The Ugly, the Bad and the Good
A very mixed up ride today. I wrapped up well this morning as it was around 1°C when I left the house to start a solo ride to benchmark how my riding has progressed since before Christmas.
Out of town in 20 minutes and into the country lanes heading through Compton, Puttenham and along the Seale Lane. I was really enjoying the clear skies and the frosty views on a downhill when I spotted the ice! No sooner than you can say "I descend like Alex Zülle" my front wheel was flying out left and I was flying out right. Luckily there was no serious damage to me or the bike but I have a ugly looking knee and a shredded leg warmer. Impressively the Gore winter gloves I was given as a gift took a lot of the force but survived unscratched. The silver lining is I can replace the leg warmers I have been looking to change for a while now.
I continued on the ride, but the adrenaline must have kicked in because I set off way too hard for the 4 hours I had planned and forgot to refuel for a while. With not eating and the rapidly rising temperature (with me in my winter jacket) I was feeling pretty rough after a while. I eventually regained my composure and got back to a steady pace and managed to finish the ride I had planned; albeit more knackered than I had expected.
The good news is I made a significant improvement on my time from late last year. If I hadn't wiped out and had paid a bit more attention to eating I might have gone a fair bit quicker, but hey, there's always next time.
Comments:
By
Mark HollandIt's been pot luck with the weather and the clothing recently. Saturday was quite mild in the sun but yesterday's cold fog definitely made it a bib tights day. Boy it was nippy out!
By
iainBy
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