It’s the Nova Raiders Christmas Dinner tonight and I know I would not be wanting to ride after a night with one or two beers, so decided today was the day for my main long ride this week.
The only problem was when I woke up it was chucking it down and absolutely freezing. I’m not a fair weather rider so I layered up and set off. By this time the rain had turned into that really fine drizzle where you have no option but to get absolutely soaked!
Like on Wednesday it took quite a while to warm up but my legs got there in the end. The roads were really mucky so I had to slow things down to a more steady pace than normal.
As I passed Goostrey, a couple of miles before Jodrell Bank I realised the mist was that bad that there was no sign of the giant structure of the radio telescope you can normally see over the trees across the fields. Even when I was going down the driveway to the cafe and VERY close, you could only really make out the base of the structure, with the rest consumed by mist.
At the cafe, I opted to have 2 lattes on the go at the same time in an effort to try and warm up from inside out. This worked really well and after using the hand dryer in the gents to partially dry my gloves (that reminds me, I really must get some waterproof gloves!) out I was on my way back towards home.
It was still drizzling but as I approached Alsager I could see clearer skies on the horizon and hoped that was the end of the wet weather. It was indeed and just after Alsager I started to finally dry out and warm up a bit.
After I’d done the main hills around Madeley I stopped off at the Swan With Two Necks on the A53 for a quick pint of the excellent Doombar and to fill up with water.
As I passed Ashley it started to go dark and by the time I’d reached the top of Shay Lane, it was pretty much fully dark. I know I can do this 83 mile ride at this time of the year and get home before dark, but I need to set off a bit earlier than I did today to do that.
I arrived home shortly after 5pm and headed straight for the shower and to get changed ready for the Nova Raiders Christmas Dinner at Lilleshall Golf Club tonight.
Two things I have learnt from today: I need some waterproof long finger gloves and also some waterproof bib tights (I’m sure the Castelli ones I had on were sold as waterproof but I can attest after today that they are not totally waterproof!).
Route: click here
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