Wednesday's Long Rides 30/08/2023

On the last Wednesday of the month, the Easy Riders have extended rides – this month the long ride’s 40 miler went north to Cavendish (and did over 50 miles!); the medium ride’s 30 miler went south to Hylands Park (33/38 miles!) and the short ride did 21 miles to the Blue Egg, near Great Bardfield.

The medium ride split as usual, with 6 riders with Ann and 4 riders with me. My group was particularly easy to manage, as they were all wearing hi-vi, so easily seen when looking back. Soon after leaving Rayne our road was obstructed by an enormous removal van negotiating a tight turning out of a farm. I was impressed by the driver’s manoeuvring ability between gateposts, an overhanging tree trunk and a soft verge by a roadside pond.

We pedalled down quiet lanes running more or less parallel to the west side of the A131 until we reached Melbourne, then picked up a cycle path into Hylands Park, where we fell on refreshments. Ann’s group caught us up and pedalled across to the main café in the park.

Health & safety tip for the day is more a question than a tip. Last week a rider said they been advised by their physio that cycling alone was not enough – they needed to swim or walk regularly as well. But the rider is a poor swimmer and finds walking to be boring. Additionally, during lockdown, I was horrified when I worked out that I spent about 22 hours a day either lying down or sitting! Far, far too much! This galvanised me into going out on my bike … a lot! I regularly borrow Andy’s dog, Dillon, and this means I usually get my 9,000 steps a day. Dillon’s quite often unimpressed but is seriously motivated by Schmackos (dog treats)! I also find the Garmin tech quite useful as a motivator. So, my question to BERs is: what activities do you do, that gives you time on your feet, and how do you keep motivated?

We pedalled back, running more or less parallel to the east side of the A131. As it is the end of summer, I routed us on Leighs Road (which catches winter ice) and Paulk Hall Lane (in winter gets very wet and full of debris), so we could make the most of summer conditions to ride the quieter roads.

34 miles, 10.2mph

Cathy MacTaggart