It was a bit of a busy week last week, made worse up by a trip to Barnsley for a work seminar on Friday. You wouldn't think that a night away would cause such grief, but traveling up on the Thursday night and getting back late on the Friday makes a mess of things and pretty well ruins 3 evenings. I had an Audax planned for Saturday, so had loaded the bike and all the other clobber into the van Wednesday night, ready for a quick in and out when I got back from Barnsley on Friday night, throwing the running gear in as well, planning on staying out Saturday night for an early morning run on Sunday, weather permitting. And the plan worked fairly well, I got back from the slog down the M1 just after 20:00 on Friday night to be greeted by "The Emma" with a brew on the go. Whilst I necked my brew, got changed into something more sensible and we had a quick catch up from the last couple of days "The Emma", being the superstar that she is, stuck another brew in my flask and I was back out the door and on my way to Beaconsfield for Saturday mornings Audax by 21:00 and tucked up in a quiet spot by just after 22:00 for a great nights sleep. Who says a bit of prior planning never pays off? Saturday dawned dry and I would guess that there were 50 or so lunatics lined up for the start of the South of Bucks Winter Warmer 200Km. Despite going pretty much past the end of our road, coming from Beaconsfield to loop around Basingstoke via Alton, before heading up to Wheatley near Oxford and back to the start, this was a new ride to me. It seems a bit silly travelling an hour away just to ride back home again, but, it was a nice route and picked up on plenty of new roads to keep things interesting. Utilizing some of the quieter A roads that I'd normally steer clear of provides a ride-able route in all weather conditions, resulting in some fairly flat, fast miles and was far better than slogging along mud soaked country lanes at this time of year. Helpfully that rain that seems so persistent at the moment stayed away and whilst overcast and damp, it was a fairly warm day for the time of year. Taking the opportunity to get in a few fast miles I was back at the van not long after it got dark, having had another great day out. Not the most interesting route or necessarily the nicest roads, but ideal for the time of year and one I'll defiantly be going back to do again. With the plan being to get out for an early morning run on Sunday, I moved the van down to one of my favorite little night stops at Kingsclere after a brew and bite to eat on Saturday night and was tucked up early in bed. What a contrast the night was to the day though, by 23:00 the van was being absolutely battered by the wind and rain and I was beginning to wonder if I was going to still be there in the morning or chatting to the Tin man, lion and Scarecrow!
There were a couple of points in the night where I even considered getting up to move the van round so it was pointing into the wind instead of being hit side on and I was woken numerous times by the rain beating down. By the morning though things had quietened down a bit and both the van and I had survived the onslaught, dry, warm and happy in the knowledge that no matter how bad the weather the van was up to the job. The nights rain had refilled all the puddles and ensured that the mornings run was a muddy, slippery affair and I didn't push too far or too hard. To be totally honest my legs felt pretty heavy after Saturdays efforts and I just bimbled along enjoying the early morning fresh air for 12 or so miles before heading back to the van and onward to home. As ever it had been a good weekend, wrapped up perfectly by Bacon Sandwiches for lunch with "The Emma" when I got home. It doesn't get much better than that, an Audax, a storm, a cheeky wee run and Sunday lunch with the lovely Emma, I'll take that any day thank you!
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Paul PerrattOld enough to know better, young enough to still feel invincible, stupid enough to keep on trying the same thing again and again. Cyclist, Gardener, Runner, Hiker, Cook, Woodworker, Engineer, Jack of all trades and master of none, Anti social old git and all round miserable bugger. Archives
March 2024
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