The CACH (Children Adopted from China) reunion was good fun. A chance to catch up with our friends from across the UK, listen to some interesting speakers, and watch our kids having a ball. All too soon it was over, and this morning Nick and I had to contemplate the bike ride back home from Nuneaton. So, having ingested a non-trivial portion of my body weight in bacon sandwiches, we helped our respective families load the cars, donned the Lycra, and 'biked up'.
As luck would have it, the wind gods had been hard at work overnight. Their industry transforming Saturdays balmy 15c (don't what this is in Frankenstein, but here in England water freezes at 0c and boils at 100c) into 7c with a wicked 30mph wind from the West/South West.
The more advanced of you will have already twigged that Nick and I were headed WSW for approximately 95% of our 70 mile ride. Deep joy. The first ten miles were the worst, and then it got worster. I felt all day that the wind was slowly but determinedly trying to push my teeth out through the back of my head - suppose I should have kept my mouth shut.
Between Warwick (lovely castle) and Stratford (birthplace of Shakespeare) the wind kicked in a gear and we were clobbered by a truly biblical hailstorm. Huddling behind a completely useless screen of bushes, for ten minutes the world became white, icy, and very painful. At about this time our familes were tucking into lunch back at the hotel. We, on the other hand, dined under the 'Golden Arches' at Straford. Not food, fuel. Left our bikes outside but sadly no-one stole them!
The afternoon passed slowly, our route below the Cotswold escarpement seemed to funnel the wind toward us. As if all ths wasn't enough fun, just as we got into Cheltenham (my home town) I ran over a thumbtack and got a puncture. As Nick had another 8 miles to get home, I told him to keep going while I sheltered in a doorway and put in a new tube, entertained all the time by another hailstorm. Truly, the sprinkles on my doughnut.
Got home to find Nick in my garage, fixing his own flat. What are the chances of that?
Well, I think if we can get through days like today, we can face most of what the big ride has to offer us.
More later!
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2 comments:
What an adventure! I can't wait to sit here in the warmth and coziness of my home, reading your journal (where the weather is "worster"?)
You two rock! Congratulations on undertaking such a noble cause -- all of the children who will benefit from the mounds of money you raise will thank you! And you, with buns and thighs of steel, will reap the joys of a "ride well done."
Lester, are you a writer, perchance? If not, you should consider it.
Heres hoping that the weather gets better for you , i have to say that its very windy down here in cornwall at the moment , hopefully it will have blown away when you start your bike ride
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