So it was Sunday and therefore we shift to Steve's ride. Sunday, whilst being inclusive is a longer and faster ride to Saturday. Steve does a great job organising and leading these rides but as he's not very IT competent we all have to guess where he's taking us. What he lacks in GPS mapping knowledge he more than makes up for with his actual knowledge of local roads and these routes never disappoint.
Disappointingly you can't see the graffiti the local wags have added in Finedon. To be fair there's little to do there apart from abusing cyclists. Which is what happened when an old codger started giving it large at us. He had plenty of space to get past our stopped group but I guess the fogged up windows and lack of lights meant he couldn't see properly. We got the obligatory 'single file,' ignorant comments and as he got past the verbal abuse was ramped up. A word of advice would be, it's possibly best not to swear at a copper. I do hope he was able to get his Sunday Mail without further hindrance, it would be a shame if he didn't get to top up those ignorance levels.
Talking 'five oh' Nathan displayed shocking disregard to our groups sartorial elegance! I had to wash my eyes after being exposed to that top.
It was at this point that Nathan and Claire decided to go off and do their own thing. I don't blame them. Steve, as is now customary on Sunday had set a blistering pace. It definitely was not a good place for someone who hadn't ridden for a while.
The mega monster himself continued that blistering pace. At one point he was dragging us uphill at over 20mph. I was never going to last like that and after about 40 miles I started to drop off a lot and every hill suddenly became a mountain. Others were feeling the same way, coming into Kettering I shared with Nat and Andy that I was exhausted, they feel the same way too. Nat blamed Steve's jelly beans but hey that's just another club 'in-joke'. I'm not disappointed with myself, I think a few months ago I wouldn't have kept up as long as that, so in a way it's progress.
The pictures and video do not seem to do justice to what a stunning day it was. It was also great to get to some more new places as we ventured into Bedfordshire. It was also another great route by Steve. Possibly the ultimate highlight was finding ourselves back in the familiarity of Raunds, the first time for over an hour that I knew where I was!
I was on a bit of a mission to get home as we were going out for lunch at 1pm. Well it all worked out and once again we were treated to top quality food at the Hare in Loddington. I was a bit disappointed though because I previously had some exquisite pie there, I fancied a bit more but today it wasn't on the menu. Nice roast pork and some good ale were ample compenstion though. During the desserts it was no surprise that I had a cramp attack. As per usual I had to do a few laps of the car park to get back to normal. More signs, I guess, that I got a good workout today.
Well that's it, I'm hoping to ride again before next weekend but I might have to settle for a turbo session.
Happy pedaling
Ps I can't believe I forgot this! Joining us for part of the ride today was Phil 'the beast' Broxton. Phil broke off from us near Kimbolton because he "needed" to ride 200kms today. Phil is a very accomplished endurance rider who is always a joy to ride with. I'm looking forward to checking his highly athletic Strava data later.
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