Thursday 13 February 2014

the comedy falls ride

the comedy ride by rOcKeTdOgUk
the comedy ride, a photo by rOcKeTdOgUk on Flickr.

with half an eye on the weather (actually a full eye as it has been horrendous!) Dan, Ant and I headed towards the Clent hills, I'd tried to devise a route that we wouldn't get too bogged down in but to be honest it's been so wet there are any routes that aren't muddy.
First up the flooded bridleway, then through the woods, the long short cut not quite as bad as I imagined but not far off, then the impossible to steer a straight line down steep narrowness of Bono, the steps needed care as they were slick and the tank slapper was just speed and a face.full of spray from the front wheel. Then the climb to the badger holes, where the comedy falls began. My shoes are incredibly grippy on tjhe pedals but awful in thick clay and whilst navigating a kissing gate I fell straight on my front, much to the amusement of the other two, however i was laughing at then soon after as Dan's front wheel washed out in the mud and he went down in front of some walkers. I'd done similar further up the hill on an off camber bit but luckily without anyone to point and laugh!
past the cafe at Waseley (easy to resist as it was shut) and up up up to the cafe at Clent where Dan accosted a guy on an OnOne fat bike, Ant ate half his body weight in bread pudding and I indulged in luxury toast whilst trying to keep warm.
A quick visit to the standing stones proved very quik as the wind, which had mostly been at our backs on the way here now came unblocked straight into our faces making it difficult to stand up. I found the start of a very good trail Ian and I discovered last year and it was as good as i remember with the added hazard of having a deep channel cut into it by flash floods and rain water from the previous month or so. Very technical with wooden bridges and a couple of drops one which caught Ant out which tweeked his back a bit. There was a way back via Walton hill and the Deer farm but i thought it would be virtually impassable and this was born out as the next bridleway we chanced was axle deep in thick black mud. So then it was mainly roads until we got to Pepper wood and we used the permissible path to good effect and went the shortest way back home to lessen the aggravation of Ant's back.
We didn't get rained on, that came not long after we got back but the wind was challenging and made even rolling down hill and out of the saddle sprint at times
ride 15
30 miles
total 299

2 comments:

Shotokan Cyclist said...

I really enjoyed this ride, RD. Thanks for looking after my back! You forgot to mention that it was a birthday ride for you, we should have put a candle in that bread pudding!

Rocketdog said...

the deer farm bridleway is a lovely addition when it's dry, quite a challenging climb but fun (and there's usually Llamas too) so next time i'll take us up there if it's feasable