the wet and dry ride

sat6, a photo by rOcKeTdOgUk on Flickr.

i had limited time but wanted to ride minimum 15 miles to burn some calories before going out for food in the evening. up over the Lickeys and their challenging very muddy climbs gave me a good work out, some guy on a pristine MTB ask me "is it muddy, down there" whilst pointing in the direction I'd come, i said "it's muddy everywhere mate", he looked like he was going to put his bike straight back into the car. The beacon was drier but Bono & Son of Bono trails were slippery and i saw two riders take the tarmac option rather then the dirt one, presumably because of it, which seemed a shame as even with trying conditions it's still a great little trail.
Dropping down into the valley lots of the low lying fields were flooded and i had to plough through a burst stream up to hub height in depth, through the town and onto the canal after the long climb (why are there always walkers on the steepest bit making you put extra effort in?). the towpath was busy with walkers and the low sun behind me made it difficult for them to see me, thank goodness i had a bell. the upper part of the canal, in contrast to everywhere else was dry as i think they have dammed it to work on the lock gates, it's weird to see how shallow it is.
as the sun started to set the temperature dropped with it and it began to get very cold, time to head for home, it was 8 degrees at the start of the ride but -1 by the end
ride 4
18 miles
total 85
commute 17