The penultimate day of the Advent of Cycling 2022 is upon us, and for this one I almost did another Zwift ride. But even with a bad weather warning looming, I opted to go out for a change instead.
Unsure where I would end up – but knowing it wouldn’t be Preston town centre – I set off. And was immediately feeling tired. Tired, and shaky. It’s been a while since I’ve been out on the open road, and the feeling took a while to get used too.
Once underway, I felt it in the legs for at least the first 10km. It didn’t help that the cold was already biting, and even with plenty of layers I was feeling the low temperature.
I figured I would stay out for 30 minutes and see how I felt. However, after about 20 minutes I thought I was doing alright and decided to head up to Longridge for a sort of high endurance / low tempo kind of ride. Definitely not out to set records, and even if I had been the headwind was dead against me.
Once I got out towards Longridge I was ready to get off the busy main roads and figured, hey, why not do a climb up Jeffrey Hill?
Well, there are plenty of reasons not too, but most of them were excuses. So up I went. And it was definitely nice to get away from the traffic.
Whilst I wasn’t out to set a new PB, I was pleased with my effort today. Far from ideal climbing conditions, I nevertheless found myself not wanting the climb to end. I mean, I did, but I wasn’t like… oh my god, this is killing me, make it stop. It was actually really enjoyable.
Around the top of Jeffrey Hill, that was the only time today I saw another recreational cyclist. I had seen one earlier, but it was obvious he was a commuter. I guess most people saw sense.
On the descent was where things went a little sour.
Coming down from the top is always fast, but in the wet it’s a bit hairy. I was really feeling the windchill, even though in theory at that point I had a tailwind so shouldn’t have been getting absolutely whipped.
I stopped to get my hood up, and then when I set off again I was very glad I had as the rain started. Just little droplets… at first. By the time I had reached Longridge, the promised heavy downpour had started.
As such the ride home was a pretty miserable affair. At least it was all downhill.
Shortly towards the end of the ride – maybe 2km from home – my shoe covers finally gave in. Soaked through, they suddenly started leaking into my shoes and socks. By the time I got back I was drenched, and very much pleased to be home.
Still, even with the soaking I enjoyed this one. It was different, and whilst tiring I enjoyed getting up a proper outdoors climb way more than I expected. I think it might be because I hadn’t planned on doing it, so there was no apprehension or whatever, no build up in my mind.
Anyway, tomorrow is the final day of the Advent of Cycling 2022 challenge and my plan is another outdoor ride. I’m not planning on doing any efforts – just cycle down to town, see the tree, have a pootle around Avenum Park and then head home. Unless it rains, then sack that.
