Where is the Love

After a stroll down the beach with the wife and the hound to warm my legs up I thought I'd nip out for a quick blast before the forecast rain hit. For November its bloody warm, so it was shorts and a base layer and my new Trek Livestrong cycling top. I've got the Trek bike so you have to have the top. No1 son wants a Sky kit for crimbo, when he mentioned this to one of his mates they said he can't wear it he's not a pro cyclist, well,  I see lots of of very large people in Man Utd and Chelsea kits and such like, I don't think they actually play any sports ;)

I thought I'd do a loop through Luccombe and Wootton Courtenay and back home. I set off and made my way to Bratton straight, its what you'd call undulating. I don't know if its my inner roadie coming out but why is it some 4x4 drivers feel they don't have to give you any room, Bratton straight is a very wide road, there's no need to be that close, that or they're checking out my arse.... or bike.

Down Tivington and through the lovely village of Luccombe. I don't know if its a bit of fatigue after just finishing my night shifts but I wasn't feeling the love today. My legs seemed to be struggling to turn the pedals on the flat. I forgot to take my inhaler for my asthma before I set off, so I don't help myself sometimes. My asthma doesn't really bother me but I do struggle for the first thirty minutes of a ride until my lungs warm up. Theres a little sharp hill out of Luccombe but then you reach my current nemesis, Holt ball, I don't know why but it gets me everytime. It's one of those short but steep climbs and because it goes around a bend, in my minds eye I think its steeper than it actually is. Stitch, you bugger, why do we get them, and why halfway up a hill ?

Its then through Huntscott another pretty hamlet along to Wootton Courtenay. There's another little up just before Wootton Courtenay, it's probably just as steep as Holt Ball but the road is wider and straighter, gritted my teeth and powered up it. I took the back road to Timberscombe another nice and quiet road, I went this way so I could take the road from Timberscombe to Dunster, nice and straight and virtually flat. Finally I could get into the big ring and get some speed up. Its nice spinning along, headwinds don't seem to bother me that much, it must be my athletic frame cutting through the wind, that's probably why people seem to sit behind me when its windy, you know who you are. Onto Dunster, past the school and up the hill to the road back to Minehead. I was feeling better so manned up, rode up the Hopcott road and then home.

 Distance - 13.36miles
Time - 1.08
Avg Speed - 11.6mph
Elevation gain - 1202ft