Sunday 23 Dec

Medium Ride

T’was the day before Christmas Eve and arriving at a wet Hornbeam not a thing stirred, not even a cyclist in sight. It must have been the magic of Christmas as cyclist’s soon stated to appear, then there was 8 of us sheltering from the rain while deciding which route to take. It was decided Ripley and on to Fountains for coffee, the medium ride. We set off to be joined by another rider, then there was 9 at the Empress crossing. A steady ride to Ripley along the quiet but wet greenway, some of the mud had gone by now. At Ripley 3 riders decided they would turn left at the Drovers and go back that way; another rider also decided the same while going up Scarah Bank. Now down to 5 we negotiated the very wet Watergate Road with lots of very large puddles and on to Fountains for coffee.
Just as we were setting off from the café, Dave noticed the beading from the rear tyre had come away from the wheel rim, so he let some air out, pushed the beading back in, then a quick pump up and all seemed OK. The ride back through Studley, on to Littlethorpe, Farnham and up Knaresborough Hill was at a brisk pace as the rain was still coming down with lots of spray from passing cars and the puddles!
A very wet enjoyable 31miles.
Happy Christmas to all!
Chris R.