“Mind the puddle, matey”

In England we’ve had quite a bit of rain lately, although locally we have been spared from too much of the misery some have had to deal with.  Unexpectedly I had my fair share on my bicycle ride yesterday.

“Mind the puddle, matey” said a roadie as I was heading out of Hexton northwards towards Higham Gobian, Hertfordshire.

“Okay, thanks” I said as we passed each other.

I had no idea really what he was talking about as I have only once been this way before and had not experience any problems them.  Some time afterwards I came across this scene in the above photo.  I could see about 100 metres ahead and it looked as if the road was fairly straight and flat, so what’s the problem?  I couldn’t quite see what was around the corner but it would probably be okay.

I pressed on through the flood and soon I was pleased I had my overshoes on (Endura neoprene and I’ll blog about these another time) as there was a lot of water splashing up.  This then turned into dipping my feet into the water with each downward pedal stroke as the water got deeper and deeper.  I was having to push harder and harder on the pedals to avoid stopping and falling over.  I was laughing my socks off, it was crazy and so much fun.  Then near disaster – I must have been at the edge of the road as my front wheel started to get a bit bumpy.  Luckily I didn’t fall off; that wouldn’t have been so funny, me thinks.

Eventually I got around the corner and very soon I was back on dry land.  It had been hilarious!

The next highlight was passing through the edge of Hitchin and heading up the hill running from Charlton to Preston.  This is a category 4 hill and seems to go on for quite some time.  I really enjoyed this hill, I’ve done it already a few times before. Once I got to the top it started to level out and once again there was a large “puddle” which stretched almost as far as the first one, near Hexton. Once I got through it there was a group of cyclists coming towards me, I couldn’t hold back from saying “mind the puddle” but they just carried on….

All this was a really great ride, I completed about 25 miles in good time.  I felt fantastic afterwards, thinking if this was the “cyclist’s high” in terms of “feel good” endorphins buzzing around.  I think it must have been!

PS What made this cycle ride even more enjoyable was seeing my friend Jon at the early stage near Cockernhoe.  He ran and I cycled alongside for a while.  Well done Jon, look forward to running alongside you next Saturday!