This Sat, on setting off, I thought that: it wasn’t the coldest I’ve ever ridden in; it wasn’t the windiest and it wasn’t the heaviest rain either……….however, for a certain distance of the ride, I had the coldest tips of my fingers in a very long time………
So, Sat am, only the (fool)hardy MarkB, Stuart and self at the Square for 10am. We set off intending to sail a route out to Millington. We soon realised that Stuart was pedalling a little quicker than us and all agreed better for him to head on and get a faster ride in (& keep warm).
MarkB & I were quite comfortable, riding out via Bossall, Howsham, Leavening, Langton, Birdsall and whilst it was raining all the time, we were happy chatting and pedalling along. Then somewhere up Birdsall, the rain obviously started to soak through the gloves and up on the exposed ridge along the top, the easterly wind and rain started to ‘bite’. The LHS of my face ‘froze’ and our chit chat reduced to a few grimaces and helpful ‘nearly there’ calls! After what seemed like an age of riding with the Siberian cold wind and soaking wet hands, we finally reached the cycle path left turn and both thought ‘only a few miles and a descent to the café’. The cycle path was strewn with the dreaded pesky hawthorns and we squinted hard to try to avoid, through rather misty, wet glasses. I had thought about stopping to rub clear the inside of my glasses so I could see better, but I knew if I took my absolutely sodden gloves off, I would be unlikely to get them back on again.
Hmmmm, so you know what happened 100yds after we turned right off the cycle path then? Yup p*******! This was the last thing we wanted, but as Kevin says ‘it’s not a fluffy, furry world’. We were still about 3miles from the café & Mark’s front wheel totally flat. I tried to sound positive saying ‘at least it’s only the front wheel’. Mark & I worked well as a team, but we had to keep taking turns so that the other could stamp around & stuff their hands under armpits in a desperate attempt to warmup the numbed fingers (I’m even shaking now as I type, remembering the feeling!). Cath would have been proud of my tyre-pumping up technique – amazing what pressure I can achieve when I have to and Mark’s refitting of tyre technique was worthy of the Dave I’A strength prize. I somehow managed to place my 2 blocks of ice (hands) back inside my icey, sodden gloves. Mark managed one glove, but after several attempts, he said a few choice words and set off with one bare hand! How we managed the next few miles to the café is a bit of a blur. I could hardly pull my brakes as we couldn’t feel our fingers, but somehow we managed to safely (but painfully) negotiate along the top and then descend to the warmth haven of Millington Café.
So you think all was well now? Well it was, but not instantaneously. We left our bikes (unlocked, for at that moment I thought ‘if someone wants to take it, they can have it!’) and fell inside the door, shaking and feeling not quite with it. It took us some time to compose ourselves enough to order food and even longer before we both stopped shaking. However, very slowly, the warmth did start to have an effect, the open fire partly dried, but significantly warmed our gloves & hats and sometime during the 2nd pot of tea, the shaking stopped and normal bodily service resumed . Once back to earthly temperatures, we felt suitably revived for the journey home and with a friendly tailwind, made swift and comparatively comfortable work of the miles.
You may think ‘nutters’ ‘madness’, but I am sat here smiling at the memory, our 55 miles on the board and I am sure to bore you with this adventure for many miles to come
Thanks to Mark for sharing our benchmark day, ‘things that don’t quite kill us, make us stronger'
’.