Three rides this week. All short, because it’s been wet and although the weather is considerably warmer than it should be in January, it still gets cold out there on a bike.
Ride 1 -Â MTB run in the Dale.Â
I climbed 1775ft in 17.2 miles going back and to across Bedburn valley at Hamsterley. 1:52:08 in the saddle. It didn’t rain much during the ride, but  water flooding off the fields and over-flowing the ditches turned the roads into rivers.
Ride 2 – Road bike with new mudguards
My road bike has no fittings for mudguards, so I bought Crud mudguards for it. When I got them out of the box, I was far from convinced they were going to do the job, but I carried on and with a bit of fiddling and fettling, they were fitted. Out on the road in the rain and spray they were brilliant. Ride Stats: 20.1 miles and 1,137ft climbed in 01:31:55.
Ride 3 – A bit of Welsh countryside
Sunny morning in the upper Severn Valley, my plan was to cycle 47 miles from one friend’s house to another, but I’d developed a stinking head cold overnight and there’s little doubt that if I’d already met the week’s target I’d have decided to stay off the bike. But I needed 3 miles, and I wasn’t going to miss the target in week 1. 6 Miles from Llandinam to Llanidloes were OK and I started to feel as if I could ride through my cold.
I struggled with the next four miles to Llangurig in the upper Wye valley, barley making it up one of the hills, as the road climbed 650ft. The next section would have taken me over to Cwmystwyth. Another four-mile climb, this time 830ft that merited warning sign.
It wasn’t going to be any fun, so I bailed into the Blue Bell in for a coffee and waited to be picked up. Ride Stats: 11.1 miles, 1,343ft, 1:18:12
Week one total: 48.6 miles, 4,254ft, 4:42:15