Another Sunday, another Sky Ride: Itchen to get to the Park. This time, it was just me and Rachel. We braved the terrible weather and wound up doing half of the trip, opting to cycle back from the highlight, Itchen Valley Country Park, to our homes, instead of all the way back to the starting point. Personally, I would have preferred to continue, but it was pouring it down and Rachel didn’t have a jacket! That’s one downside to a mountain bike with no basket or panniers…
Here she is, during a dry spell! Everyone got the Sky Ride bibs again, which helped keep a bit of the rain off…
Anyway, getting a bit ahead of myself here – this was our route! We were five minutes late to the start yet again, this time because we just couldn’t find the area we were supposed to meet at. We cycled around the park and stumbled across by accident in the end – although some others arrived much later than we did!
As usual, there wasn’t any time to take photos during the ride itself, but I managed to take a few at Itchen Valley Country Park. Here, you can see how much it was raining on the day!
Brr!
We stopped at the cafe and filled up the bike racks…
Rachel and I somehow missed the fact that there was an offroad cycle at the park itself, because we were busy getting ourselves coffee at the time… Still, it gave me a chance to show off my new helmet! More on that in another post…
Neither of us had our locks with us, so we brought our bikes around the back of the cafe and left them in plain sight by the door…
Here’s our friendly cycle group, still sheltering from the rain at the front of the barn!
As usual, the leaders were very friendly and helpful, and made sure everyone was safe and working to a pace they were comfortable with.
As we missed the off-road ride, when the group cycled off, we spent some more time at Itchen Valley exploring. Unfortunately, it turns out that the usual cycle track used at the site had been ruined by some vehicles which had left huge ruts down the centre, so we had to make do with cycling in the fields.
It was quite hilly and bumpy, and the wet grass was pretty challenging to cycle on, but I did all right! Unfortunately, cyclists aren’t allowed on the nature trails at the park – which is fine by me, as I also love walking too.
However, I did think it a bit strange that cycling was considered to be too stressful for the wildlife in the area, but that it was okay to have a brand new Go Ape adventure park installed in the same place!
That’s fine too – because I also love Go Ape and it’s great that there’s one now so close to where I live. Mind you, it’s still expensive – £30 per person.
What would Go Ape be without the obligatory ape statue to pose around?
To the left of the centre of this picture, you can see the zip line for the finale of the Go Ape experience – puts the one that’s already there to shame…
After checking out the Go Ape course, we decided to head on home, but not before one final photo to show off my new helmet!
In my first wet weather cycle, I learned the following things:
- My trainers do not have a good grip on the pedals when they’re wet.
- It doesn’t take long for your saddle to get soaked.
- My waterproof jacket is not all that waterproof.
- Brakes make scary noises in the rain.
- Wearing a helmet makes you forget how wet you’re getting.
- And most importantly, cycling in the rain is still good fun!
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