Weather we do or weather we don't

May 30, 2024

Breakfast was as amusing as all our other experiences at the hotel. We left with hardly a word spoken from any hotel staff - quite an achievement really.

I was apprehensive about today's ride. It was a bit longer, 2,700 feet of climbing and the weather (sorry to harp on about it) looked horrendous. Still, we were determined to not only do this, but do it positively, however challenging....
The sky was grey with clouds being whisked across it by a brisk wind which I actually quite enjoyed as it cleared my head. The only really big blessing today was the wind. In fact the wind has been our friend almost all the way which, when you consider that we are either travelling west or east, is a remarkable blessing!

And so it was that we were whisked to Malton along with the clouds and anything else that wasn't nailed down. Malton was a bit early for a coffee stop at just eight miles but that was the only option for coffee for the first forty miles and standards must be maintained. We managed to squeeze a coffee in (one between the two of us) and pressed on to the big wet wobbly thing lapping the east coast.
There was a very big climb out of Malton after which the road did that thing you always hope it will and it never does. It stayed up high and quite flat with a great tail wind. Apart from parking ourselves in a bus stop in a village for emergency chocolate at one point, we pressed on all the way to Bridlington. However, the rain (there's that word again) which had started quite shortly after setting off grew worse and worse. By the time we reached Bridlington, it was horrendous (as feared). To cap it all, I tried being clever - never a good idea - and made a bee line for the coast, ignoring the advice of my sat nav. This meant that we missed 'the sign post'. The one which says coast to coast and marks the end, in a sort of way, to our ride. By now, the weather was foul but we had to find that post! This meant backtracking into the wind and rain. Eventually, we found the post, collared an unsuspecting pedestrian to take our photo, and then headed straight for the cafe across the street, very cold and very wet. We drank coffee, again. We ate sandwiches. We drank coffee, again again. When we could think of no further reasons to stay in the warm and dry, we pulled on our wet cold coats and gloves and set the course for Driffield, our final destination for a night's stay before the final journey home the day after.

Now we were, of course, travelling contrary to the wind direction. The funny thing, as we both agreed when we eventually arrived here, is that we seem to be fitter than when we started. We thought we were reasonably fit but today's ride would have knocked us for six at the beginning of this trip.
We are sitting in our air bnb which is an entire house (We can even have a bedroom each tonight if we fall out) and we are conscious that we have chosen badly when it comes to wanting to ride in good weather. We have never had it so bad... And yet, we are glad that we did this. Should we be worried?

Tomorrow is our final day (and final blog) I gather we will arrive home in glorious sunshine....
Oh, you know my sat nav broke? Well Kate googled it (she googles everything) and suggested I try getting it to work. I dismissed the idea, saying that it was hopeless. She told me to press the 'on' button for 15 seconds. I rolled my eyes and humoured her. My sat nav is working nicely.