Time for some speed!

Time for some speed!, a photo by rOcKeTdOgUk on Flickr.

with showers forecast for later in the day i took the wobbly ringed singlespeed out for a spin over to Clent. when the sun shone it was actually very hot and i was soon warmed up and even over heating at certain times, the summer (and quite worn) tyres on the bike were not coping with the mud on the route and i was taking corners very tentatively as i had quite a few wash outs on the front and back, after about 9 miles the first shower hit and this was to be the pattern for the rest of the ride, sun for a short period, then clouds blew in bringing rain followed again by hot sunshine. mid ride treat was a bacon sarnie and mug of tea at the cafe then i explored the woods at clent for a while, the picture today is part of one of the trails i found, it was long, straight and fast but there were parts of it where the surface turned to deepish mud that grabbed at the wheels making for very interesting progress. the recent wet conditions meant that traction uphill was eqhally patchy and being singlespeed didn't help but i only walked on part and as happens with these things, the only fall i had the whole ride was when walking, zero traction on slick routes meant my feet went from under me whilst pushing up a steep bank, a few scrapes and bruises and damaged pride and i carried on, through belbroughton and over to wychbold where i joined the canal and turned for home up the long flight of tardebigge locks, stopping for a recovery pint at the Crown. i'd have been happy with 25 miles on this ride and when i passed that 30 miles etc, as i got closer to 40 i started thinkng about 50 but i began to get very hungry and had no food so headed home, luckily within 15 minutes of walking through the door the sky went very black and flashes of lightning broke over head followed by torrential rain. excellent timing i'd say!
so my longest ever singlespeed ride and my legs don't feel too bad.
ride 81
40 miles
total 1447
commute 417
#turbolejog 857-40=817 remaining