Don't look back you can never look back

I didn't ride to work today, so when Mrs Mendip Rouleur said she needed to go into Weston to pick up some train tickets, I volunteered to go for her, it would give me a chance to do a quick loop and stretch my legs. Also work out the frustrations I have been feeling this week (steady) about a number of work issues, and the sad capitulation I had just witnessed on the TV. 2-0 up at half time? I ask you, Year 5 could have put up more of a fight, it's only Wayne Rooney.

I'm going to make another confession. I wore, (imagine conspiratorial whisper) a "hi-viz" gilet. Yellow. Two reasons, the sartorial obviously, it matched the yellow top (almost) but also I know what Weston is like at the best of times, and Saturday afternoon is not the best of times. I wanted to give myself a fighting (though maybe that is an inappropriate word on reflection) chance of survival. Clearly it worked but there were a few dodgy moments with Subarus, souped-up Saxos, that sort of thing. As well as the the usual roll of SMIDSY incidents.

The trip also enabled me to swing by the Toyota garage and have a look at possible new cars, for my beloved, very un-green and great-in-the-snow Rav-4 needs work doing to it that will cost more than its value. Gulp. As Mrs Mendip Rouleur says, no-one has died (I probably won't reflect that one back to her next time she has a lack of perspective, I may be clever but I'm not too clever for my own good), so it's just a case of getting it sorted really. Clearly the car will need to be big enough to fit at least one bike inside, and preferably two. Priorities after all.

It was pretty windy, and chilly on the way there, glad I had the gilet really. But it won't be long until the local idiots are joined by the boys of summer, and Weston will be very unsafe territory for cyclists. I was going to keep it flat but decided to give Canada Coombe a go, as well as a new GPS recording site, which has a natty feature of telling you the gradient at a given point on the route, you have to roll the mouse over the elevation profile. The maximum today was about 18% if you can't be bothered to do that.

I also feel a bit sluggish and under the weather. I thought it might be because of not riding for a while, but as I feel exhausted after only 25 miles, I think I may have a bug. Great time to ride 60 miles to Bruton and back tomorrow then.

Charlie's route below:

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/205697