Sunday 3 June 2012

WOTR Day 2

Malham to York

Start 0843
Time spent riding 5h23
Mileage 65.47m
Climbing 3776ft
Average speed 12.2mph
Max speed 38.9mph
Temp 41.6F

Wet, wet, wet. What a truly awful day. We were all in good spirits when we awoke - encouraged by words of 'rain before 7 gone by 11'...and all that. But actually it was 'rain before 7, keep raining for 24 hours non stop, throw in some hail, some excessive driving winds' That was about the top and bottom of it.

We had our very impressive youth hostel buffet breakfast and set off ahead of schedule at 845.

Hills were the order of the morning but they weren't as severe as yesterday. They were hard in the awful weather conditions though.

I need to put my kit packing into some sort of context now - it;s June. We had just enjoyed 2 weeks of very, very hot and dry weather at the end of May. After work one evening I got into the car and it was 33 degrees C - check the temperature above for today - in F!! The forecast for the weekend for our route was fundamentally dry. We looked to be north of the weather front for today's ride - and north of the weather front was dry.

So I had on, vest, short sleeved cycling top, arm warmers, waterproof coat, buff, long sleeved gloves (not waterproof), cycling shorts, thermal longs, seal skin socks, my beautiful new shoes and winter neoprene overshoes. So not bad preparation I thought.

I spent the day cold and wet. On arrival at the height of today's ride I could not feel my feet and hands. After 10 mins in the cafe at Stump Cross caverns I could take off my wet gloves and see how white my hands were - they didn't look like mine. We took over the end of the cafe by the radiator and draped clothes all over it. I took off my waterproof socks and wringed them out - my feet were white too, completely drained of colour.

2 hot chocolates and a few hugs and some spare clothes from the girls and I was.....well, actually, ready for a support vehicle to come and pick me up. But we didn't have one of those. The only way to my hot shower or bath 40 miles away was to cycle it. We were high on the moors. It was bleak. The rain didn't stop. What was I doing? This was a really very low point on this trip. I felt vulnerable. I was shivering cold.

We set off together to descent Greenhow hill but Sue had mechanical failure with a bearing/freewheel problem so that her ride for now was over. A lovely man Scott (from Burnley, my home town, where else?) helped out and drove Sue to Ripon for a repair. But this was Bank Holiday weekend. There weren't any bike shops open. Sue found 2 cycle holiday support vehicles and asked for assistance - neither was able to help. She then found a motor shop and a kind guy worked to replace her rear wheel with one he just happened to have in the shop!!

The descent was fast in places but was taken with care due to the river descending the hill too combined with shale and grit. I was down first and waited for the others. The hail and rain had been driving into my face and my fingers could barely use the brakes. As the girls got down, one after another, without exception they looked like Aunt Sally off Wurzel Gummidge. They had 2 bright red cheeks each. But you know what, even in these awful conditions, they were all smiling. I managed a smile back too. They are great company.

Heather and I huddled in Greggs to wait for Sue - we had wanted to get to her to see how she was doing and missed the lunch stop north of Ripon. That's where the others waited. It was a long stop on the ride. I wasnt warming up despite soup, coffee and a hot sausage roll.

My feet were so wet and cold that I decided to buy new socks - the only variety sold in one pair was slipper socks - cream coloured mohair no less! I didnt want to carry extra pairs - my day was bad enough without further weight to carry. So slipper socks it was. The ones with the grippy soles. They went into my beautiful carbon soled SIDIs and were promptly covered by sopping wet neoprene boots. YUK

And then we were off again. It was still raining. It was still cold. But down in the valleys was warmer.

We cycled narrow country lanes together. We kept each other going.

But then.....an incident with a car. I am not sure what happened but I do know that  York taxi driver was coming towards Heather, Carol and I up front of the group. And Carol remarked that he wasn't slowing. We were pushed on to the very edge of the road as he went passed us. The group behind us was a little way down the road and whatever happened resulted in Julie being knocked off her bike, landing against the car and then hitting the deck. I turned and saw my friends off their bikes and Julie on the ground. I alerted Heather and Carol and we turned back. Julie was on her feet and said she was feeling OK. She was shocked. Her bike seemed OK. The car was dented. The driver turned a bit nasty before getting in his car and driving off. Between Heather and I we have remembered  his registration number. Julie said she was fine to carry on and her bike seemed OK. So after a bit of a brush down, we set off again.

I took up the rear of the group just behind Julie heading alongside the river into York centre. We were on a gritty, muddy riverside path so when we arrived at the Bar Convent accommodation, we must have looked a real treat. Sodden wet, cold, filthy bikes, filthy clothes - but we were received with grace and warmth and we carried our bikes in through the front door.

After a comedy check in, we were all shown to our rooms and then the frantic rush for warmth from the shower or bath. Sue was the first with the Do Not Disturb card on the bath door and she didn;t react when I was trying to get in - she was at peace! After about an hour and a half I was able to start to feel my fingers again.

It was a very frightening day for me to experience such wet and cold conditions for so long - after all, I am a ginger and my circulation system is not as efficient as some.

Coming into York, Heather tried to talk to me - her chin and lips were greying and her mouth wouldn't move - and she's not ginger!

Dinner was at 8 at a lovely French restaurant which was only a short walk away. Garlic, creamy mushrooms and steak frites for me. Glass red. And a single malt ...

Significant lessons to learn today for the upcoming LEJOG and for cycling generally - typcially not workable but I will have to find a way - I needed today:-

at least one extra layer
a better waterproof coat
waterproof, thermal gloves and probably liners
waterproof over trousers
a thermal hat to wear when we stopped
a down gilet or coat to wear when we stopped

optional extras:-
a hairdryer
a duvet
an electric blanket
a flask

now just need to contemplate whether I would have been able to cope with a trailer on the back of my bike to carry all that gear?!!

And now it's time for bed at 2245. As a punishment for my snoring in Majorca and Heather's snoring in the dorm in Malham last night, we shared a room in the convent. At 303am I put together a little sound recording together of her.....still, I was so appreciative of the warmth and the sanctuary, I turned over and went to sleep.