Bonk
Day Trip to Richmond
I decided that it was time to go for a real big day out, I have been building up my strength again after the injury and felt that I could handle a 7 hour day again.
My mum is staying in a cottage in a small villiage called Marske near Richmond, North Yorkshire. This is about 70 miles from Leeds so an out&back seemed ideal, especially as I’d get a free lunch out of it!
I finally dragged myself out of bed and was ready to leave by 10:30. The route took me up through Pool, up a big long hill to Ripon, then towards Richmond via Masham.
I left in shorts and a short jersey with just a windshell in my pocket, as it was forecast to be sunny, with cloud. It was very bright to begin with. And I was soon warmed up enough to be comfortable. One problem was the wind, it cooled me down a little too much on the descents and easy bits but this wasn’t the worst part. Every so often the clouds gathered and unleashed a load of water onto me, I must have stopped to put my jacket on and take it off at least 10 times!
The ride was uneventful for the first 50km or so, I felt pretty fresh and the roads were fine, even though I’d done plenty of climbs already. The problems started when I hit the wall, I didn’t really eat a proper breakfast, and the bonk got me on a steep climb coming out of Ripon. At this point the countryside opened up into Swaledale and the road was a lot more exposed, so the wind was right on my face and felt brutal.
The combination of wind and carb-deficiancy really hit me and cut my speed down to less than 25kph. I recovered a little with some energy gel, but the wind was unrelenting. I did eventually make it into Marske for a quick rest before walking up the rough track to the house.
I was immediately plied with food, and felt really good again within a short space of time. As I said, the intention was to cycle back to Leeds the same day, in time for a party at 8:00. However, my knee was complaining a bit on the last 5km and I’m very paranoid about any feeling in it after recovering from tendonitis that crippled me for 3 months so I stayed with the lovely group of very good cooks!
I thought I might ride back today, but the few steps I’ve taken so far haven’t been great. I’ll just continue to wear my mums clothes and hitch a ride home with her later on!
Oh, and Swaledale wins it for me in the Wensley/Swale run off!