Sunday 4th March 2012

The day started out damp and miserable and just got worse.

I picked Richard up and we tootled along to Otley to meet up with whoever was going to turn up. When we got there there was Peter, Neil and Adey. So five of us in total.

We set off with the idea that we were going to do a shorter ride than was on planned, due to the weather. Before we got out of Otley I was lagging behind the rest of them and feeling cold and very damp despite the waterproof.

We went out on the old route via Castley and Weeton, towards Kirby Overblow. Lovely country lanes but not today. By the time we were nearing Kirkby Overblow I was already formulating an escape plan. Richard came alongside and I told him that once we had got to the top of the hill I was going back up to the main road and riding back to the car and would wait for him there. He said we would see what the others thought but he was of like mind.

As I started to climb the hill Peter came alongside and said Adey was suffering with the cold and that they were going to turn back when they got to the top of the hill. I told him that Richard and I had just had the same conversation.

At the top of Kirkby Overblow, we had a quick conflab to decide which way to go back but I thought Adey said 'you lot go back, I'm going on' and then Richard and I set off back. Looking back I couldn't see the other three so we waited a while at the junction to the main road. We concluded they had all decided to carry on!

As we were pedalling along the Arthington Road Neil caught up with us and said Adey had been unable to come back as he was so cold so he was going to get his car and go and pick him up and then he disappeared into the distance.

Richard stopped at the petrol station at Pool Bridge as he needed the loo and I spotted they had a coffee machine there so we stood in there trying to get warm. We were so wet that we could squeeze water out of our gloves and the chamois pads in our cycling pants we so sodden that we felt like we were wearing a very soggy nappy each. We made the lady in the petrol station laugh as we told her this.

We managed the last three miles despite the cold and wet! When we got back to the car park Peter and Neil's cars were gone but Adey's was still there.

It later transpired that Neil went back for Adey and having done tow circuits of the ride area couldn't find him. Peter had set off back on his own and had got back before us as we had stopped for a warm up in the petrol station. Adey, meanwhile, had phoned a taxi which had had to come from Harrogate. He'd asked the landlord of the pub if he could go in for a warm even though he knew the pub wasn't actually open. The landlord was lighting the log fire but refused him entry! That is totally mean.

Anyway we all survived to tell the tale! 22 miles done in all.