The weather forecast for Saturday was blazing hot and so a few early bird leopards decided to head out at 6am. However, with a high average speed expected, the probability of me being dropped was 100% and so I decided to go solo.
I started out from High Wycombe at 5am and can only describe the weather as perfect. The temperature was in early teens (and rising) which meant my club jersey alone was sufficient.
The roads were very quiet which was a nice change, in fact there were periods of 10-15 minutes when I never saw a moving car or another person.
Preety soon I came to the first "climb" on Quarry Wood Road which warmed me up further. Cycling along I came across quite a few rabbits, a couple of fawns and a couple of kamikaze pheasants who I think took a fancy to my front wheel!
A lovely partial rainbow appeared soon and the thought of a pending shower started crossing my mind. Then 5 minutes later, a light shower started!!! The Epic Weather app had put the probability of rain as zero and hence I had not packed a rain jacket or even a gilet (talk about living life on the edge hey!!!). This got the legs going and weirdly it stopped raining after about a minute and stayed that way for the remainder of the ride.
As I whizzed around a corner my eyes locked with this magnificent bird of prey (Red Kite - Ed) which was perched on a fence post and looked rather majestic. I decided to stop and take a photo which must have scared the bird who flexed its massive wings (at least 2m wing span) and flew away. Luckily it perched itself a few fence posts away and I was able to get this shot. Trust me the photo does it no justice!
With most places still closed, I powered onto the finish and finally came to the Subway in Marlow which allowed me to refil my water and take a moment to sit down. I saw a few other cyclists who looked like they were just starting their ride, and I couldn't help but gloat at how pleased I was to have finished most of my ride before it got warmer.
Smiling like the cat that got the cream, I pedal home and up my nemesis hill, Wycombe Road. Not a particularly steep hill but more of a long drag. As I span up Wycombe Road a chap on a gravel bike whizzed by me; his must have weighted about 25kg but thanks to his massive rear cassette, he was spin up the hill like a hamster (that's my excuse at least! :-)).
All in all, I enjoyed my lone wolf ride and encourage everyone to do one once in a while. The joy of going at your own pace, stopping when you feel like it and not having to shout out "hole" is truly liberating....although the coffee and cake (and company of course!) of a group ride outweighs most of this.