something.

I also saw a snow plow with it's plow covered in snow but can happily confirm that I saw no other snow on my ride.

Ride Data on the link below (well most of it - the battery died on the way home I guess that is another lesson learnt - make sure you charge the GPS properly):

Back on my home turf and a year older I had a wonderful but diverse ride today. Started with a couple of false starts - the boss wanted me to drop something off on my way out but the recipient wasn't in so I had to go back and then set off without my gloves so had to turn round again! Not to worry I did get away in the end...

 It was a windy day but then that is nothing new. Started out with the sun on my back and a tail wind, got to see the starlings swarming on the levels (should have got the phone out and taken a picture but wasn't certain I would have been quick enough). Half way though the ride the weather completely flipped and I had to take shelter from the hail and thunder (well I say had to but really I dived into Rich's Cider Farm for coffee and cake).

Looking at the weather forecast this looks like being the way of things for the next few days which should make for some interesting rides, I might even get some pictures next time I am out. 

Ride Data: