Andy P proposed a snow ride on Friday night which filled me with excitement. I mean what could go wrong? Well apart from the fact that a few of us have broken bits of ourselves! Nah it'll be fine, there will be a soft landing right? I arranged to meet a few others in Geddington for a snowy assault on the chase and a bit more besides. However those plans were curtailed once I'd walked the dogs.
So Graham, Mark B, Andy P and Danny did the ride above. Their pictures are fabulous and like I said I feel like I missed out.
Looks great doesn't it!
Perhaps not this bit!!!
Those drifts are supercool...they were car height on Friday on my way to work
Mark is down...someone, possibly Danny...celebrates! (or he could of course be warning others to slow down...)
My decision not to ride was a little bit of a blessing in disguise as my son Sam had a party to get to in Northampton. Remarkably NCC had done a great job of getting the main roads clear so as long as you could get out of your street then travel was very possible. I spent some time with my shovel as the rest of the local community looked on either confused or adding what they may think of as witty comments. (Sorry, personal bugbear, if everyone who is able, did a little bit to help we'd cope a lot better with the snow in the UK!) The other positive was that it looked like I would get to the Northampton Saints rugby match after all as one place the community had rallied was at Franklin's Gardens.
With my family safely on their way it was time for my fun! I only did an hour locally but oh my goodness...snow riding is amazing!!!
I took my bike back to where I'd dog walked earlier, much to the bemused entertainment of other dog walkers and people out for a snowy stroll. The snow wasn't fast to ride on but it was a whole load of fun. Early on I wondered if it was possible to ride through a snow drift. If you're wondering the answer is no!
This is Shotwell Mill Lane. There's a house about half a mile down here! A tractor was sorting it out for them and also a 4X4 with a team of shovellers. They laughed at me too!
These woods are part of my training plan for the MTB race season. Yesterday it was great riding. When the snow is gone they will be claggy mud again for a couple of months. I'm looking forward to it drying out and getting some hard work done.
The fields were the same. The soil here is really soft normally and horrible to ride on at his time of year. Compacted snow and ice sorted that out. It was a bit bumpy though and my camera fell off the bike a couple of times.
How could you not love that?
It was hard work on the uphill bits but still great fun.
I wondered if this field would be ridable? No...not really!
I loved the woods so much I went back in a couple of times
After the woods and fields I decided to go check out the local parks. Lots of families were out sledging and again I got the sort of odd looks reserved for a middle aged man on a bike in the snow!
The snow is looking soggy now and the big thaw is definitely on. The weather warnings have stopped and the flood warning have started. I'm going to take the dogs out again in a bit and if it still looks like fun I may have another snow spin this afternoon. I need to make the most of it or move to Finland, because we never know when this kind of snow will be back! My strava feed is full of people on their indoor trainers. However it's interspersed by others who had a go in the snow. To a person they express their joy for riding on the white stuff.
Later on the Saturday afternoon we did indeed make it to the Saints. The pitch and the stadium were amazing apart from the odd avalanche that came down off the roof! However the team didn't reward the hard work and played possibly their worst ever half of rugby. That is really saying something this season! A much better second half was too little, too late. However the result is only one part of it for me. Much like cycling it's about getting together with your mates.
Me and KCC Cyclone Charlie
Beauty and the Beast
The shorts club...every match no matter the weather...we can't remember why!
Back to the cycling and it's time for some epic shout outs. Firstly to Paul Mellon KCC Cyclones coach. He's just returned from a real adventure in Oman. https://bikingman.com/en/bikingman-oman/ Paul didn't complete the ride due to a mechanical issue but on return he's planning yet another ultra distance challenge. Another shout out goes to Bethany Spencer of KCC Cyclones. Bethany has had some injury issues from taking a tumble in a CX race. I was in that same race and witnessed the fall. The rumours are not true, I did not push her! Bethany has taken to riding indoors and competed in the Junior National Track Championships. we're very proud of her at Cyclones.
In utterly amazing news, Milton Keynes based rider, Steve Abrahams finishes his one year time trial today. The last big ride he posted on Strava was on 27th February and as usual was another huge 280kms. His water bottles actually froze up!!!! Today he has decided to spend the day in Weatherspoons, you really can't blame him!
Last day of 1YTT today. Feeling trashed and spending the day in Wetherspoons Milton Keynes if anyone wants to come and say hello.— steve abraham (@steve_abraham74) 3 March 2018
Okay then, that's it this week. Here's to dry roads, sunny days and lots more miles...or can we have more of this snow stuff please?
Happy Pedalling
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