I wore my cycling shorts, t-shirt and running top for only the third time this year and despite the wind I was almost warm on certain parts of the ride. Overall though it was a pretty enjoyable ride and 27.5 miles to kick April off.
April 9th: The weather was looking fairly dodgy today, overcast and fairly cold, but I decided to do the local 21 anyway. As it turned out, it started raining after a few minutes and rained steadily throughout the entire ride. It was also fairly windy so not the best ride ever although I did see a large Kestrel (thus female?) hunting over one of the fields along the edge of the village which was pretty cool. Anyhow, it was another 22.6 miles in the bag.
April 10th: It was much sunnier today and a bit warmer than yesterday so I did the local 21 again. I initially thought I was going to get a record average speed because the wind seemed to be behind me constantly, I was cruising at 21+ mph for miles. My plan was thwarted however as soon as I hit the East Lancs, the wind was howling at me diagonally and I struggled to maintain 12-14 mph at times. Anyhow, a good workout and 21.7 more miles.
April 13th: Aaaaaand again. It was sunny turning to overcast and not too cold or windy so quite a nice ride overall. I was wearing my first ever set of bib shorts for their inaugural trip. They are Lusso Pro Peleton in medium which I got for half price from Merlin in a sale. They are fantastic quality (especially compared to my medium Alturas which are baggy and misshapen) even though they do make taking a leak something of a challenge... Anyhow, I think they're a bit small so I'll go to Merlin today and get a set in large and sell the mediums on. 21.2 more miles.
April 16th: I had the day off today and started by driving up to Merlin Cycles in Buckshaw Village to pick up a pair of bib shorts in large. With that issue sorted I headed out to do the local 21. The weather was like it has been a lot recently ie absolutely beautiful sunshine but very, very windy which is a pain.
On the plus side though, the new Lusso bib shorts are fantastic. Very, very comfortable and they look good too, properly skintight unlike my baggy Altura shorts. Interestingly, unlike a lot of cycling clothes, the Lusso sizing guides are pretty spot on, I'm 5' 11" with a 32" waist and the large are a very good fit. Anyhow, 21.1 more miles.
April 17th: I was fairly short of time today so I decided to brave the Old Coach Road. Again, it was bright and sunny but fairly breezy so a pleasant enough ride. I was a bit worried that it would be over-run with dog walkers again but I didn't see any at all which was a bonus and it was another 15.5 miles for April.
20th April: I really dropped on for todays ride. One of my colleagues phoned in sick on Monday and there was no one available to cover the late shift. In desperation, my supervisor Cath said "How about you have Wednesday afternoon off if you cover the late shift?" Given that the BBC said Wednesday was going to be 'The nicest day of the year so far' I selflessly agreed to cover it!
It turned out to be a cloudless, hot, sunny spring day so I decided to do the local 21 with the farm track tacked on and then come home via Billinge. It was pretty windy at times but when the wind dropped it was hot. I rode with my running top sleeves rolled up and after 1h 56m in the sun, I'm sure my cyclists tan is starting to make a come back! A fun ride and 31.9 more miles.
23rd April: It was quite a strange ride today, It was a beautiful sunny day with blue skies and white clouds but also extremely windy. Anyhow, I headed out to do the local 21 miler again, I was going to add the farm path on to the ride but the wind put me off. One thing I forgot to mention on my last ride was the baby bunnies. There's an enormous grass verge on Dale Lane behind Kirkby and on the last ride and this one it was covered with baby rabbits, seriously cute! A hard ride but I managed to average 16.0 mph which I was pleased with and it was another 21.4 miles.
30th April: They the weather in April can be very changeable and they're not wrong! Given that we had a few very warm sunny days in the middle of April, the last week has been awful. We've had a week of wind and rain and then I found myself changing a car puncture in the middle of a snow storm in Manchester on Thursday morning! Anyhow, it was sunny but windy today and I managed to get out and do the local 21 for a final 21.5 more miles for April which finishes with 204.4 on the clock.
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