Cyclingwilly
Member
I set the alarm for 5.30 am this morning and went to bed, dreaming of a nice ride out in just a few hours, sadly, my phone battery went flat during the night, so when I woke at 7.30, I was so annoyed, but, no one died. I walked the dog, had a quick coffee, got dressed and out the door, it was 8.10am, it was nice and cool, a 10 minute pedal around the village to get the legs going, then I started my journey, up the hill out of Wolsingham, across to The Brown Horse/High Stoop on the A68, straight across the road to Satley, then Lanchester, the roads were rather quiet as was Lanchester, not very many people walking about at all. I then turned left towards Consett, along the road, left towards Hurbuck Cottages and into Delves lane, everywhere was so quiet, no one walking the paths, no one with dogs, very eerie feeling, I felt alone. As I went into the eastern side of Consett, the roads became busier and there were a few more people going about their daily life, but it was still quiet. I stopped for a banana and a drink in the shade of the Black Horse pub, had a little chat with a guy showing interest in my electric Cube, he was somewhat taken aback at what these machines can do.
The temperature was rising fast and I was feeling a bit jaded, so I had a decision to make, my plan to go over the tops and down to Stanhope then back to Wolsingham, might have been ambitious for my first "long ride", so common sense prevailed over valour, at Castleside, I turned left and carried on the A68 to the Brown Horse pub, I stopped for 5 minutes and the sun was beating down and I was suffering, I'm no fan of the sun, most of the time when it shines like it has been recently, I stay inside the house, with the doors open and a fan blowing onto a basin of cold water to cool the room down, it doesn't help that the medication I take, makes me feel hot all the time. I was only a few miles from home and I so wanted to get back and into the shade. I walked across the road, feeling slightly wobbly, I drank the remaining water from my bottle and set off, down the bank past the little garden centre, then I had the last climb, even with the power of the battery helping, I found it rather hard going, it was torture, eventually, I reached the top and cruised with very little pedalling to the top of Redgate Banks, then free wheeled down the hill, all the time I'd been out, I'd never had one issue with idiot drivers or people not looking while the crossed the road, sadly, it wasn't to last, as I dropped into Wolsingham, an idiot in a 20 plate Suzuki Ignis (possibly) decided to overtake me within 100 yards of the 30MPH sign, I was already on the brakes to slow down and below the speed limit, but this dickhead obviously didn't know the road and almost came to a full stop, a quick decision was required as I didn't think I was going to stop, retake him or bunnyhop onto the path, I chose the latter as there was no pedestrians, then after a quick glance back, I could see there was no one behind me, except the cockwomble in the Suzuki, I went round the corner, past the Bay Horse and dropped into the village, as I went over the road bridge at the entrance to Desmesne park, the Suzuki passed me again, I just shook my head. As I went passed Peggotty's, I saw the clown in the Suzuki, getting out of his car on the market place, it was time for a word. I don't know how old the guy was, but he could have been Ghengis Kahn's grandfather, I was polite with him, never raised my voice, swore or got nasty, until he told me to Foxtrot Oscar, at this, keeping a civil tongue in my head, I told him I'd filmed his driving antics on my Gopro camera and was going to hand it to the police, he then got back in his car, jammed his foot on the throttle and lurched back, almost reversing into a Mitsubishi pick up, with the engine still revving beyond the redline, he tried pulling away, but I think he'd selected 3 instead of first. I got on my bike and came home in case I was required as a witness.
During the writing of this, I've had a coffee and another monkey stick (banana), now I'm going for a shower, get changed then relax the rest of the day, well, that's apart from ordering another Charge Spoon, the one on the Cube is harder than a pedophile's password.
Managed 28 miles in 2 hours 50 minutes.
The temperature was rising fast and I was feeling a bit jaded, so I had a decision to make, my plan to go over the tops and down to Stanhope then back to Wolsingham, might have been ambitious for my first "long ride", so common sense prevailed over valour, at Castleside, I turned left and carried on the A68 to the Brown Horse pub, I stopped for 5 minutes and the sun was beating down and I was suffering, I'm no fan of the sun, most of the time when it shines like it has been recently, I stay inside the house, with the doors open and a fan blowing onto a basin of cold water to cool the room down, it doesn't help that the medication I take, makes me feel hot all the time. I was only a few miles from home and I so wanted to get back and into the shade. I walked across the road, feeling slightly wobbly, I drank the remaining water from my bottle and set off, down the bank past the little garden centre, then I had the last climb, even with the power of the battery helping, I found it rather hard going, it was torture, eventually, I reached the top and cruised with very little pedalling to the top of Redgate Banks, then free wheeled down the hill, all the time I'd been out, I'd never had one issue with idiot drivers or people not looking while the crossed the road, sadly, it wasn't to last, as I dropped into Wolsingham, an idiot in a 20 plate Suzuki Ignis (possibly) decided to overtake me within 100 yards of the 30MPH sign, I was already on the brakes to slow down and below the speed limit, but this dickhead obviously didn't know the road and almost came to a full stop, a quick decision was required as I didn't think I was going to stop, retake him or bunnyhop onto the path, I chose the latter as there was no pedestrians, then after a quick glance back, I could see there was no one behind me, except the cockwomble in the Suzuki, I went round the corner, past the Bay Horse and dropped into the village, as I went over the road bridge at the entrance to Desmesne park, the Suzuki passed me again, I just shook my head. As I went passed Peggotty's, I saw the clown in the Suzuki, getting out of his car on the market place, it was time for a word. I don't know how old the guy was, but he could have been Ghengis Kahn's grandfather, I was polite with him, never raised my voice, swore or got nasty, until he told me to Foxtrot Oscar, at this, keeping a civil tongue in my head, I told him I'd filmed his driving antics on my Gopro camera and was going to hand it to the police, he then got back in his car, jammed his foot on the throttle and lurched back, almost reversing into a Mitsubishi pick up, with the engine still revving beyond the redline, he tried pulling away, but I think he'd selected 3 instead of first. I got on my bike and came home in case I was required as a witness.
During the writing of this, I've had a coffee and another monkey stick (banana), now I'm going for a shower, get changed then relax the rest of the day, well, that's apart from ordering another Charge Spoon, the one on the Cube is harder than a pedophile's password.
Managed 28 miles in 2 hours 50 minutes.
