March 2013

The table below is a summary of the month.  More than happy with the month (even if I didn't make it out on the 31st as planned).

 Activities 12
 Distance (km) 698.48
 Duration 29:49:59


30th March

Knowing that this evenings plans were going to put paid to any early morning Sunday Club Ride plans I may have had (I am playing later night Taxi driver for the other half's girls night out) I arranged to meet Stephen at 10am for a gentle spin planning to get home at 12 and pick Lucy up for a ride with her.  I headed out around 9:30 and the wind hadn't changed direction much from the day before but the sun was shining so despite the slightly achy legs I had a smile on my face as I got to our normal meeting point.

We went out north along the coast through Weston-super-Mare to the top of the hill above Sand Bay before turning round and heading back home.  A thoroughly pleasant if somewhat uneventful ride, as yesterday the legs felt better the further I rode and it would appear that neither of us fully understand the concept of a gentle ride as we both had our moments of kicking on and pushing the pace a little.  Not quite what was planned but good fun and good for the overall training.

Ride data here:

http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=2595929

I made it back home and things didn't quite go to plan as it took me an hour to get Lucy out of the door but is that not the lot of most men every now and then.  Lucy wasn't feeling tip top and to be honest neither was I after the prolonged stop off, the sun had hidden behind the clouds and the perceived temperature drop was significant so a short an quite slow ride was all that we managed but a ride is a ride in my opinion.   

As I write this I am suffering a little so maybe the stop off did me more harm than good - we will see how I feel in the morning, hopefully better than I do right now.

Ride data here:

http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=2595931

29th March

It's Good Friday and the start of the long Bank Holiday four day weekend so the perfect time to get some hours in the saddle, unfortunately as has been the trend in recent weeks the weather isn't great.  Saying that is could be far worse so having shipped the better half off to work, and having procrastinated a little, I set off with no real aim except to get some distance in.  As soon as I set off I was riding into the wind which is not really what you want on a low motivation day out by yourself but is to be expected occasionally when you live by the sea.  The legs weren't feeling great at the start of the ride and I was running the possibilities round in my head of having an easy day today and then a bigger day on Saturday.

All this time I was heading into the wind and riding the legs into some form which after about 30 minutes were feeling pretty strong. There is a particular set of "Droves" (the lanes across the levels) I have ridden a few times with my club which I really like and I know they are heading in the general direction that the wind is coming from so I decide I will head out until it hurts too much and I know that I will have a tail wind on the way home.  I head out until I get near Wells and the lanes run out so having been reduced to the main road previously to head into Wells I do a bit of exploring around Wookey to see if there is a back way in.  It is unsuccessful and I end up back on the main road but the legs are still feeling good so I don't mind.  I should point out at this point in order to give an understanding of how the wind was I was having to pedal heading downhill into Wells in order to keep moving.

I stopped in Wells by the Cathedral and stretched out my back and legs because the wind had meant that everything was a bit too unstable to stretch out much whilst riding out.



Riding out I had spotted a tea room and not wanting to deal with the tourists in the town centre to get a coffee and a cake I soon headed back out of town to the Fenny Castle Tea Rooms.  What can I say other than what a nice friendly place it is with great coffee and really nice home made cake.  Definitely somewhere I would recommend.

I didn't stop for long as there was a possibility of getting far too warm an comfy on a cold day.  Heading back was something of a pleasure with the strong tailwind making the flat roads a breeze to power along.  I sneaked in another bit of exploring checking part of a future route to head south of Bridgewater and headed back with the legs feeling pretty fresh.

I hindsight I might have pushed a bit too hard but felt satisfied with another good session. 

Ride Data Here:

http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=258669

24th March 2013

Having advertised today's ride on the club site on Facebook we had a group of four this morning.  Unfortunately the weather put paid to the hilly route I had originally planned as been on the tops in -1 degree Celsius with the wind chill from the 31kph northerly was just a route to everyone getting far too cold.  Instead we went out over the levels with the first half of the ride pretty much straight into the teeth of the wind.


The addition of the more riders lead to some new conversation which was a pleasant distraction from what were quite frankly grim conditions.  The only plus side was that it was dry.  If it had not been we would have been riding in a blizzard or more realistically at home.

With the minor drawback of a puncture stop on route we made our way out to Wells. The wind took it's toll on our pace and it was hard work on the legs so it was a pleasure to reach Coffee #1 in Wells where we stopped for a nice drink and a chunk of Carrot cake.  For those who are interested the carrot cake was nice but different.

After getting back up to something like temperature we swung round to head back.  A quick stop was made to Halfords in Wells where the staff were exceptionally pleasant and helpful we started on the fast return leg.  With the wind at our backs we made good time, the wind on the way out had done its damage and we made the decision to split near Sweets tea room. In two groups of two we set off and with the tailwind my pairing made great time.  

Having reached a natural parting of the ways I stretched my ride home out a little by riding the longer way home more than happy with my efforts for the day.

Once home it took me a long time to warm my feet and the legs certainly knew I had put a lot of work in.  It did put paid to me being up to much for the afternoon but considering I had cried off going out on Saturday I felt as though I had a reasonable if not excessively testing week.

Ride data here:

18th March 2013

Day off work today and it was a good day to be off.  Almost like a real spring day today with the sun shining although it was deceptive as it certainly wasn't warm.  Lucy was also off and ready for a bit of a longer ride today so we went off at a steady pace and rolled out across the levels, we stretched the ride out a couple of times as Lucy was still feeling good before we headed out to Rich's Cider Farm for coffee and cake.  Whilst Rich's is a great place to call I have to say that our timing wasn't great today and we had to wait quite a while which is not ideal, I guess the top tip is to avoid lunchtime.  Having had our brews and cakes we set off again and Lucy was still feeling good enough to not take the direct route back so we went out through Highbridge and along Burnham seafront before heading home.  

I used the stop at home to grab another coffee and a bite and then headed back out solo.  My route for this section was somewhat predetermined by the fact that I had to head to Weston-s-Mare station to collect my train tickets for a work trip into London so I thought I would make the most of the day and went out to Sand Bay and Kewstoke.  A little lumpy with a couple of good steep ramps it is a nice little ride on the old coast road hugging the coast.  I stopped at the carpark in the bay and took a couple of pictures (one of which is below).

I went then to collect the tickets and struck pout for home, the legs were feeling good so I went over the top of Bleadon to improve the quality of the ride and stretched the ride home as much as I could.  I would have liked to have made the metric century (100km) but I was on a deadline as we were heading out for dinner so it was just another 80km + ride but there was still some spring in the legs at the end so I am more than happy.

Ride Data Here:

http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=2502721

17th March 2013

Back to the early start Sunday mornings, the legs felt a bit sluggish as I rolled out to meet Stephen for our planned ride.  I cannot recommend highly enough the benefits of a) having someone to ride with and b) this person having more local knowledge than you.

Stephen planned today's ride and had a great run for us, direct route out to Cheddar Gorge, straight up, hang a left over to Chapterhouse and then work our way to the coast and back home.  

The ride up the Gorge felt good today, well maybe good is a stretch, but the legs didn't give up, the pain wasn't excessive and I still felt pretty strong on the steepest sections, recovered on the shallower sections and at the end of the ride could have pushed on more.  

Distance wise it wasn't as long as last Sunday's ride but it was a good workout none the less.  I think I should have probably stretched the ride out further but I was leaving my options open for a possible spin with the other half which didn't materialise.

Ride Details Here:

http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=2495127

16th March 2013

Winter returned this week.  Monday - Wednesday was a washout weather wise and in the interest of staying healthy (and being a bit of a lightweight) I didn't make it out.  Thursday and Friday I was working away so they were written off too so the long and short of it was that I didn't make it out between last Sunday and today (Saturday).  Anyway it was time for another ride with Lucy and we went out for a pleasant ride.  The pace was not particularly high but worked well with the wind and apart from one miscommunication navigationally (I went straight on, Lucy went left) it was a joy.  We got back home and I called in with the intention of connecting Lucy's bike to the turbo and having a quick coffee.  The heavens opened before I set off again and to be honest that was all it took to break my will power.  

Ride data here:

 http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=2495123

10th March 2013

Longest ride of the year so far, and it appears that winter has returned, well not really it just felt like it at times with the temperatures most of which was down to the wind.  Met up with Stephen and headed out in the general direction of Glastonbury/Wells.  We found a really nice set of lanes to get us across the levels which are a definite repeat despite the headwinds.  After the long drag we got to Wells and rolled through town until we reached the bottom of Bristol Old Road a left turn and the torture commenced,  On the whole I am happy with the climb as it didn't destroy me which it could have if I hadn't been riding well.  It was bitter on the tops so we headed into Priddy and then headed down the Gorge.  Once again I was given a lesson in descending but practice will make perfect.  Stephen headed off at the bottom of the Gorge to participate in Mothers Day activities, I popped into Costa for a coffee and a slice of Tiffin.  When I got back on the bike I felt pretty good so I thought I would exploit the wind which had made life harder earlier in the day so I headed back across the levels and finished up still having a bit of spring in the legs surprisingly.
PS I needed a sleep in the afternoon!


 See I told you it was windy :)

Ride Data Here:

http://www.brytonsport,com/mapTrackView/2?id=2435639

9th March 2013

Nice ride out to Cheddar, windy and chilly but not too bad on the whole.  Pretty flat route and a good build on the week's distance so far.  Didn't push too hard knowing what I had planned for the next day.

Ride Data Here:

http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=2427191 


6th March 2013

Nice to manage to get some weekday riding in even if it does mean starting work at an ungodly hour of the morning so I can fit the ride in during the daylight hours and squeezing in a couple of stops on route to deal with a teleconference and a further stop to conduct a little business. 

Side bonus, I found the coffee shop in Axbridge as the headwind stopped me from making it to Cheddar in time for my scheduled call.  Must take the other half there soon :)

Ride Data Here:

http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=2414635


5th March 2013

Well Lucy has her new bike :D  took her out for her first road session today - very nice it was too.  Once I dropped her back at home I pushed on for a very pleasant ride - even managed without even a gillet for the second half of the ride - top result.
Ride Data Here:
http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=2398993


2nd March 2013

Just I nice hour plus ride today.  Nothing much to write home about beyond the fact it is nice to get out more heading into March

Ride Data Here: 
http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=2398983