Summer Solstice 2011 was a superb day. Ingredients included sun, blue sky, heat and after-work road racing in the New Forest National Park. Beautiful, hard, pure racing with a breakaway that stayed away resulting in a handful of much needed points for me.
But no less enjoyable was the journey home. Using a deserted A36 I crossed the sweeping vastness of Salisbury Plain as the daylight dwindled and expired.
The physical embodiment of the word ‘rough’ lies between Batheaston and Corsham. Hell on earth/tarmac/concrete/gravel/raised metalwork.
23rd December 2011: Started training ride by cycling from Bath on A368 towards Blagdon. Torrential mid-winter rain breaches gloves… initiates localised hypothermia…. rushed retreat… anger… sulking… despair.
28th December 2011: A368 successfully revisited, forming part of a loop around the Mendip hills. Sunshine and double digit temperatures help seal psychological wounds created 5 days prior.
