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@tbc
After a weekend of good intentions gone to waste, I finally managed to get out for a decent length ride again today.
First ride since I got the last major niggle with my new road bike sorted, and it feels like a totally different beast with the flex, play and creaks gone from the headset. It feels like a pretty stiff beast, that was actually pretty taxing on my shoulders and my wrists (said the actress to the bishop).
I set out to do the Norths' Knebworth loop, which I borrowed from Butters' Mapmyride. Having a house full of brick dust and Polish builders and no water supply meant I couldn't 'shed the last bit of weight' or fill up my water bottles before I left, so I called in at the Vintage Bike Cave, where I have to thank spotter for letting me use the facilities, and for the tour of their porn warehouse.
On the road, and it was the first time I had been solo with the Garmin properly navigating my route. It did its job brilliantly, taking me effortlessly to places I'd never heard of, let alone been to before. I did miss the company though, I don't think I'd actually done a 40+ mile ride this year that wasn't with friends or a club, and it makes me wonder how I'd coped with the longer rides I'd done before.
I didn't cope particularly well with this, bonked a couple of times, and ended up needing a full pack of Clif Shot Bloks and a bar to get me back. I blame Hertfordshire for this, as BMMF pointed out a few weeks ago, the riding there can be quite punishing, no real climbs or descents, just a series of punishing rolling hills. The weather was good as well, not too cold, but a nice wintery, slightly misty look everywhere, and no real rain to speak of.
Surprisingly few signs of the recent bad weather either, apart from this (I walked round):
And some really nice scenery as well:
So pleased with this beast now it's (nearly) fully functioning:
http://app.strava.com/activities/45066734