Hills!

                                                                          Hills!

If you look closely you can still see snow on the tops of the ones in the distance :) The valley far below is where I had just come from.

The reason I had come from there is due to the idiot writing this blog not checking the map before deciding tojust go for a ride...

I had a few hours on the Sunday and decided that although cold 3-4 deg..it was dry and therefore it qualified as cycling weather, so a ride out is in order. Now, having completed 60 miles the previous week I decided that a shorter ride was in order but that since the 60 was fairly flat that this one should at least start to involve some hills. Where can I find some hills to start practicing on? Oh I know there are plenty up around Buxton, lets head off up that way, if they are too steep I can always just come back :) So without so much as a glance at a map, off I trundled into the chill.

Marple to New Mills, all good. Slight hills coming into New Mills that once outdid me were put to the sword that is my middle chainring. Ha! Onto the A6 and off towards Buxton.....oh look Whaley Bridge, lets take that turn.....Whaley Bridge, all fine, feeling good........hmmmm signpost for Macclesfield.....oh that's a nice run home from there that will make a nice loop.......and off I went up the Macclesfield road........except........it goes through the Peak District Park, up past Pott Shrigley and takes in 2 cat 5 climbs! oops!

So here are some very fit looking young men in team colours taking in some winter hill training and me, 47 year old idiot who didn't look at the map before she left home! "Bit lumpy up here chaps!" lol
I hit 38.5mph coming down the other side and damn near froze to death! All the effort of getting up there had got me a bit warm and coming down was Baltic! Be a nice run in the summer but it was still snowing up at the top.

So that, dear reader, was my "introduction" to hills. Bit of a cock up on the planning front and by the time I had got into it there was no real point in going back. But you know what?

I did it :)