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| Not *all* of the ice has melted yet... |
At long, long last my road bike has mudguards, fitted just in time to allow me to enjoy a long-standing new year tradition: wherever I am & whatever the weather I like to begin the year with an hour or two outdoors, breathing in the cold air, getting my body moving after the excesses & idleness of Christmas, and if at all possible escaping the city crowds.
As well as Christmas, the great British weather & a lingering cough had conspired to keep me off the bike since mid-November, and the lack of exercise has begun to show on my mind as well as my body. Despite the fact that today was one of those grim winter days when it never truly got light, nothing was going to keep me indoors!
We chose a nice, easy, mostly flat route - a little loop out through the villages to the east of York. The road surfaces were terrible after a month of snow & ice, hundreds of potholes, huge patches of loose gravel & wet leaves, even still ice in places, but it felt so good to be back on the bike! I only returned to cycling a couple of years ago, and only bought my first road bike last spring, but I really do feel like that little Raleigh is an extension of my body. Cycling feels so comfortable, so natural to me, even more so than walking. I may never go as fast as Emma Pooley, but by God riding my bike makes me feel great!
1 hour 12 minutes
average speed 12.1 mph
highest speed 21 mph
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