So training ride two. The wind was still the devil’s what not and I was puzzling where to go. As I said, the trick is to make your return easier. The problem was that where I lived, routes did not really match the wind’s direction on that morning.
So vaguely heading straight into the wind, I headed for Windsor.
If you’ve read this blog before, Windsor was the first big ride. The first 40. The one into the unknown. The journey into the heart of darkness, well Berkshire, where no bear had gone before, well, if you ignore the thousands that preceded him.
Once that ride was out of the way, my Windsor route kind of became one of my default routes. Can’t think where to go? I’ll head towards Windsor and decide.
Most cyclists from my area tend to go clockwise, that is through Chertsey/Staines then through Runnymede then back out through Eton/Datchet but I tended to go anti-clockwise. Via Heathrow and through Milton country to Datchet/Eton, it’s a nice route with plenty of diversions whether because if you’re not feeling it and want to shorten the circle, or simply to go somewhere else, you can do so with a fairly easy route back. If I took a circle shortening on the clockwise route, it would mean uphill slogs which are not fun if your legs have done a runner or turning back, which I really don't like.
Once more tacking against the wind, I trudged through Bushy Park, out through the deprivation of Hanworth and the grubbiness of the outskirts of Feltham to the village of Stanwell. A strange village that sits by airport, serenaded by the dulcet tones of taking-off and landing planes. It has, from the outside, a charming church and won best kept village…once.
You head out from there and through the moonscape of Stanwell Moor village, where I presume locals report a piece of intact tarmac such is the constant cracks and potholes that make up the village’s main road.
Up and over the M25 you head down another moonscape to the reservoirs. If you’ve ever used Heathrow these are the collection just west of it. You then hit Horton, the afore mentioned John Milton country based on the fact that he spent an entire eight years here…Convenient for the airport I suppose.
Quick run through Datchet and over Eton Bridge, you try not to kill any tourists or Etonians - though judging from the recent shower of shites, perhaps I would be doing the future a favour?
For once the wind was with me on Ted street and I had an easy ride through to Runnymede where, as usual, the bowl effect made for an interesting ride.
Some rides, such as the chain that sneered past me, head towards Chertsey but I am ambivalent of that road as, when you get past Thorpe Park, its straightness and width encourages the bombers despite the 40mph limit and speed cameras and with the wind crossing on occasion this ride I thought 'no thanks'.
I headed back past the angry river at Chertsey, getting a wind assist on Renfree Way and was soon over Walton Bridge.
In fact, contrary to my previous training run, the wind gods decided to favour me as I sped through the back streets of Molesey and dodged the potholes of Ember Lane to head home.
Could this be it? Could the curse be over? Had I actually beaten the cyclist’s curse?
As my first commute of the week afterwards reminded me - don't be so bloody stupid.
While the second added: And here's some freezing rain as well, for questioning the cycling gods.
Training ride 2:
Miles: 39.2
Average speed: 15.8mph
Elevation: 253ft
Total distance: 66.7 miles
Time on bike: 4 hours 19 minutes
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