Hannibal / El Bandito came up with today's best line - "Everybody needs a hug, sometimes". Quite a few were given out by the time we reached home. I suspect Nitemare will be raging he missed out today (he loves a cuddle).
The forecast was terrible with non-stop rain and standing at Forster Green you wouldn't have bet on it being wrong. The plan was to do 2-2.5hours with no stop, but as if to illustrate why we don't set routes ahead of time, having re-jigged the plan we got 55 miles and a coffee stop in, without getting wet (the rain came on at my house 30secs after I got back). Eight of us headed up the main road to Saintfield and then Crossgar. By doing long turns into the wind we were able to dull the fit legs and rest the wobbly ones. Seeing a brighter outlook I changed the plan of the hoof and kept us going in to Downpatrick.
From there we climbed up past the hospital towards Ballyhornan. I once had a bad experience following Nitemare up a dirt track out that way (I'm still paying for the therapy), but this time we got it right, turning left after Ballyalton and keeping going to Ballyculter - brilliant road, with beautiful scenery. At this point people started to realise they were further from home than advertised in the brochure, but everyone was on good behaviour and El Bandito was doing a great job as chaperone.
Straight back to the Quoile Bridge, then up through Killyleagh to Balloo. The lumps took it out of some legs and I think everyone was glad to get in to Mufflers for coffee.
From there we headed straight across to Ballygowan. I thought the crosswind was bad until I saw Gent Wevelgem on TV - Ian Stannard leaning at 30degrees to keep upright! It was tough enough for two of us to "double team" Bobby on the last stretch, the biggest challenge was holding a line one handed.
That was about it, as we split off for home. A real bonus day considering the forecast. By riding smart everyone got a good workout and saw some lovely countryside. Home about 13:20 muddy but smiling. There's nothing like a windy day to clear your head. Ps Sam and Stuart missed the mothership and did a short loop - listen learnt #alwaysstaywiththemothership
Thank you so much for sharing your story and tips . They can be helpful to those who are looking for good bike deals.
ReplyDeleteGreat story man! It's inspiring. I don't like biking a lot but looking forward to get into it, this post story really got me.
ReplyDelete