Todays ride started out OK. Yesterday I corrected a couple of problems on the bike so I was all ready to roll for a decent milage road ride. 5 miles to the first hill and the bike was not completely comfortable. I had gone back to the original stem from when I got the bike- from the one I had changed it to that was 30mm longer. The other thing that was a problem was the wind- a 20mph Westerly had been forecast but this felt a bit stronger. Got to the first hill and it is a bit steep, an average for the mile of it of 18% but right at the start is a short section of 25%. No problem at the start and the heart rate was not high-only about 135 halfway up the hill. Then I lost the shelter of the top of the hill and had the headwind. Be quite honest and when i got to the last 100yds or so and it flipped up- I was prepared to get off and walk but HR only showed 150 so what the hell- I can always cut the ride short later on. Crested the hill and what a sight- First view of the sea and if that was only a 20mph, then I was a Dutchman. secondly- just having a rest in the car park were a couple of riders I knew. Stopped to chat with them and HR was right up at 165- my theoretical limit. They were going to do the same ride as me but decided to do it in reverse due to the wind strength. Couple of minutes and HR had dropped to 100 so off I went again. Big downhill but to keep speed up I had to pedal. 2nd hill and this one is steep at the start so sit in and grind. Levelled of a lot and pushed on. still rising but with the wind behind me- I was doing 12mph and enjoying it. Didn,t last long enough and another downhill which led to a LOOOOOOng drag. Annoying thing about this one is that it is straight. You can see where you have to get to from about 2 miles away, or so it seems. Forgot about the Hairpins though and they are there to get over a couple of nasty lumps somewhere near the top.

It was here that I started to get the real reason for my ride today. It is the weekend of the Air show and a few planes were just out at sea below the level of the cliffs staying out of the way of a Typhoon that was making a lot of noise in the display area. Dropped down onto the seafront and realised how many people are interested in Free entertainment. Seafront was packed so I parked the bike up to see a couple of the stands. Apparantly half the display was not going to be on due to the high wind strength. Tell me about it. Constant 25mph gusting to 35 does not make for a safe airdisplay close into land and it did not make for comfortable riding either.

Got to my usual Cafe and a disaster. It was packed out and I had to have a breakfast instead of pie. That was really gutting as they do not make a good breakfast. As I sat down I began to realise that The stem change had not done me any favours. Butt had a bit of pain- Hands were a bit numb and I had shoulder and neck ache. Just by changing a stem. Yet another lesson learnt so I decided to cut the ride short and get on the way home.

Glad I did because just as I got to within 5 miles of home- The other side of the weather forecast got proved wrong- They already had the wind strength wrong and the Heavens opened up and I got soaked.

Only a 40 miler instead of the planned 50 that may have got extended into a metric if the Body had been better- but a couple of highlights. Meeting my mates that had taken the easy route made me realise I was not a wimp- yet. The heart rate is running lower on this road bike but I can still get it to the upper reaches, and the realisation that the road bike can be set up properly- providing I don't decide to change things. Then the total amount of climbing today-1950 ft is the most I have climbed on the road bike and I still have not run out of gears.

As my mate I met at the top of the hill put it- "At our age and on these hills, I don't mind taking a granny along for the Ride" (Reference the triple V double Discussion going on)