Wednesday road ride - gale force winds!

So, Wednesday came and the wind blew.....and boy, did it blow! Trees down, branches everywhere, even the sign from the Cavendish Hotel in Baslow was blown down.

7 riders planned to ride, steadily they dropped out, citing all sorts of excuses (sorry, good reasons...), leaving just Graham and I, the hardcore Peak Cycling team.

Most of the Wednesday route is sheltered, heading up the beautiful Derwent Valley, however crossing Ladybower on the road bridge, open to the full force of the wind was challenging - we were putting down some watts and barely moving forwards. Still, we turned the corner, the wind dropped, apart from occasional gusts, and we made good progress up the valley.

What a day - sunny, not too cold, and when we were out of the wind, quite pleasant. The wind was whipping up the water and creating waves and spray; I half expected to see a kite surfer.

Turning around, the hard bit was riding down the lanes back to Hope, with gateway gusts nearly beating me (slightly deeper rims than Graham).

Ending up at the Courtyard cafe, we had a great ride, which will feature in our Road Tour programme later in the year, with a variation on a Gravel Tour route also. We hope you will take a look at our tour dates and book a ride with Peak Cycling.