Summer Solstice Celebration

Today was the Earlybird's Summer Solstice Celebration Ride, an event now in its third year, and growing in popularity it seems, pulling all of nine enthusiastic souls (two more than last year) from their beds at first light to make the 4.30am start. It seemed like no time at all since I rode back into town last night from Nesfield and here I was heading out again. All the usual suspects were there, with the pace, as per tradition, set by El Cid and Cacophony. I have learnt that there are just three rules for this Celebration Ride:

1. A brisk but not too brisk a pace, so we all ride together and still have time for a coffee afterwards, before we rush off to work.
2. No goats
3. Sacrificial virgins only by prior inspection and approval by the Committee.

The first rule was accomplished with precision, as we completed the 43 mile round-trip to Kettlewell in two and a half hours, to bring us back just five minutes after the opening of the coffee shop. The big mugs of latte were welcome not just for the taste but for the opportunity to warm up the hands. I had two layers of gloves and my hands were frozen. Some of the others wore nothing on their hands at all. It was a beautiful still morning, but decidedly cool. As for the other rules, nobody brought their goats along and sadly no virgins had passed inspection, but there was, instead, a host of wildlife willing to sacrifice themselves to our speedy pelaton. However, despite the best efforts of hundreds of rabbits and pheasants, none of these suicide missions was successful, although some got scarily close!

Conversation was a little more muted than usual, possibly in reverence of this ancient ritual, but more likely due to the fact that most of us were barely awake. Indeed, there was a surreal quality to this ride. The time passed incredibly quickly and on returning to Ilkley it was almost as if it had been a dream. It was actually hard to believe that we'd been all the way to Kettlewell and back. Where did all that time go?

Got a good looking over from a new physio today, someone coming highly recommended. I thought it might be helpful to get a fresh perspective on this long-standing problem of mine. And it was basically good news. No structural imbalances to be concerned about. Nothing chronic as a cause. And the tightness didn't seem to be any worse in my bad leg than in my good leg. Looks like a bog-standard pull. Just one of those things. And I should make a fairly speedy recovery. The lesson I've learnt is that I should not race on tired legs, so, in future, I'm going to be determined not to get sucked into racing within three or four days of another event, no matter how favourite a race it is, and no matter how much I promise to myself that I will just take an easy run around the course. If I observe that, then I think there is a good chance that I could make it through a year without injury, which is something I've not achieved in a very long while.