On Tuesday I made it to Corby Capers CX training. Those of us in tier 2 Northants benefitted from Phil and Dave setting up a cracking course with cambers, mud and a killer hill. Ridiculously our friends five minutes away in tier 3 Leicestershire weren't allowed to join in. The virus knows and does actually rebound at the border between Harborough and Braybrooke. Anyone looking at that Strava data and thinking that doesn't look much of a ride...come and have a go! Check out my heart rate data.
The next morning I went for a run which my legs advised me was a distinctly poor decision! I then hobbled around work for the rest of the day.
On Saturday I set out with the intention of joining the Cyclasylum ride. I mistimed it by a few minutes and failed to meet them at Rushton meaning I did the group ride route solo. This then became the most eventful ride. The route went a bit weird in Desborough but led to one of my favourite roads through Braybrooke and onto Market Harborough. I was loving that rolling road and my Forme Longcliffe was flying along with those American Classic wheels. In Harborough the route went doolally again on my Wahoo and I ended up practising some CX skills going over this railway footbridge...
The adventures kept coming as an old man driving round the corner to get his Daily Mail did the classic of looking for cars and not bikes and nearly turning straight into me. Fortunately I have a big gob and my shout stopped him in his tracks. The poor bloke looked shocked to bobbins and I feel a bit bad for calling him names but near death experiences do that to my reasonableness levels.
In better news the route got really nice heading into Medbourne where Mr Minney predictably sent us up Neville Holt. I realised I needed to tweak the front derailleur as it had some chain drag in full granny gear. Some lovely walkers gave me encouragement as I huffed and puffed past. I then took my banana 🍌 break at the top exactly where I imagined my missing friends would have done, a bit earlier in the day.
Then the route took me through Great Easton and I instantly knew Mr Minney's sadistic route plan. Rocky flipping hill!
I changed down to Granny again and what was a necessary tweak suddenly appeared more serious. My rear mech was pulsing all over the place. I changed back to the big ring which fixed the problem but no way was I riding up Rocky in the big ring so I changed down and tried to nurse it up the hill. I was at the bit where you can see the sign at the top and got over confident...I stood up on the pedals and came to an abrupt halt with a sickening crunch. Initially I thought I'd ripped the derailleur off but then realised my entire back wheel was off, the derailleur looked wrong and the chain was all looped up. Some kind fellow lycra loonies stopped to help and kindly suggested this was due to "too much power." We got the back wheel on, the mech straight and I was able to tentatively proceed in the big ring. By the BP roundabout it felt okay again and I was riding normally. In Pipewell the chain got thrown off the bottom cog so evidently all was not well. I took it as easy as possible all the way home. One of those lycra sammaritans suggested I get it looked at, so I best seek professional help! I'm guessing I haven't set the wheels up correctly. Oh well it's only money...
On Sunday I decided on an off road route and once again got the Forme Calver out of the shed. It was a road route to start with, up to Harrington and towards Kelmarsh before that lovely descent to Arthingworth.
Form there I headed through the village and onto the Brampton Valley way. There were lots of walkers and fellow cyclists on this shared use path and as ever excited/scared children having an adventure in the Kelmarsh tunnel.
Being multi use the Brampton Valley Way is not a place for high intensity training, racing or riding without care and consideration. I really enjoy the general atmosphere of friendly waves and thanking dog owners for responsibly getting their dogs under control. I don't have a bell so shout "ding, ding!" as I ride up behind groups of people. This is almost always responded to with the humour intended. The track was full of puddles so sticking to a dry line meant a bit of consideration for other users.
This brings me to the only downer of the day. As I made my way down the track another cyclist headed my way. I swerved round a puddle and moved back to the left and went to say good morning. Before I could get a word out the other cyclist snarled "left!" As you can imagine my response was swift and contained two words. I briefly considered chasing the bloke down and really giving him both barrels but common sense got the better of me. I have no idea why people need to behave like this. A walker a few metres on told me that the cyclist was rude to him too! Thankfully my mood returned to normal quickly and I was lucky enough to bump into an old friend for a chat!
I met my friend half way up Merry Tom Lane and from there headed to Pitsford Reservoir which was just as busy and just as friendly as the BVW. I headed up the hill from the causeway towards Brixworth and then towards Scaldwell, then back to Lamport so I could get off road again. The fields round the back of Lamport and onto to Faxton were very muddy and hard to ride but great slippy fun. Then I encountered Phillip the dog. Poor Phillip is scared of bikes and ran round me in circles barking. Having been bitten earlier in the year I was wary of Phillip but there was no need, his poor owners clearly not expecting a lycra loonie in swampy fields were running round trying to catch frightened Phillip. As a dog owner they had my Sympathy!
Those fields were enough mud for one day and I got back on the road at the Harrington war memorial. I caused more walkers to jump out of their skin on the green lane to Orton before heading down the hill to Rothwell where yet more walkers acted as if I was a passing herd of elephants.
Once home there was a couple of immediate jobs.
First off my bike needed a thorough clean. Nothing decreases a chainset like mud and a quick hose down, brush with car wash and a thorough coat of GT85 did the job.
The queen of cakes presented me with my towell so I could strip off in the utility room. Everything including my shoes and camelbak went straight in the washing machine for the second week running.
All in all that's a great fun filled, eventfull week of riding! I'm looking forward to the Cyclasylum Christmas Eve ride and we'll see how I go in the festive 500.
Happy Pedalling
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