Catch up

Catch Up

Sunday 1^st May

It’s been a busy couple of weeks and I will attempt to bring my Blog up to date!

The weather over the past week has been weird with low temperatures and snow, hail, thunder and some sunshine, and out of the northerly wind it was/is quite warm.

We were camped in the van for the last three days this week, whilst we looked after the grandchildren, now growing fast, the twins now 7 months, starting to crawl  and granddaughter starting school in September! It was minus 3 degrees on the Wednesday night and in the van we woke to 5 degrees, but we were snug and warm, I switched the heater on when I awoke to make tea and the temperature was quickly raised to 12 degrees +. The ‘Briarsfield ‘ campsite on the edge of Cheltenham is fully recommended, a lovely site, the owners are very welcoming and the site is always spotless www.briarsfeld.net and very good price. I had a good couple of days on Bikeability where the children were great as the weather was atrocious, they got very wet, and were still positive about the experience.

This week is the first week for a couple of weeks I haven’t got an Audax, the last two down in over the levels  and across in Devon, would be hard to beat, as the weather was really good, chilly but dry, and little wind. Last week was also my first cuckoo of the year, as we cycled past Hound Tor it was sounding out across the valley. This event also saw me puncture for the first time in ages, I think a pinch puncture, soon mended but it did put us back a little on the main group of riders. There were a lot of hills as we climbed out of Newton Abbott, across Ashcombe Valley, the hills being short and steep, on narrow lanes and over to the Coast at Starcross and the Ex estuary, it was a really nice cycle path  down to Exeter, even though it was a head wind all the way.After Exeter it was more climbing, steady this time as we climbed on to Dartmoor, via Cheriton Bishop, Tedburn St Mary and Whiddon Down, I think mainy using the old A30 before they built the new duelled road.

The final climb over Hound Tor etc was really pleasant the exception being traffic, as the sunny weather brought out the day trippers. This was followed by a long descent back down to Newton Abbott and the finish, this was very steep in places on a poor road surface, making braking and control difficult at times, wrists definitely ached when we reached the bottom. A great day out with my eldest son. It was nice to hear all proceeds went to the Devon Air Ambulance www.facebook.com/Turf-n-Surf-Audax  

Only ran 5 miles last week, so will try to run twice this week to keep up the running legs.

I now have an eye on the Eroica Britannica in June  www.eroicabritannia.co.uk when I will ride my vintage bike over the hills of the peak district, Saturday I managed to get out and do 30 miles, trying out my new 38 x28 gear on the hills, I am still adjusting my positon on the bike, moving up the levers etc. I hope to get out again today [Sunday].

This weekend sees the Hardmoors 160 which is 160 miles over the Yorkshire moors, and one of the blogs I look at is John Kynaston https://johnkynaston.com who is running the event, after my 22 miles of the Ex to Ax last year and the 20mile Grizzly this year I cant image how anyone can run 160 miles over a couple of days!!