'Shall we go for a long one?'

Well seen as this blog is supposed to be about bike riding or at least being a bike rider, i thought i would fill you in on a 'little ride' me and my training buddy Mikey Cumings went on a couple of weeks ago.

When i say little i really mean big, hard and angry. As i left my house to meet Mikey at our usual meeting place, which shall remain secret to all but a chosen few, i thought i would be home within 4hrs, maybe 4.5 if we got a cheeky cafe stop in, it being winter and all that, but when we met and Mikey uttered those memorable words 'shall we go for a long one' i stupidly agreed.

What followed can only be described as an epic 6hrs of pain and in some instances, and one in particular, amusement. Now for the un-educated riders amongst you, going on a long one generally means a big ride for which the golden rule is to ride out into the wind and back with it on your back, which for us normally means a jolly into North Wales due to the prevailing winds, which were in effect on this fine day. Me and Mike being 'men', well we decided to hit the hills, not West of us like Wales, but East.

To begin with, i think both of us were enjoying ourselves as we climbed out of Macclesfield across to Wailey Bridge in the sun i remebered how much i liked riding in the hills, with a following wind we were soon at the top of the Snake and much to my amusement as i stopped to take a photo Mike almost got blown off, but little did i know he would have the last laugh a few climbs latter!


Mike at the top of the Snake

Wind ah yes the unecessary evil of all bike riders and this day it was STRONG! We soon dropped down off the Snake across to Curbar through Castleton and began climbing Winnats pass. Initally the climb went well for the first 150m after the cattle grid (for those in the know) the steep sides protected us from the wind and we could actually hold a conversation for the first time since the Snake, however as the road curved to the right we hit it, the steep sides acting as a funnel. Mike decided to get out of the saddle and power up the climb whilst i decided to stay seated and try and do some leg strength work, this approach was to be my downfall, with one sudden gust of wind from the side the bars were blown out of my hand and i was on my arse! If this wasn't bad enough, for those that have ridden up Winnats it is dam steep and getting started again in that wind was not easy at all, luckily i pulled the manouever off first time, only to get to the top to see Mike laughing at me, at least he didn't drop me hey!

After Winnats it just became a slog fest into the wind down to Buxton, where we saw Ian Stannard, looking just as pissed off with the wind as us, a quick 'cafe stop' in a petrol station back over the Cat and through the lanes home, 6hrs in and deaf from the wind. As you can imagine in the sick way only bike riders do after such a hard effort i arrived home with a massive grin on my face.