DO YOU FANCY A PIDDLE.......?

JD AT OUR LULWORTH COVE COFFEE STOP

 For over a week we have been enjoying great weather. Temperatures have been around the 25c mark. For this time of year that is about 10c higher than normal. Result.....out on the bike every day. I am even starting to get the 'cyclists tan'.
Anyway, yesterday I had JD out riding with me. Mind you that was after he had phoned me first thing to tell me that he wouldn't be able to meet up after all.
He told me that he had put his bike on the car rack..loaded up with his drinks etc and then couldn't find his house and car keys. Apparently he had been searching for them for almost an hour. I told him that I would set off on my bike to the ferry and would wait for an extra half an hour there. On my ride to the ferry my mobile rings and it's JD again..."I've found them mate..I am on my way..see you there."
Fifteen minutes after getting to the ferry JD turns up on his Secteur Comp and dressed in Revolution colours.

Our plan was a fifty mile loop-Ferry- Corfe - Lulworth Cove - Wool - Corfe and Ferry again. We were going to complete all the usual major hills including Creech Hill and would also be including the route from the top of Creech to East Lulworth.
This route is only rarely open as it crosses Army firing ranges. The great thing about it is that it includes a fast 3 mile descent. At Bank holiday times they open the normally closed road to all traffic. Not that there is much traffic that uses the road...mostly it is tourist traffic that goes to the viewpoint for great views over Worbarrow Bay in one direction and Grange Heath to the North.

We had a great descent which was helped by not meeting any traffic at all.  About half way down  it does have a right hand bend followed by a left and the road narrows at that point as well so you have to have your wits about you. As I said it was a great descent and we were touching 42.2mph at the steepest section.  Not as fast as our top descent speed of 51 mph but still a great buzz..!! About four miles further on from the bottom we arrived at the Lulworth Cove coffee shop. JD turns to me and says "Do you fancy a piddle?"

I LOVE A GOOD PIDDLE

 What he was referring to of course was the Piddle Beer that was on sale....tongue in cheek of course because we don't 'drink and ride'. But for a moment I did wonder what he was on about.
The Piddle brewery is based at Piddlehinton here in Dorset and is listed in the real ale handbook.....but as I've said we didn't indulge in a piddle...!

Lulworth Cove is a popular venue for holidaymakers based as it is on the Jurassic Coast. People come here to gaze at the pretty cove itself and then they walk up and over the hill and along the coast for about a mile to see Durdle Door. This is a natural limestone arch on the coast and it is very picturesque and well worth a visit although the crowds of visitors do rather spoil the experience in my opinion.
Perhaps I will post some pictures of this at some point but JD and I had no intention of walking up and over the hill in cycling shoes on our visit.

Over this coming Easter weekend and the following week the whole of this area will be heaving with 'Grockles' - this is the Southwest dialect term for tourists. The country lanes will be jammed with cars and I for one will be avoiding the tourist traps like the plague.

CAR PARK AND PATH OVER HILL TO DURDLE DOOR

What we did have was two coffees and a piece of raspberry flapjack each. John refilled his water bottle and then we headed out towards Wool.
Unfortunately we had a two mile climb out of Lulworth Cove but the pay off for that was a bit of downhill into Wool.
We had a good run back although JD was dreading the section from Corfe back to Studland and the ferry as the firsr four miles of this is all up hill.
The gradients vary between 5%  to 17%. JD was starting to feel a bit drained by now but in his typical way he just kept on winching himself up and over the hills.
I got back to the ferry first  and about twelve minutes later JD arrived. He was tired but satisfied with his performance as this is the first 'proper' ride he has done with me this year.
By 'proper' I mean dealing with some real gradients....anyone can manage minor hills up to about 7% or 8% but hills 14% to 20% plus with no run at them and one after the other really do sap your energy levels. Still we have to train on them because when we do the UK2ROCK2UK ride in September we can expect some major climbs....after all Spain is the most mountainous country in Europe.

END OF OUR RIDE - BACK ACROSS THE HARBOUR AND GREAT WEATHER

You can see in this last photo how good the weather has been recently...not a cloud in the sky. Apparently it is set to stay like this for the entire Easter holiday.....I am going to enjoy it...I hope you have a good Easter as well.