Piece of Sky....

After I recovered from the shock of the Mrs not wanting to go shopping in the big shops I only had one intention on this gloriously unwinter-like day. I thought I'd let the day warm up a bit so after a weather check and daily squirrel audit with the hound and a spot of shopping I took advantage of the weather and headed into the hills. I was determined to take it steady today and enjoy the ride, the road and the hills and not let my machismo make me push too big a gear, I was going to spin like Lance, but not as quick!

I've done this ride before, what it lacks in distance it makes up for in elevation, near 1500ft at its highest point, it might not be the Dolomite's but it will do for me. The roads were a bit damp on the way up to Wheddon Cross and the little devil on my left shoulder was nagging at me, we all have them don't we ? The sun doesn't really get to these roads so I was hoping the sun would have dried out the exposed descent from Dunkery, its a great descent, steep with a couple of bends thrown in, its what the magazines call technical. It was a bit gloomy at Wheddon Cross, it always is, must be me but as I headed up the slopes of Dunkery the sun came out. I hit that sweet spot only cyclists know riding up the hill, I had the wind behind me and the sun on my back, spinning away just me and the bike, glorious :)

Down the valley towards Dunster and the coast

I headed down the hill happy to see the road was pretty dry, on the wrong side so I went all continental and rode on the wrong side for a bit. I took it steady and stopped to take some more pics to break up the descent.

Looking back up to the Beacon

Cloutsham Ball, Porlock Hill in the distance

I was feeling good so decided to extend the ride a bit, I headed through Horner and onto Porlock and down through the village of Bossington. I came across my first flock of ramblers, (or is it a gaggle) of the year. I usually come across this species out in the hills but today they were aimlessly walking down the middle of the road holding up traffic, well when I say traffic, me and a car coming the other way the driver looking decidedly annoyed, at least they don't make a mess like cows.

Onto home and some macho big ring pushing down Bratton straight, I was flying, I was enjoying life on a bike.

Distance - 22.5 miles
Time - 2.10
Avg speed - 10.3mph
Elevation gain - 2239ft

I know I'm not the quickest but I had the sudden realisation today that I must have some fitness. I've done sod all for four weeks and had the indulgence of christmas to boot but I felt great and still do. I'm comfy on the bike now which helps and my new kit is great. My Giro Monza lid is light and comfortable and fits well like all Giro helmets. My Specialized Deflect gloves are great, I got them for a great price from bikeglovestore.com and my Planet X overshoes are excellent, I may wear them all the time ;)