Great shot - loads of depth, texture and movement, plus I like the simple composition
Three for the price of one today!
Friday's wind and feeling-grotty-upon-waking meant I didn't much like the idea of the planned 20-odd mile trip to the homestead, but as the day wore on I became uncharacteristically motivated and the thought of rotting here unproducively all weekend overcame any fear I had about the wind so I packed up my gear and headed out at about 18:00.
I followed the same stretch of NCR5 I've done a few times now; however this time instead of following it left at the end of the track out of woodstock I carried on; the track getting rougher but remaining manageable and passing a load of really nice isolated houses not far from the main road but nicely secluded on no-through roads.
I minced around here getting lost for a bit before finding my way and continuing further north along a nice (if a bit rough) bridleway and out onto the road near Middle Barton, from where I continued to my destination on quiet, familar backroads.
It turned out to be a really nice ride. The wind was a bit of a pain but mainly across me and manageable, while its effects on the scenery made the journey seem somehow more visceral.
I enjoyed finding my way along the hidden paths; the sense of adventure hightened by the increasing speed I allowed the Genesis on rough descents as my confidence grows and death-grip on the brakes relaxes; uneven ground becoming more of an enjoyable experience when I'm in the mood to get out of the saddle and throw the bike about a bit.
This experience also further reinforced my conviction in buying the bike as it handled terrain admirably that would have been off the menu for a road bike; once more highlighting the CdF's versatility and with it the greater ride opportunities and practicality this brings.
The closer I got to home the more ethereal the atmosphere became as the sun got lower and shadows longer in its rich golden glow - a shot from the newly-discovered bit of bridleway:
I treated myself to some egg-fried rice en-route and felt really positive to be back once I got home
Saturday was a bit crap but I managed to get some of what I'd planned done, having elected to stay until today given the pretty nasty wind forecast - looks like they got that right!
I set off on the return journey early afternoon and followed much the same route back; the wind again mostly across me - sometimes with a head or tail component and only once or twice really against me.
This was the first time I'd ridden the NCR route in this direction; the 3ish miles of undulating singletrack into Woodstock having a general downward gradient which only added to the desire to up the pace, and by about halfway through I'd subconsciously ramped up to going at it pretty hard. The close-ish undergrowth on either side of the path intensifies the sense of speed and the path is (mostly) well-sighted so there's little concern as to what's around the next bend.
I'm not at all used to this sort of riding and it was exhilarating to cane along the track at close to max-effort; out of the saddle and constantly shifting my upper body to dodge overhanging flora or move weight around to aid threading the bike through rough patchs / between obstacles
Only once did I think I'd overcooked it braking down to a poorly-sighted bend, but the excellent control afforded by the hydro 105 setup quickly made the situation manageable.
Upon arrival at Woodstock I was pretty rinsed, but after a gentle stretch the pace picked up again as I headed back through Yarnton; the lack of traffic allowing me to dart out onto the empty duel carriageway to avoid the various obstacles to the cycle path presented by side roads. I also managed my first ever decent bunny-hope; for once dismounting a kerb with both wheels satisfying hitting the road together rather than the usual jarring drop of the front wheel first - pity there were no 12yr-olds in the area to be impressed by my mad skills..
Due to the minimal traffic I chose to ignore the cycle path's convoluted route over the Peartree roundabout and instead just bowled straight onto it and down into town via the Woodstock road; again at close to full effort - hamstrings burning I think due to the punIshment they'd had earlier in maintaining a comfortable inch or two between my arse and the saddle over the rough stuff.
The Woodstock road yielded a few new Strava PBs; although fap knows how much better they are or where I am relative to everyone else
Back home I arranged for a guy to collect the old calipers off my road bike; turns out he wasn't too keen on my hill so I ended up meeting him closer to town. He turned out to be sound and was buying them to modernise the old steel road bike he was riding; which looked like a cracking project.
Once out again I decided to continue on a gentle recovery ride, which slowly morphed into a trip to the chippy - the precious being ovened for 10 minutes when home to crisp them up and covered in grated cheese before being mercilessly devoured..
Another cracking day's riding; leaving legs aching, body glowing and mind at peace
Friday's ride was 23ish miles and 840ft at 13.1mph and 124bpm, the return leg today a similar distance with 705ft of climbing at 14.9mph and 130bpm, and the chippy mission a little under 11 miles at 11.3mph and 113 bpm.
This brings me to 131 miles for the week, 442 for the month (looks like
@Donger's beating me!) and 710ish miles on the bike since I got it about five and a half weeks ago. Big numbers for me!
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