The day started misty and it was still cold but the biting wind of yesterday was gone, I did an errand and spoke to a nice man from Cleethorpes and made my way home to decide which bicycle I would ride today. To get any mileage on the road and avoiding the A39 means heading inland and upwards and I didn't fancy any icy descents on 23mm of rubber so I opted for the softly sprung option with chunky tyres and headed into the hills.
The sun was shining and the skies were blue as I set off, winding my way up through the streets to get to the coastal path track which takes you up to the top of North Hill. Its about two miles up and the sun greeted me as I emerged out of the tree line, the trails were frozen and rock hard which made for good progress.
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Not going to the chapel..
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Once on top its a pretty level ride to the end of the hill, the day was glorious and my lungs had warmed up with the climb up, it was cold though and the remnants of last weeks snowfall still lurked confirming my choice to go off road to be the right one.
I made my way to the end and headed for The Cross (pic to explain) I don't why its there, there is a plaque with psalm 148 below it, I'm not religious in any way, perhaps someone could tell me its relevance.
The track from the cross back to Selworthy through the woods is brilliant, its a roller coaster ride, hugging the contours of the hill, riding through the trees with the sun shining through, dodging branches, rocks and roots, I love it and it makes me grin like a big daft kid every time I ride it. There is a myriad of tracks to Selworthy but I managed to pick the right one and arrived at the village and its pretty church. A ride along the back road from the village and I arrived at the crossroads at Bratton straight, do I turn left and head down the road and be back home in 5 or do I go straight on and do another 2 mile climb up to the the top of Knowle Hill ? I'd only been out an hour and a half, the fairy said 2 hours.
As I was feeling groovy I headed up, it starts as a fireroad and turns into a rough track as you head up. The track was icy in the shade reminding of what a good choice I'd made and I was spinning along quite nicely, I've ridden this way before and to be honest I've given up half way in the past and walked half of it. I did stop halfway, got my breath and got back on the bike, I sat up, relaxed and spun up the hill, to my surprise I still had a couple of my 27 gears still available to use, I thought about bailing out again but dug in and manned up and never stopped, I was really quite pleased with myself. Once on top I took the long option home and rode along the ridgeline and down into Alcombe Combe and the road home.
Distance:
14.22 mi
Time:
2:17:03
Avg Speed:
6.2 mph
Elevation Gain:
2,113 ft
I know it doesn't look far or particularly quick but I was out riding and I was feeling curiously marvellously super duper.
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