A new route for me today, and a really nice bike ride at that. Was it the perfect route for a road bike? No, not really. But it was a good all round route for any bike.
Having never been out towards Much Hoole / Bretherton / the south of Leyland, I was pleasantly surprised at how quite, rural, and generally green it was. There were too many powerlines overhead to really give it that relaxed country vibe, but it wasn’t at all surprising I came across as many ‘mansions’ as I did. You know the type – lovely country houses, perfectly manicured lawns and hedges, more rooms than they likely need… not that I’m in any way envious.
One thing about this route was how wind-y it was. Not wind. Wind. As in, wind something up. Not knowing the route meant I had to take many of the bends at lower speeds as I had no idea what was ahead, and as the bends sometimes came thick and fast, the Garmin sat nav didn’t always keep up. Several wrong turns were taken.
However, once out on the open road sections it was lovely riding. Wide open fields on either side, which I imagine could be murder on a windy day (that’s weather wind this time, not wind… how confusing) were lovely on today’s warm and sunny adventure.
Also, I noticed there were lots of side roads to explore in the future. Definitely I will be back out that way at some point.
The one downside today was towards the end of the ride. I came up around the University and had to stop at a traffic light. As I set back off, my right knee started to hurt. It’s likely just a result of going from no riding to lots of riding over the last few days. However, it also means I probably need to take it easy tomorrow. That sucks. See how I feel later on today / early tomorrow. Right now it’s sore.
Anyway this was still very much take it easy mode. I got caught out by a couple of small climbs but took both of them at a steady pace. Nothing negative to report there.
In short, I loved it out there today. I just hope I haven’t ruined riding tomorrow with the unexpected knee jerk.
