Top of Rushton Hill
So the plan today was to do some serious hills but from the start this looked in peril...I woke this morning to a downpour which was overwhelming my guttering. There was also a fierce wind making the clouds move so quickly they looked like they were on fast forward! I checked my favourite weather resource and frankly it looked like things wouldn't change all morning. For those of you who haven't found it this is a great weather resource: Pits-ford Hall Weather Station. We had some chat via messenger and as things brightened up a bit I decided to go for it also Steve reminded me of rules #5 & #9 http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/
Challenge number two then intervened. Having lovingly cleaned, degreased and oiled Clive yesterday I was surprised to discover a rear flat. I did my best at fixing this quickly but there was no way of being on time for the ride. Some frantic messaging and it was agreed I could meet the others at Rushton rather than the shop. So at the top of a very leafy autumnal looking Rushton hill I met our leader, Steve, Chris B and newbie Steve. We happy few were the keepers of the cog prepared to battle elements and gravity.
The wet roads and leaves made for some nervy downhills. We did make it to the infamous Neville Holt in one piece and what a great hill. Even Steve dropped out of big ring, I didn't even know his bike had a granny gear! More on that later. I'm really hoping when I resolve the IT issues I have some great footage of that climb. From there we went to Dry Stoke another smashing climb and then the rain came again!
It was torrential and we made the decision to get homeby the shortest route. At this point Steve announced his three disappointments of the day:
1. Neil Hickford is to blame for the downpour
2. The use of granny gear
3. Making a sensible decision to head for home
However it was the right decision, because after we made it things got worse. Riding through Corby was horrible as half the road was a stream meaning we had to stay wide. The cars didn't seem to allow for this, they came past at pace and we got puddle splashed a few times. We did home safely though so as the kids say, live to fight another day live to fight again!
Happy pudlling
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