After focusing on the racing season, it was good to go for a long ride in the Yorkshire Dales with no training schedule or intervals to do.
The weather was excellent on Saturday. A few observations from riding in Yorkshire Dales.
- I couldn’t believe how many cyclists were out on Saturday morning. Maybe Yorkshire has more cyclists, or maybe they just congregate on same roads up the wharfe valley.
- I was going to stop at Burnsall cafe, but, it was packed out, with quite a few cyclists. A cafe stop is a bit of a luxury these days. Usually, training season means getting home in time for work.
- The one downside of the ride was the amount of mud left on the road by farmers. I took my best bike and it was pretty filthy by the end. I also take extra care on the descents because I know how slippy mud can be. Interestingly, I read about a farmer who got sued (From the Shropshire Star no less) because a cyclist crashed on a muddy road. From a farmer’s perspective they will be thinking they are just trying to do their job.
- After 2 months of doing interval training, it’s actually quite hard work cycling 50 miles. The average for the ride was 16.9mph, but, it’s good just to enjoy a ride without any pressure of doing speed work.
Even though it was a fun ride, I climbed the Cow and Calf on the way back from Ilkley, more interesting than the A65.
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