saturday 8th february - sou' wester.... again; but this time with copious water

i've been watching the forecast all week, but no matter how many times i look the predictions have been marti pellow.

but let's not get too downbeat, the satellites and scientists have been wrong before.

we'll just head off south with an open mind and a closed jacket.

distance/destination/physical state/mental demeanor to be confirmed tomorrow but we'll stay close to home. maybe sweets as that should at least provide a fairly neutral wind direction both ways (beans permitting.)

Let's face it, we're going to get wet tomorrow.

Hey Ivan what's happened to your avatar?

I was just getting used to it.   

A good turnout for an extremely windy day. Sweats was choosen as the destination in case of the forecast heavy rain. We took an unconventional route via Banwell, Loxton, Mark, Cossington and Shapwick. As we headed south towards Mark we faced a ferious head wind which caused the first of many splits in the group. Mars group had a puncture after which they headed straight to the cafe. Paul's group carried on at their usual fast pace while the rest of us waited a while at Mark and then continued on. Somewhere near Shapwick we lost Malcom how had a puncture.
At the cafe we had earned our snacks but Nick took it to the next level by ordering a full english breakfast with toast followed by an olympic sized flapjack. The ride back was alot easier with mostly a tail wind. Neil got a puncture in one of those puncture proof Gatorskins at Cheddar.
I'm sure I have forgotten to mention loads of things.
Only 48 miles covered but it felt more like 80!

TTC - 7 although not TTC's available still a solid performance.
OJC - 2?
KF - 8.8 very windy
Stats - http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2222106

A ride to remember, Marcella Paul  Wayne and myself got split from the group after mars puncher,
we headed across the open moor towards shapwick, cross winds were so strong mars stopped in middle of road as the winds were pushing her  towards the rhine , Paul also came close to a open water experience, a better ride back home as we used the tail wind to our advantage following Wayne doing speeds of 28mph at times,

You forgot loads of things Martin. Like Neil's puncture, Marcella's puncture, Chris's puncture, Malcolm's puncture, Malcolm's puncture again and then Neil's puncture - again. I really must stop throwing tacks around the road. I think the next installment of Bike Maintenance for Beginners will be on how to fix a puncture. You never know, it might come in useful one day.