Today's Ride

It was late afternoon by the time I got out on a bike, so it was just a quick blast to the beach and back today. The disadvantage of going out late was that it was a bit nippy but there were fewer walkers so more blasting, less slowing. And the pink glow of the setting sun always adds a little something special to a ride.

A few hardy souls were braving the elements and enjoying their beverages in the open. In the foreground, on the left, those are mounds of oyster shells, not shingle.
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And, looking in the other direction, more:
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The sky on the return journey:
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Firm 20mph easterly wind, 9 degrees but felt like 5-6, high grey cloud, no sign of any sun or blue sky. Dry.

It's still dark out this time of year in the mornings so the Lezyne lights are on-point to keep things relatively safe. Loads of aliens aka farmers harvesting root veg (animal feed) with massive spot lights on their tractors with big extending arms.

This is at the Lower Drift reservoir before heading up to Sancreed.

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First longer trip after recovering from covid, 10km give or take. Was coughing like hell through parts of it, but nice to get out after having the lurgy.
 

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Tough one for me today. Very windy, hail showers, 3 degrees etc. Across the Bolton moors to Rivington and Anglezarke, then onto White Coppice and Abbey Village, back home to Bolton via Tockholes. Too long and hilly for my unfit legs. 5 hours riding/pushing/lifting through the mud. But a memorable ride for all of that.

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That's the essence of winter...roll on spring asap!

After a blowy weekend where riding was out of the question, this morning was grey and dank but still. Mildish 8 degrees, slightly cooler in the valleys. Right at the end of the ride I was cycling through a cloud :LOL: Got chased by a sheep-dog as well.

No vistas today!

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We could all use a bit of that warmth ;)

Thankfully there was a gap in the wind and rain this morning for a long overdue stretch. It's getting lighter which means I can start adding the mileage back. So 15mph NWN wind, high cloud, 7 degrees but much lower in the valleys and as I found out, very localised 60 second heavy downpours :LOL:

It's been a long time since I enjoyed the pleasures Paul has to offer. Standing erect, it's a tight entry but as soon as I was comfortable, I shot out the other end, feeling satisfied ;)

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Shocking! Paul is clearly a centre of shamelessness, wrongdoing and abysmal standards . . .

. . . of punctuation. The missing apostrophe in 'Kings Arms' [sic] is duly noted. 😉

Meanwhile, in the east, things looked sunny and cheerful . . . in the photos. But, in reality, it was 10°C with a 'feels like' of 3°C, due to the 20+ mph winds with gusts of over 40 mph. And an hour after this photo was taken, there was pouring rain; I was still out in it. And, at its very worst, I got a puncture, after nearly thirty miles of slog, with three or four left to go. I remembered the founders of mountain biking—Gary Fisher, et al—and thought, 'Mount Tam in California is all very well, but I bet you wouldn't have been nearly so enthusiastic about this mountain biking malarkey if you'd started out on a cold, February day in Blighty.'

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Kinda wrote today of as I had a courier pick a frame up between 9-5.30....... he came just after 9 so got some house stuff done and went locally again. Saw some deer, didnt get too mucky, no coat needed, happy times and stress reduced. Winning
 

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Bit windy today.......and wet......and muddy......but fun
 

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