Well THAT was the most bizarre ride in a while - be prepared for an epic...
Decided I needed a hilly ride before the first Sportive of the year next Saturday, 8 of us set out and although it was cloudy the weather looked set fair. First hill (Cleish) warmed up the legs nicely, then we were rocking along the south side of Loch Leven chatting away - next thing I know the guys in front came to a virtual stop, I got my front wheel stuck in someone's back wheel and down I go! I strangely seemed to fall front-ways (think it was just momentum) and landed on my knee, shoulder and head - my helmet saved me getting any worse damage on my bonce (helmet debate anyone???).
Bike took a bit of a battering, front wheel and brake lever were squint - luckily the guys sorted that out while I was checking myself over.
On we went heading for our agreed cafe stop up and over the Lomonds, 2nd last but just glad to have done it - got to cafe and it was mobbed, we were lucky and managed to get a table though the staff seemed none too pleased to see us - food was good though. Just as we were finishing up a guy approached us and asked if we would push his car out of a field (it's an organic farm with camping). Being nice guys we agreed so off we trotted with cleats clacking away, little did we realise his car was about 10 minutes away! Pushed him out of the field then got his car jump started on the lane (not easy in cycling shoes), to be fair he offered to make a donation to our club - told him to give us a positive mention on Facebook instead!
Up and over the next hill (Glentarkie) I get dropped but just plod on - back to a main road we are fired up for the return leg home - 2 minutes later massive hole in the road, everyone bunny hops but Tom's back wheel just clips the edge - bloody p*nct*re! Gets it fixed but breaks valve in the process, though inner seems to be holding the air - whew! Off we go again.
Get down to the bottom of the next hill (Bein Inn) and start climbing again, my legs are really feeling it now! Manage to keep tabs on them (sort of) up the hill but dead last to the top - regrouping chat turns to the route home, back over our first hill Cleish?!? Not impressed, but I'm not losing face here.
Struggling now we head on, Garmin starts bleeping at me "Auto Pause", "Auto Resume", "Auto Pause" - then just stops altogether
WTF?!? No time to stop and check, group is still moving...
A few miles down the road we get stopped at lights - looks like my magnet has been displaced by the "off" 2 hours earlier - obvious really! Fixed, Garmin starts working again.
Home via aforementioned Cleish Hill, managed to overtake my nearest challenger so I am not Lantern Rouge! Happy with that, though my legs were not.
Here are my stats for today:
https://connect.garmin.com/activity/750872590
Pretty poor but glad to have got some hills in - reckon I missed about 10k with Garmin failure. Sorry for the epic, just had to share - all in all it was a good day, just a bit strange!
