For some reason, here in dear old blighty we are obsessed with the weather. This highly unpredictable weather is studied to death by us all and that really ought to make us all meteorological experts...but it doesn't does it? Nope, our approach to the weather is one of perpetual surprise. Two weekends at HONC it was freezing, last Easter weekend it was glorious and this weekend is a total blowout as #StormHannah batters the British Isles. So no cycling today...however that presents me with an opportunity to get a blog done.
Last weekend truly was a cycling bonanza for me. I was out on Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Monday.
On Good Friday I joined up with a small group of 5 led by Bairdy. Ian, Andre and Andy Payne were also along for the ride. Andy Payne and I reminisced on last weeks HONC as we ventured into the Cotswold like Welland Valley.
I should have some great pictures but I was doubling down on technological dumb moves and took a load of inexplicable selfies! Why did I do this? Well the week before my phone had rapidly lost charge so I was doing all I could to preserve battery life. This included keeping my brightness down low, meaning you can't see your screen on a bright sunny day...so you've missed a picture of Andre vaping and riding, David Wilson, who we bumped into, being a 'full kit w@*£er,' in his JLT Condor kit plus his very lovely bike and loads of scenery shots. All of this resulted in the only good picture being the one in the pub!
We last used this route on New Years Eve and ended up in the Tollemarche Arms at Harrington that day too. On the way there we had a great ride with the highlights being Neville Holt, numerous pretty villages and the good training drag from Ashley all the way to Desborough. Bizarrely that didn't exist as a segment so I've made one! Don't be fooled I will not be the KOM here, I've just made it...that's all!
Whilst I was out the queen of cakes had a mission to go to bestbuys in Wellingborough to get some good quality charcoal. If you've ever cooked with the good stuff thn you'll know I can't go back to the supermarket/garage self lighting tastes of lighter fuel stuff. However Bestbuys had also been caught short by the weather and they hadn't stocked up...so I remembered my uncle had said some great charcoal was made near us. A quick google revealed it's a private woodland in Pipewell. I made a call to a great bloke called Hugh who lives in the wood and he charcoal covers their cost of living! I couldn't believe where it was when I drove over! We have passed this place on club rides many times and never realised! Here's a link Rawhaw Wood I tested this out on Sunday and wow! Great stuff, this is now my go to fuel!
On Saturday I took my technodunce achievements to the next level. I knew I wanted to be at Franklin's Gardens for the rugby by 13.00 so I decided to join the C&D Saturday shop ride 'if,' they were heading in a direction beneficial to me achieving that goal. I watched the FB feed and believed a route had not been posted due to other comments and therefore just turned up...I arrived at the shop to be told that the post had updated by our club organiser Andy Ferguson, just somewheer obvious as opposed to the places that I looked. The route was heading out to Castle Ashby, possibly the worst direction for me to head in. My dilemma was nothing though compared to Steve Duke, he needed to be back before all the halloumi cheese was sold out! Anyway others persuaded me that we'd smash this out and I'd be back in loads of time.
We left Kettering via the hill to Pytchley, half way up the hill my ridiculous Lezyne bike computer announced it was nearly out of charge! So I switched to Strava on my mobile in the hope that my equally ridiculous phone would work for a change. It did, kind of...however in a group who all averaged 17mph, that I was in all the way round my stupid Strava thinks I did 14mph. Maybe I should get a Garmin afterall (nope...joking...never will!)
It was a beautiful day for a ride on roads we rarely travel. On one such road, Bruce, on his beautiful superbike with those gorgeous zipp wheels, got carried away off the front. Bruce blasted off into the sunset as we all turned right...lots of shouting and whistling but Bruce was gone! We waited for him at the next village but Steve, getting twitchy about Kettering's Halloumi supplies decided we need to get moving! My next surprise was after Cogenhoe we headed past smelly old Billing and then turned right on a road I never knew existed and up a nice hill into Ecton. From there we worked our way to Sywell and predictably things got tasty on that fast bit from Sywell to Harrowden. Well eventually it did. Shamelessly we let the rapidly improving Amy Bird take the front, then we let Steve Minney go it alone, before getting organised with a bit of a chain gang. It was great fun and by Harrowden my legs were shaking with effort. Still being worried by time but without the cheese based anxiety I left the group at the Pytchley turn accompanied by Richard G and unbelievably BRUCE...he'd somehow made his way back to us and that was very nice indeed. Big shout out to my fellow Richard who is amazed I have the time to do all the things I do...well mate as discussed I don't and that's why it's great to blog today...I'll get a ride in tomorrow hopefully!
So after a great ride the day worked out really well. Niamh and I made it to Northampton for the Wanderers (2nd team...the first team are the Saints...don't ever ask me why because I will tell you and you may just glaze over,) crucial A league fixture with our good friends Leicester. The news is that the best club in the East Midlands prevailed again on a stunning day for running rugby and selfies.
On Monday morning I woke with the hangover I deserved after a fantastic barbie with good friends. It was difficult to get my butt in gear due to a lot of Labrador cuddles but the best cure for everything is always cycling!
I met Uncle Bob at Geddington's famous cross and not long after Andy Pendred rolled up with some suspiciously placed sheep fluff on his forks. That was us...just 3 for a superb off road ride in still lovely weather.
The first bit of the ride involved the descent through Geddington Chase to Brigstock. It was lovely, dry and fast leading to me overestimating my ability and having a lot of fun jumping out of ruts and off of tree roots. No offs and no ambulances were required (miraculously)
From Brigstock we rode up Old Dry Lane onto the superbly quirky land around Bocase farm. These sculptures are superb. You won't see these on a road bike!
The tracks around Aldwinkle were weirdly challenging. Having been deeply rutted muddy swamps earlier in the year they're now deeply rutted and rock hard. In fact everywhere is unusually dry for April. The weather is weird...did anyone mention that yet?
This was the toughest part of the ride. These fields were just lumpy bumpy bone rattlers. Cheers to Andy for the additional pictures. Much better than any of mine...I blame that ropey phone!
As I neared the end of the ride that boozy night was catching up with me. I was shattered but then I realised in a good weekend of riding, the off road ride was the longest. In fact it was a similar distance to HONC, just not quite the altitude! However my reward was an Easter Monday lunch at Mum and Dad's plus an afternoon tea with my very favourite lemon meringue pie!
In other news I've discovered loads of cycling related talks on TED! They're not all good but there are some real gems. I enjoyed the one below just this morning.
I also like to promote other people's blogs. I found this one from Velo Vixen via the Velobants twitter feed. I whole heartedly agree with her 'smiles not miles,' statement.
Before I finish I want to give a big shout out to Dean Barnett for two hugely enjoyable Muddy Marvels sessions in Market Harborough and we are less than a week away from round 1 of Friday Night Summer Series
Happy Pedalling!
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