Some beautiful scenery posted - very jealous!
This week has been very cycle-slack, with - until yesterday - only 22 miles recorded courtesy of Monday's commute.
After a sizeable walk on Friday I'd pretty much written off the idea of much more time on the bike, however on Saturday I awoke uncharacteristically optimistic and figured a sedate, low-load spin to the local stone circle was the perfect way to acknowledge the equinox.
Of course as always I'm drowning in a sea of incomplete tasks and obligations, but brain insisted "let's just go out for the morning on knackered legs with the camera, we'll do all that other stuff when we get back - what could go wrong?".
Since cycling is pretty much the only self-indulgent passtime I have that's not only non-self-destructive but actually beneficial, I tend to heed its call whenever I can.. plus I'll always welcome anything that enables procrastination and I'm painfully aware of how hard the looming winter is likely to be; so the opportunity was seized with both hands.
For once I actually planned the route; a clockwise loop SW-ish to Chippy to bother the charity shops and butcher, then NE-ish to the Rollright stones.
The mood had taken me pretty early in the morning but as usual it was hours later until I actually set out; having done a few small jobs and prepped the bike. Outwardly it was pleasant, however anxiety was always bubbling away beneath the surface inside my head - despite my positive start to the day.
Initially my legs felt fine for all of about half a mile until turning West - uphill out of the village and into a convincing headwind. Meandering along the small B-roads that took me through the usual sequence of villages i ducked down a bit of road I'd discovered on my way back from Chippy last time; being quieter / generally more pleasant than the alternative and taking me through a brief but much-appreciated stretch of woodland:
I soldiered on into the headwind; my optimistic "spin to win" mantra severely challenged by the short but sharp hill heading into the next village, that tops out at about 13%; requiring me to get off my arse and put in some effort out of the saddle. I was rewarded by another easy-going, earth-toned shot of the bike at the end of it all, though
Out the other side and the sun had started to show itself, which was most welcome
Upon finally arriving at Chippy I locked the bike up and did a brief tour of the charity shops; coming up empty-handed other than some additional vitriol thanks to two hipster-esq knobheads occupying all of the space - being either too ignorant or obstinate to let me past without physically pushing my way through.
Balance was thankfully restored moments later however when I got the opportunity to be nice and accommodating to an old woman with a walking frame who actually apologised for the fact she was taking up all of the pavement, causing me to have to briefly walk in the road..
I ran a few more food-based errands, returning to the bike frequently to appease my paranoia about it getting nicked. I decided on a piece of fish from the local chippy for lunch; fish was pretty decent; however 12-yr-old serving seemed a bit off and I was highly non-plussed to be given a plastic fork
Lunch smashed I began the non-trivial task of optimising the contents of the panniers (trying to keep the cold food that way while still allowing access to the camera and lock). I felt like some of my ill-fated mates with kids as it was an enormous faff that seemed to last forever, during which I dropped my sunglasses; to have them picked up and returned by a friendly old woman. I was outwardly very appreciative and certainly couldn't fault her attitude - although tbh I wished she'd just left them there as I was perfectly capable of of recovering them myself; which would have taken less effort than that required to interact with her..
I'd decided to head out of town via an otherwise unknown bridleway that was shown on maps but appeared somewhat sketchy on streetview. I headed into an industrial estate where it evidently began, the territory becoming ever-more delapidated and forboding to the point where I actually turned back; however upon consulting the map again it appeared I was on the right path so doubled back again and eventually got onto the correct route. While a nice environment to be in, the somewhat rocky surface was probably about as much as the tyres could be expected to take, so I pressed on very steadily..
After wiggling through more villages (and a fair sprinkling of hills that continued ot hammer my already-knackered legs) I reached the stones; predictably to find plenty of other folk already there. It's a lovely peaceful place that I think reflects mans' most basal, legitimate and respectful connection with nature; however I felt somewhat out of place with all the meditation, stone-hugging and ley line-bothering that was going on..
Having stayed for a while and taken some photos I was on my way again; aware that the ambient temperature was dropping, while that of my sausages was rising; along with the fact that I'd already been out for longer than anticipated.
The ride took me home along various other backroads, grateful for the now-tailwind and stopping frequently to extricate the camera in an effort to not let the glorious golden glow of the sun go unappreciated as it sank closer to the horizon..
One final push up the steep gravel track coming into the penultimate village got me to the point where I could nearly rely on gravity for the last of the ride, leaving behind this view across the valley as I headed home:
All in all about 32 miles covered over the course of the afternoon. Conditions proved fitting for the now rapidly-changing seasons and it was good to get out; if somewhat exhausting both mentally and physically. Needless to say not a lot else got done once home..
I'm back on the commute tomorrow so today will be strictly for recovery / hiding from the world so that will be all for the week at around 56 miles; the least I've done for a long time but probably still more than I'll manage in the winter.
