A hazy morning followed the last two Sundays theme. But this weekend differed from the last two; Saturday was much better this time. I had hail and thunder on the 20th, and "just" heavy rain on the 27th.
It made for a great weekend. Although it wasn't without it's trials. The picture above was taken after a dangerous trek through stinging nettle lined paths. We had planned to have our tea in the middle of a field, with far reaching views of the countryside. But the ground was wet, so we carried on towards the church yard. This meant tackling the terrible path; shorts, t-shirts and poisonous chest high plants should never be in close proximity. We made it through unscathed and stopped for tea at the log shown at the top of the post. The picture shows all our paraphernalia, we don't worry about precious grams when we need a cup of tea.
RideLondon is happening this weekend. I did it twice and I really wish I was doing it again. Then I remember the very early start. I had to be at the Olympic park by six in the morning. The other hurdle is getting a place. A friend and I both entered the lottery two years in a row, neither of us got a place. The reason I got in was through a charity. I had been raising money for them for years, and my usual sponsors were getting fatigued. It didn't seem fair to keep going and stop someone else raising more money than I could.
The route winds its way through London and out into Surrey before coming back into London and ending outside Buckingham Palace. The first year it was torrential rain and flooded roads, the next it was warm sunshine. Both times the route was altered so I have never completed the full distance. I cycled home afterwards so the total miles were still over a hundred.
I have completed two Caterham to Canterbury rides, (2017, and 2018) a distance of just over sixty miles, and a few to Brighton, which is around eighty miles. It's a great feeling to just switch off for the day. Not completely of course, increasing numbers of motorists take exception to cyclists. You have to be aware at all times of other road users; some of which don't have safety and consideration of others on their mind.
I don't want to end on a negative. There are still a lot of my fellow road users that show patients and intelligence.
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