'The wheel is come full circle' - King Lear 5:3

[Shake-and-run]

It occurred to me that I had not reported back on my weekend of cycling. How remiss! Well here it is.

Saturday was the sportive, with 37 miles including a couple of rather sharp Cotswold hills. However the challenge was Betty. She had been through the night before, left us some standing water and a terrible headwind. It was hard going for the the first 13 miles and being tall, it is a challenge to find a wheel to jump on so you can get some shelter. Then when I found a little respite within some hedges the blast as you passed a gateway very nearly knocked you over. Because of the longer routes sharing our Feed station, it came at 13 miles. It didn't really feel long enough to say you had earned anything. But we got over our lack of merit and enjoyed some rather delicious Cherry cake. We met a cyclist riding with his springer spaniel on his back, very cute but he must be heavy.

The hills came after that and there was some swearing and puffing but we got to the top and enjoyed some amazing scenery. The last 3rd found us heading for home with a tailwind. The joy of being able to pedal at 20 miles an hour with it feeling like hardly any effort is required, was a delight. The organisers popped a short rise in just 7 miles from home (best explained by my friend who arrived at the top a few seconds behind me and said 'that was a sneaky little bar...ard' ) but we were soon over the Avon and heading back into the racecourse. A wooden medal and an alcohol-free beer were given to us as we crossed the line. Well you can't have everything!

Sunday morning and we were a group of 9 riders (one was lost to watching a football match) heading out into the Vale of Evesham for 45 miles of slightly undulating roads. I remembered where we were going (with a little help from the Garmin) and we made our way along the lovely country roads past picturesque cottages and churches. The Vale is an interesting place to ride, the undulations are very gentle but you often find a headwind. The remnants of Betty's wind was still about and we took turns on the front to share the workload. Our stop was in the pretty Worcestershire village of Broadway at a cafe with excellent coffee and 10 flavours of doughnut. A lady, who said she was a member of a running club so knew what we needed, kindly offered to take our group photo. Back on the bikes and more beautiful countryside, more headwind and mostly considerate road users ( there is always one entitled idiot who likes to lay on the horn and let you know you have held him up for a few seconds). Another few more undulations and a bit of a tailwind brought us back to the garden centre where we had parked and another refreshment stop. I had managed not to get us lost, not to lose any of the group and bring them all home happy with the ride. Job done!

[SueAppleRun 10 Miles]

And what a job it was too, super well done, hills and wind, sounds grueling, although the donuts sound very welcome.

[Shake-and-run Half Marathon in reply to SueAppleRun]

Thank you Sue, they certainly were excellent doughnuts

[Dexy5 10 Miles]

Great cycling, lovely pics of you all and I just love those graduated blue cycle tops. Just realised you must have twice as much activity gear than the rest of us. Crikey 😱

[Shake-and-run Half Marathon in reply to Dexy5]

You wouldn’t believe how much stuff I have Dexy. And cycling shorts have big bulky pads, they take up so much room! The blue tops are our club’s summer kit. Designed by one of the group after lockdown to represent the Malvern Hills (which feature, often as a backdrop, to most of our rides) and celebrate the way the club members continued to find ways to keep linked up during lockdown when we all had to cycle alone. It is a fab kit and very popular with the group.

[TailChaser Marathon]

Way to go Shakes! Don’t know how you do it, that’s a lot of miles 💪💪💪

[Shake-and-run Half Marathon in reply to TailChaser]

Thank you. It’s not as hard as the huge number of miles you run.

[Week7 Half Marathon]

Sounds like a great weekend. Did you say 10 flavours of donuts ???!!!. Perhaps I need to take up cycling.

[Shake-and-run Half Marathon in reply to Week7]

You do have to cycle a lot of miles to burn off doughnuts.

[Week7 Half Marathon in reply to Shake-and-run]

Sounds worth the effort! I'm so impressed with the number of miles you cover.

[Shake-and-run Half Marathon in reply to Week7]

Just numbers Week7, just numbers (and the occasional numb bum!)

[Week7 Half Marathon in reply to Shake-and-run]

Ouch 😁 😂

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

Cycling queen strikes again! Well done Shakes and crew, that must have been great fun! 👏👏👏👏

[Shake-and-run Half Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thank you Cheeky.

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon]

Awesome Shakes! Great cycling and leadership. Driving on through Betty’s wind must have been very unpleasant 😬.

I think that I will stick to running. We get lots of cyclists on our narrow twisty road between here and Great Ayton; I feel tense on their behalf. The woods are far more relaxing. Each to their own.🙂

[Shake-and-run Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Thanks BC. There are some of our number that like to cycle the trails, to scary for me, I’m sticking to tarmac.

[Cowladyrunning Marathon]

That sounds brilliant! Well done! Added bonus it involved cake I feel!!!

[Shake-and-run Half Marathon in reply to Cowladyrunning]

Thanks Cowlady, our rides always involve cake.

[misswobble Marathon]

I loved reading that! Hard work but what fun 🤗😀💪🏅🧁🫖🍺

[Shake-and-run Half Marathon in reply to misswobble]

Thanks Miss W.