Chris gets (1) over enthusiastic and (2) lost.
Cheddar to Chepstow. Official mileage 45.7 miles. My mileage 46.6 miles...
A similar sort of day today as we had yesterday, with the morning spent in hills, picking our way down lanes covered in dark green animal matter and the afternoon on flatlands.
Felt very weary last night, really struggled up the stairs to my room but woke up this morning feeling quite racy and energised. Decided to have a bit of a blast and see how I got on, significantly increasing the work rate and pace from the off. Normally I can keep it up on a one-off ride for 30 miles or so. Started off well, blasting up the cheddar gorge and climbing hard for 3 miles. Shot past the 3 older chaps going at near race pace whilst they were going pretty slowly - I guess they must have thought "idiot". Got my comeuppance about 10 miles down the road when I ran out of juice and then spent the next 10 miles feeling crap. Had an energy bar which had no effect. Finally found a shop and downed 2 bottles of lucozade, that had the desired effect!
The scenery though was pretty dull and not many places worthy of stopping for a photo. Didn't enjoy the afternoon much as it was making our way over into Wales - crossing both the avonmouth and old severn bridges, spending several miles in the grim outskirts of Bristol and generally spending 2 hours on cycle paths alongside busy / noisy roads, not really my idea of fun.
Finished in Chepstow right by the castle. Chepstow seems really nice.
Comedy moment of the day - the route into Chepstow took us down a narrow back lane, which was a one way street (and not our way). Now, to explain, you have to follow the guide notes - they are notes, not a map - so if you deviate from them you will never get back on route - and it said "go down the one way street - careful, you are going the wrong way down" - so down I went. Got to the bottom and stopped. A lady calls out:
Lady "excuse me, do you realise that is a one way street"?
Me "yes, thanks"
Lady "well it's not very good is it, what would have happened if you would have been hit by a car?"
Me "ah, that's very sweet of you to be concerned, thanks very much, I'm touched"
Lady walks off...
And they say that cyclists have a bad image...?
Managed to take my first wee detour today. I would love to say that the route notes were wrong but actually it was all my fault - and Heather will love to hear me say that as I NEVER (EVER) get lost. I was alas cycling along reading a text message one of my fellow cyclists had sent me and flew past the left hand turn I needed. Alas I did not realise until I had then climbed 1/2 a mile up a 1 in 6 hill. That will teach me...
Stats for the day:
Time spent cycling: 3hrs 54 mins
Average speed: stubbornly refusing to rise from 11.9mph
Max speed 39.5 mph
welsh ladies annoyed: 1
Love to all
A similar sort of day today as we had yesterday, with the morning spent in hills, picking our way down lanes covered in dark green animal matter and the afternoon on flatlands.
Felt very weary last night, really struggled up the stairs to my room but woke up this morning feeling quite racy and energised. Decided to have a bit of a blast and see how I got on, significantly increasing the work rate and pace from the off. Normally I can keep it up on a one-off ride for 30 miles or so. Started off well, blasting up the cheddar gorge and climbing hard for 3 miles. Shot past the 3 older chaps going at near race pace whilst they were going pretty slowly - I guess they must have thought "idiot". Got my comeuppance about 10 miles down the road when I ran out of juice and then spent the next 10 miles feeling crap. Had an energy bar which had no effect. Finally found a shop and downed 2 bottles of lucozade, that had the desired effect!
The scenery though was pretty dull and not many places worthy of stopping for a photo. Didn't enjoy the afternoon much as it was making our way over into Wales - crossing both the avonmouth and old severn bridges, spending several miles in the grim outskirts of Bristol and generally spending 2 hours on cycle paths alongside busy / noisy roads, not really my idea of fun.
Finished in Chepstow right by the castle. Chepstow seems really nice.
Comedy moment of the day - the route into Chepstow took us down a narrow back lane, which was a one way street (and not our way). Now, to explain, you have to follow the guide notes - they are notes, not a map - so if you deviate from them you will never get back on route - and it said "go down the one way street - careful, you are going the wrong way down" - so down I went. Got to the bottom and stopped. A lady calls out:
Lady "excuse me, do you realise that is a one way street"?
Me "yes, thanks"
Lady "well it's not very good is it, what would have happened if you would have been hit by a car?"
Me "ah, that's very sweet of you to be concerned, thanks very much, I'm touched"
Lady walks off...
And they say that cyclists have a bad image...?
Managed to take my first wee detour today. I would love to say that the route notes were wrong but actually it was all my fault - and Heather will love to hear me say that as I NEVER (EVER) get lost. I was alas cycling along reading a text message one of my fellow cyclists had sent me and flew past the left hand turn I needed. Alas I did not realise until I had then climbed 1/2 a mile up a 1 in 6 hill. That will teach me...
Stats for the day:
Time spent cycling: 3hrs 54 mins
Average speed: stubbornly refusing to rise from 11.9mph
Max speed 39.5 mph
welsh ladies annoyed: 1
Love to all
posted by Chris Pugh at 5:28 pm
2 Comments:
Chris...where are the pix? (Sorry if this is mentioned in an earlier entry - have only read this one).
Wee detour?
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