steverob
Guru
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
Man, that was a hot one. And before I get tempted to break into the lyrics from Santana's "Smooth", I'll do a run-down of today's ride. Possibly ill-advised to try and break the 70 mile barrier for the first time since June 2019, but I knew I needed to start doing more distances that weren't just slightly over my target to avoid future Eddington problems.
Had to change my mind on my route at the last minute when I realised my original plans, while they wouldn't actually be going through Silverstone itself, they would require me briefly to cycle along parts of two of the main approach roads to the the circuit, which probably wasn't a good idea on the weekend of the British GP. Decided to put that one on the back burner for another week and dig out another route of a similar direction and distance and see how that went.
Still headed up into Northamptonshire anyway, with an early-ish start (for me anyway, notorious weekend lier-in) to see if I could do the first half of the ride before the mercury hit 30 degrees - it was already 21C at 09:30! That neck of the woods is quite lumpy without having any hills of note - no big climbs, but enough ups and downs to ensure the elevation meter was constantly ticking upwards.
Did a tour of a number of different villages I'd previously quickly passed through, getting a slightly better look at what they had to offer this time. Discovered a "horse tunnel" under the Grand Union Canal at the village of Cosgrove, which was fascinating to see, although I had to walk my bike through it. Also followed a cycle path down the old abandoned railway line between Newport Pagnell and Wolverton, where I saw one of these "delivery bots" - it slowed down and pulled over as I approached it from behind (obviously the sensors thought I might run in to it), but I just took a photo of it and passed by. Wondering what it was delivering - hope it tasted good!
Despite taking 1.5 litres of fluids with me (the most I can fit on my frame), I still ran out at about the 55 mile mark and ended up stopping a few miles later to grab a cold bottle of water from a village store. And a can of Coke. And a Cornetto. Then promptly sat on the village green in the shade of a large tree and consumed the last two items before resuming the ride! Ended up getting home just over 6 hours after I'd left (including breaks).
Had to change my mind on my route at the last minute when I realised my original plans, while they wouldn't actually be going through Silverstone itself, they would require me briefly to cycle along parts of two of the main approach roads to the the circuit, which probably wasn't a good idea on the weekend of the British GP. Decided to put that one on the back burner for another week and dig out another route of a similar direction and distance and see how that went.
Still headed up into Northamptonshire anyway, with an early-ish start (for me anyway, notorious weekend lier-in) to see if I could do the first half of the ride before the mercury hit 30 degrees - it was already 21C at 09:30! That neck of the woods is quite lumpy without having any hills of note - no big climbs, but enough ups and downs to ensure the elevation meter was constantly ticking upwards.
Did a tour of a number of different villages I'd previously quickly passed through, getting a slightly better look at what they had to offer this time. Discovered a "horse tunnel" under the Grand Union Canal at the village of Cosgrove, which was fascinating to see, although I had to walk my bike through it. Also followed a cycle path down the old abandoned railway line between Newport Pagnell and Wolverton, where I saw one of these "delivery bots" - it slowed down and pulled over as I approached it from behind (obviously the sensors thought I might run in to it), but I just took a photo of it and passed by. Wondering what it was delivering - hope it tasted good!
Despite taking 1.5 litres of fluids with me (the most I can fit on my frame), I still ran out at about the 55 mile mark and ended up stopping a few miles later to grab a cold bottle of water from a village store. And a can of Coke. And a Cornetto. Then promptly sat on the village green in the shade of a large tree and consumed the last two items before resuming the ride! Ended up getting home just over 6 hours after I'd left (including breaks).
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