Very hot, sunny & windy 60 mile gravel ride on the Spec Creo SL

Looking at the forecast it is going to be the hottest day of the year here in Co Durham so i decided to go for a spin on the bike as i had a few hours saved up on my flexi leave. I parked up at Broom Park and headed up the old railway line to Consett. It was lovely and cool in the wooded sections but also still muddy. Once at Consett I turned left and headed straight up to Parkhead then to Crawleyside. The wind was very strong but could not work out its direction. The last long leg over the moor towards the cafe was a killer to say the least. I thought i would have had a tailwind all the way back down but no i was still struggling with a strong headwind on many long sections. The bike was going well but my legs were not feeling it today for some reason. I was hoping to get in a 60-70+ miler but that was looking like it was out of the window. Once i got back down to Broom Park the heat was starting to ramp up and the Garmin was reading 27 degrees! I forgot my spare water bottle so only had 600ml with me. I had planned to going up the old railway line to Stanley Crook / Crook then back again and possibly do a third leg down the old railway line to Bishop n back. I had an energy bar and thought well i have 44.2 miles in at least i should manage 50 miles. I set off along the line to Waterhouses and my legs felt ok'ish but i was not looking forward to the climb up to Stanley Crook. This line was a lot quieter than the Consett line so kept my head down and went for it. Once at the top i decided not to drop down to Crook to climb back up again. The return leg was much faster from the top and i was back to Broom Park in no time. That was 60 miles, 2300ft of climbing with an ave of 14.2 mph and i had no water left and it was getting even hotter so called it a day and headed home in the van with the air con on full belt. Below are a few snaps from the ride and a couple of video clips at the bottom, enjoy and hopefully more soon -

Very windy but mainly sunny local road loop up and around Tow Law area

Todays ride was a very windy / short 26 mile road loop in and around Tow Law area. I took the Cannondale Synapse Neo 1 as the Spec Creo SL is in at Evans Cycles Durham as the knob from the future shock dropped off yesterday! Anyway back to todays road ride, the wind has picked back up yet again 25+ mph and Tow Law is not exactly the most sheltered of locations to say the least. The weather was sunny / overcast and cool. The Garmin was only reading from 9 degrees up to 13 degrees during the ride. I had a headwind nearly all the way out but a huge tailwind nearly all the way back in! The back country lanes were quiet but the road from Crook to Meadowfield was busy and the cars / vans were flying. I had a couple of very close skims, one was within 6" of my handlebars. 1.5m rule, you are having a laugh but then some other drivers give you at least 2m plus. That will never change in this country and you have to live with it. All in I covered just over 26 miles in 1hr 42 mins with 2000ft of climbing, ave 15.3mph. Not bad considering the wind. Below are a few snaps from the ride and a couple of short video clips at the bottom of the blog.

 

 

Very steady flat spin to Bishop n back on the Creo SL

Todays ride was a lovely and easy short spin from Meadowfield through to Bishop n back along the old railway line. The line was still wet, muddy with puddles in places after yesterdays heavy rain but not too bad, in fact I thought it would have been far worse but there was a strong wind blowing so had dried the top off lovely. There was not many other people out and about either so just plodded away at a even steady speed. As you can see by the photos below the sun was out but it was only 10 degrees on the Garmin probably due to the strong wind. Enjoy the few snaps below and hopefully more soon -