Karen writes: Obstacles
I went for a ride, of course that was not what the training plan said I should be doing, but it fitted. Older daughter looked at my trademark pink legwarmers before I left, "are they new?" she says. "Nope". "They're clean" she observed. I looked, they did look clean. Why? They were inside out. These poor things had been getting very grubby, more chain oil than clear space, but aha, here was a way to now double their reasonable lifespan. Anyway, with the old-new inside out pink legwarmers on, I took the easy route, headed off towards Clevedon and wandered round a bit there feeling uninspired.
The most significant thing about this ride was something you only see when your training is mostly on country roads. I came scooting around a corner on Monument Road and there was a significant obstacle. Cows all over the road. Ok I thought, they are just crossing I will wait for a car to push through and follow it. Well it turned out that from my low vantage point I couldnt see that the cows were not in fact just crossing the road, but actually walking along the road for a good few hundred meters. I didnt realise this until I was in the middle of them and the car had moved ahead leaving me surrounded by enormous swishy bohemoths, swishy and sloshy I should say. Oh dear, picking my way through the spaces, trying not to spook the animals, worried that a gigantic hip would just swing into me and quash me into another one. I came across a car marooned in the middle of the herd on the opposite side of the road, the lady looked in disbelief when I appeared in front of her then laughed uproariously. My smile, understandably, was a little bit strained, I wondered if she would still be laughing if I climbed on her car bonnet, with my bike, to get out of the way. Finally I got through, in one piece, with only minor splashes of green on the bike as evidence of having taken on the herd and won. Next time I run across a "stock crossing" sign I will most certainly head back the other way!
The most significant thing about this ride was something you only see when your training is mostly on country roads. I came scooting around a corner on Monument Road and there was a significant obstacle. Cows all over the road. Ok I thought, they are just crossing I will wait for a car to push through and follow it. Well it turned out that from my low vantage point I couldnt see that the cows were not in fact just crossing the road, but actually walking along the road for a good few hundred meters. I didnt realise this until I was in the middle of them and the car had moved ahead leaving me surrounded by enormous swishy bohemoths, swishy and sloshy I should say. Oh dear, picking my way through the spaces, trying not to spook the animals, worried that a gigantic hip would just swing into me and quash me into another one. I came across a car marooned in the middle of the herd on the opposite side of the road, the lady looked in disbelief when I appeared in front of her then laughed uproariously. My smile, understandably, was a little bit strained, I wondered if she would still be laughing if I climbed on her car bonnet, with my bike, to get out of the way. Finally I got through, in one piece, with only minor splashes of green on the bike as evidence of having taken on the herd and won. Next time I run across a "stock crossing" sign I will most certainly head back the other way!
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