I went out on my bike with my Dad for a short trip yesterday morning. We debated whether or not to go, and in the end decided we might as well as, despite the weather being inclement, neither of us would melt in the rain and we really wanted some fresh air and exercise. The rain didn’t bother me. The wind did. I really really don’t like cycling in windy weather. As my dad put it yesterday, with a hill you know what you’re up against and can plan accordingly. When it’s a windy day, you don’t know when you’re going to be buffetted, and you’re not even guaranteed to build up momentum going downhill, let alone on the flat.
However, we saw some nice things on the coast road; the usual array of animals, but as a special treat we were lucky to see an extremely newborn foal, just about tottering on his legs around his mother, while the mother unconcernedly munched on some grass. I obviously made too much of a fuss about childbirth!
I also fitted my cycle computer yesterday, and as a result spent far too much time watching the numbers scan between all the different readings and not enough time studying the road – I’m lucky I didn’t end up in one of the reens!
Somewhere I plan to take my bike soon is the Cardiff Bay Barrage. As of last Friday morning, the public is now allowed to walk and cycle along it, and I’m fairly sure (from reading the website) that I should be able to get to Penarth across it. I’ll let you know! Anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to do that ride towards the end of the week. Something else I plan to do soon is to go further afield from Cardiff by taking my bike on the train and then cycling back. I think I should easily be able to cover 15 miles, and so I’ll have to get a large wall map of the area and see how far away I can get! Also, I’m looking forward to going to Bristol or Bath on the train, cycling to whichever one I didn’t travel by train to, and then getting the train back. Eventually I’d like to travel to somewhere just over the other side of the first Severn Bridge and then cycle back, because I’ve been really taken by the idea of cycling over the bridge since I found out that it was possible! I’d love to hear from anyone who has cycled over the Severn Bridge before, and also anyone with any route recommendations in South Wales and the bit of England that South Wales is stuck to!
Filed under: General Comment, Motherhood and family life, exercise, fun doodlies, ponderings | Tagged: cardiff, cycling, dad, fitness, foal, south wales, wales, weather
I know what you’re saying about riding a bike when it’s windy, can get a bit scary sometimes, although there is nothing better on a hot day then have the wind hit you as you ride down a hill!
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Things to do in Cardiff – a cool breeze is a boon on a hot day, it’s the gusts of wind that stop you from going forwards at all that I hate! And Kazi, unfortunately I live in Britain, so I’ll come and look for hints on your site, but specifics of rides might be a little beyond my pedal power! Thanks for visiting though!
lol @ Jennie,
yes that can be a problem!