7 months from today…..

So, seven months from today, I expect to be on the beautiful island of Corsica, breathing in the warm summer breeze and scent of wild flowers and herbs, in the company of my fellow Tour de Force’rs, nervously anticipating starting on stage 1 of the Tour de France 2013 in the morning.  Crikey.

Phil Deekers tells us that, “Stage One will give us a chance to acclimatize as we make our way up the east coast. This is Corsica’s only flat (ish) region (two thirds of the island is mountainous!) and the 212kms will, after a surprisingly lumpy start, often treat us to stunning views of almost endless white beaches. Could be difficult staying sweaty on a bike without a dip somewhere along the way!”

Well I don’t know about you but at the moment anything other than torrential downpour flood conditions sounds mighty appealing.  I wimped out this morning, took the train most of the way to work, still had 3 miles to cycle at the start and one mile at the end, more than far enough to arrive at work more wet than I can recall being in a very very long time (even wetter than the day before).  

The ride home on the converted railway Bristol to Bath cycle path, then train to Trowbridge, was also, shall I say, “interesting”.  At the end of the gentle three mile incline up and out of Bristol heading North East, one arrives at a major tunnel, before swinging SE and down towards Keynsham.  Surprising, therefore, to find half the tunnel and the approach to it, about 150 metres in all, under between 8 and 12 inches of floodwater.  Just deep enough to cover the pedals and shoes, so despite neoprene shoe covers, wet feet for the remaining 13 miles…. Along the way and despite the darkness, it was clear the river had burst its banks.  Most of the fields and water meadows alongside the path were flooded far and wide.  And most of the cycle path had a residue of uncleared water lying on it in sections up to 30 metres long and 2-3 inches deep.  After the torrents that leaked from the sky in the morning, it was hardly surprising …. Having cycled in the morning on roads that could as easily have been canals, it was no wonder that come the evening, the fields and cycle path would be in similar condition.

So for the third day in a row, all my kit has been soaked twice within 24 hours, both on the way in and the way home from work; either by rain or spray or both.  If only my kit would dry before the return trip home!  Nothing much is worse than pulling on wet cycling gear before heading out into the dark and cold.  Still, it has at least reminded me of the need to swap my crud-catcher mudguards from a currently unused road bike in the garage, to my current commuter of choice – a Giant SCR 3.0 complete with majorly dented downtube and un-aesthetically pleasing stripped paint section (all in the name of checking aforementioned downtube for cracks).

As for training – well, going pretty well, actually.  A full update to follow (training done, and training planned).  Along with some comments on interesting wildlife seen en route to and from work; a brief expose of the Bristol-Bath cycle path itself; some thoughts on “lighting etiquette” and why some people just don’t get it; oh and a look at a few more of the stages we will be riding in June and July.  Can’t wait!