Today was going to be a nice flat steady 70 fixed miles towards York and back. Route planned. Bike ready. Rarin’ as they say.
Get up at 8:30 to see if Leeds had been blown away or not. Even before I looked out of the window the whistling & howling was enough for me to realise it simply wasn’t worth it…
I’d thought pretty tirelessly about ways in which to make my festive 500 stand out from others… different ways to document it etc etc some good but already done and some impractical etc. I thought about riding places, getting people to stand with my bike and photo them etc. I thought about using a disposable camera to document it etc but all those ideas and more were impractical or wanky.
I soon came to realise that in all honesty I wasn’t really that fussed about being recognised. I guess it was only after day 2 when I was out with 8-10 others from Alba Rosa that I realised it”s more about getting out there, making the time and putting in the miles. Not so easy at this time of the year but something everyone doing the festive 500 can relate too. I’d been watching the clock all day, glued in front of the TV playing GTA5.
I was itching to get out from about 12 onwards. It felt more like guilt as the day went out, some people had made an attempt and got some miles in, painful though they must have been. Personally I figured it wasn’t worth it – A head wind is bad enough but a gail force head wind just didn’t bode well in my mind. Darkness fell, 4 cups of coffee later and nothing but cheese and crackers all day… I was loosing it. With no food in the flat it only mean’t one thing. Venturing out for some wind surfing. Yes. 7 o’clock and the winds were still rough I decided to go for a city spin and clock some easy beater miles in. I figured with maybe a lap or two of the Armoury Loop along with 6/7 shop stops for essentials I’d maybe make 10 miles up?! Perfect! Who can say they’ve done a part of the Festive 500 on a Pursuit Track bike from the 90’s that doesn’t fit the rider and has no brakes? Yup. I can. What with the wind up it seemed like the only choice. The bike in full title is a KHS Aero Track (1999) (55 Medium) with wide risers for extra aero ness. I need to cut through the wind and this was exactly how.
