CyclingForHarry v's Wind

Before my alarm went off this morning I was woken by the wind chime that my wife Emma forced me to put up in the back garden during the summer. This made me wonder what the cycle was going to be like after reading one of our followers blogs on riding in the wind.

With that I drag myself out of bed to get ready for the task ahead. I've still not got used to the fact I'm preparing breakfast in Lycra. Lol
@benno112 as usual was the first to get to my house, closely followed by @larks99 & @will_coyne.

@benno112 is going on about how clean his bike is as @larks99 is pumping up his back tyre.
@brunone1 turns up (yet again in his shorts) eager to get cracking.
We are waiting to see if @Melcastle69 makes an appearance.
Knowing that @Melcastle69, @heals4089 & @icemanblueboy had churned out a 23 mile route yesterday in tough winds. @melcastle69 said she might not get up in time. So with that we head off. We later found out she was in bed for 13 hours getting her Earl grey delivered to her. Haha

@melcastle69,@heals4089 & @icemanblueboy wasn't the only ones to get out yesterday. @gibbo85 also got out and did 20 mile followed by a phone call to myself to warn me of the ferocious winds ahead. Myself with first timers Neil(the only rider without a twitter) @louiemoseley & @turner_ricky went out to do a 10 miler. After 3 mile @louiemoseley got a puncture. A staple had gone through his tyre and got stuck. We couldn't get it out. With that he phones his dad to pick him up. Georgie couldn't pick him up due to trying to break the world record for drinking the most BLACK RUSSIANS in one night. Lol.
The rest of us ended up clocking 13.4 mile. Great effort from Neil and @turner_ricky for there first outing. Hats off!!! Just gutted for Louie :-(

Now where was I..... Oh yes. Off we go to meet the regular twitter followers @allenjamesuk and @primal2001. The wind was evident from the start.
We get to the Olton Tavern and meet the lads. A quick chat about the forthcoming route ended up with the conclusion- "no way are we doing that same route as last week with those hills"

We head off at great pace. Smashing the first 10 mile in under 50 minutes with no issues. But then Allen starts to have trouble with the new slimline seat which he fitted on his bike last week. He's struggling at the back for a few miles so we stop to see if he was ok. Only to find out his "family allowance" is getting crushed. Haha. What a thought!!
Last week On asking why he chose such a slim seat he replied " I simply like it right up there". Lol. He's regretting that now. Haha

That's enough about Allen's nether regions.
The wind starts to cause us a world of trouble. It doesn't matter what direction we go. The wind is working against us so much we are having to lower our gears to battle against it. This was hard on the legs. Even more on the will power. One look at our Harry bracelets (#essintialpeiceofkit) we battle on.
Then the wind upped its game. Battering us from the side, over the low hedges and through the gates to the fields, nearly taking us off the bikes at times. Not only that, it was slowing us down into the hills, so we had no momentum going into the inclines. One of our twitter followers @t_bone86 said "he'd rather cycle in the rain". I know what he means now. Lol.

We hit a long stretch of flat road thinking that it would be nice,smooth and easy. Then along comes MR WIND again. Full force, in our faces. Any other day this route would be ideal. Only a few steady hills, lovely views and some beautiful houses etc, but this wind is killing us. We are 23 miles in now (Wood End) and we are all hitting "the wall". @larks99 and @will_coyne are feeling it, but pushing on. All I can hear is @brunone1 swearing at the wind. Lol. He loves a whinge.

We stop for a quick rest. All still in a positive mood we discuss how hard this event is going to be. Even though we are training for it and putting the miles in.
This event is making me hate the good old British weather even more. Lol.

We get towards Tidbury Green. We know we are getting closer to home. Even though it's still over 10 miles away. We stop and wait at the Drawbridge pub for @larks99 & @will_coyne to catch up. Thank god no one brought any money out with them or we would have been in that pub for sure. A quick chocolate bar and off we go again. The wind still attacking us from all angles. GIVE US A BREAK!!!!

The route home from there was straight forward. Through Olton, then the Wheatsheaf and back to sunny Sheldon.

I followed @larks99 & @will_coyne home to make sure they didn't got to McDonalds for a Big Mac and headed back home.

I was welcomed with a cheese & ham sandwich with a chocolate milkshake on the side. My wife Emma is ace.

Computer on, I logged into @Endomondo only to find @bblackwell77 was this weeks early bird and knocked out a windy 30 mile himself. TOP BOMBING FELLA

After my beloved wife Emma had fed and watered me, I was then told we had to go shopping.(well played Em. Lol)
On route to the car we bumped into my next door neighbour Neil (the only rider without a twitter) HINT HINT!! he'd only gone out again on top of yesterday and polished off another 11.26 mile. MINT!!

A SUPERB EFFORT BY ALL

So the final score was:-

CYCLINGFORHARRY 10 v WIND 0