Last night we were out at a fundraising evening for the Bike Ride Charity. Above is a picture of Neil and Nigel proudly showing off their medals. Nigel has been chosen for Athens Special Olympics, he is a weighlifter. I said he needed to be with all those medals!
This morning I was up at the crack of a sparrows wotsit around 6am. It was bright and sunny so I wore my shorts and no jacket! By the time I got to the meeting point it was cloudy, doh! Richard lent me his waterproof just in case.
There were only four of us today, Richard, Mark, Peter and myself. We set off a different way, on the Arthington Road and I took the lead along here. Eventually we came to the main Harrogate to Leeds Road and joined that for a short while and then turned off. Suddenly I recognised where I was and knew we had a right turn part the way up the hill. The ride then followed our usual route which included a hill I particularly dislike.
The ride continued on familiar ground until we got to the spot where we usually go off road but we carried on to the main road at the end. Turning left we meandered our way into Wetherby where the boys were hoping for a toilet stop but all the toilets were closed. So we carried on through country lanes and came into a small village where the local shop sold coffees to take out.
Peter, taking photos during a short break
Mark and Richard, my fellow cyclists
A church in Wighill, North Yorkshire<Coffee and flapjack eaten we took to the roads again but I realised I wouldn't last to the next town so jumped a gate and a hedge was utilised.
We were back on a country lane when I heard a 'ping' I said 'what's that, it sounded like a spoke', Richard thought it was just my gears settling in. Looking down to see if anything was amiss I nearly ran into the hedge. Jumping off the bike I glanced back to see a large group of cyclists descending upon us, laughing at my near accident. They were our 'Sports Group' the fast lads!
A bit of a chinwag with them and they were off again. Rich and I caught up with Peter and Mark and we decided that I ought to carry on as I was going to do any more damage to my buckled wheel.
On we went until we eventually reached Boroughbridge where we stopped for a bite to eat in a cafe and a chat with another cyclist. 41 miles on the clock at this point.
It was after we set off again I thought I might struggle a bit. The roads were undulating and I started struggling a bit with the uphills. At about 48 miles I realised that my quads were starting to cramp and stopped. Richard gave me a gel but it was decided to ring my Peter to ask him to pick me up in Knaresborough. Peter the cyclist went off to catch up with Mark and Rich and I carried on into Knaresborough.
In Knaresborough I parted company with Richard who carried on with the ride. I stood and stretched my quads but then thought it would be sometime before my Peter would catch up with me. S I started to push the bike up a big hill. At the top I jumped back on again and pedalled out of Knaresborough, at my own pace, and into Harrogate. A quick check with my Peter and I carried on towards Pool.
Then my Peter rang me and asked where I was so we arranged a meeting place that we both knew and I rode to it and waited for him. By then I had done 55 miles so wasn't too unhappy with my performance.
Peter took me back to Pool to pick up my car where we found Mark just packing his bike away. Peter had already gone and neither of then had seen Richard who had beaten them both back to the meeting place!
Mark, my Peter and myself had a chat and then we all went on our ways. I rang Richard to tell him I was back at the car.
Thankfully it didn't rain but it had clouded over for most of the day and we had a headwind for some of the hills.
No comments:
Post a Comment