Just got back from a Pretty Darn Good ride around 50 miles
of Merseyside's best tarmac. Pretty darn good weather too,
so much that I dug out the, um, bib shorts (can cycling
helmets withstand paving slab impacts?), to get some fresh
air on my legs for the first time in, ooh, 5 months?
Anyway, once I was out of Kirkby's <sarcasm>leafy
suburbs</sarcasm> I pretty much had the roads to myself for
the next 30 miles - I was going for miles and miles without
seeing a car, it was brilliant. My destination was Billinge
Hill, hardly a mountain at 170 metres but it's a short steep
climb (it's even got a gradient chevron) and a lovely view
across Merseyside from the top where I had a short siesta. I
was going to head back home from there, but it was so good
that I went for hill #2, Ashurst Beacon, same height, easier
climb. So I got there, stopped again in the carpark at the
top for a few minutes, set off, then realised the carpark
wasn't at the summit, eek. Anyway, back home via
Skelmersdale where they've made a very nice job of the ring
roads and feeder roads from all the suburbs and lots of
roundabouts, but they've forgotten to signpost them so I got
a little bit lost. Still though, I got home with a new
average speed record,
16.1mph, finally broken the 15mph barrier! Hardly mattered
today though, glorious it was, and I didn't even mind the
headwind all the way home.