Freshly back from a fantastic ski trip, Em and I decided to go for a bike ride the day after our return, while still feeling fit from skiing. So, after a well-deserved lie in (as we’d been up and on the slopes by 9.30 every day the previous week) we headed out to Staunton Harold, at 12.30. (Well, we had been out on the Saturday night for a couple of drinks to finish the holiday off – and managed to fit in 4 pubs and rolled into bed after 2am again…although Em had very virtuously had a big pint of water in the last one – in honour of the impending bike ride).
Navigating out of Leicester was a little shaky, but we were soon on the right road towards Newtown Linford and Copt Oak. It was quite a hilly route and there was a strong northerly wind (against us, obviously), and our high altitude training from the previous week which we were initially confident should have made the ride much more comfortable, was sadly not having much impact on our performance. So an hour into the ride, we had covered a meagre 7 miles. Not good! We soldiered on (with the help of a few nuts and raisins) through Whitwick, and a little stretch of downhill (hurrah!) to arrive at the Ferrers Centre on time, to meet Claire and Caroline for afternoon refreshments. After a quick look round the craft shops, we had a very healthy bowl of hot soup (to warm us up) and were not envious of the coffee and cake Caroline and Claire had chosen. We left the other two to enjoy the Centre and climbed back into our saddles for the journey back – on which, the wind would be behind us and there would be lots of downhills – easy! Ummm, bit more uphill to start with, then a slightly easier ride back, although the sunglasses were making it a little difficult to see where we going at that time of the late afternoon. Still, we had got another cycle ride in, and maintained an average of 10 mph.
Alcohol the night before: Lost count…but no shots involved!
Miles: 40
Navigation: 98%
Weather: Cold and windy