SUMMER MIGHT HAVE ARRIVED......

TAKE NOTE- CLEAR BLUE SKY

 Following Bradley Wiggins winning the TDF the sun has finally appeared in the sky, not that I would dare to suggest that the two things are related. Without wishing to tempt fate  I'll take a guess that our summer has actually arrived.....


Unfortunately this sudden burst of gorgeous weather has coincided with the first week of the school holidays....
For us 'locals' living in a seaside resort surrounded by magnificent scenery this means that we are invaded by hoards of holidaymakers all wishing to enjoy the wonderful beach, the scenery and the long waited for good weather....


Yesterday JD had a 'day release' from his employer so he was able to join me on my daily ride. Unfortunately due to JD being on a late shift the night before, it meant that we could not make an early start so we arranged to meet at the ferry at 10.15hrs. 
Leaving home later than usual meant that we encountered the full impact of all these visitors to the area in the form of totally crammed roads. 


The road that winds it's way around the bay on route to the Studland ferry was crammed with cars nose to tail...
Luckily the local council has put in a marked cycle lane but with so many cars about you have to have your wits about you as you ride in these lanes.....cars are liable to just suddenly attempt to turn around to get out of the jam using the cycle lane to help them swing around in the road... or the passenger decides that they want to stretch their legs and just throws open the car door....unfortunately they don't seem to check first to see if a cyclist is in the cycle lane.....


Normally during the Spring..Autumn and Winter I will cycle along these lanes at between 22-29 mph (wind permitting) but at this time of year it would be suicide to attempt it, so my speed is restricted by this mass of traffic to 12-16mph. 


It seems amazing that these people are prepared to sit in their little metal boxes for an hour or more in order to board the ferry to take a 'quick ' route to the Purbecks side....the reality is that it would be just as quick if not quicker to drive the 20 odd miles around, but hey...it's the summer, so what do you do?....you sit in your car in a traffic jam in the boiling heat.....with screaming kids....it's the British way....unless you are a cyclist of course. 


My speed may have been restricted a bit in the name of safety but lets face it 12-16mph is a lot faster than virtually nil mph, so in no time at all I had passed all the traffic and met up with JD at the ferry. 
Once we were out in the countryside and away from the tourist hotspots it was country cycling bliss. 


We had a chat with a walker at the top of a nice 18% hill where our route crossed his and then we pushed on to the Moreton Tea Rooms for two cups of coffee and a huge chunk of Dorset apple cake each.....Following our tea room stop we  returned to the ferry by another route and yes...the traffic was even worse in this direction......
But...there is nothing better than overtaking a mile long traffic jam on your bike....I wonder if they will get the message.....I wonder if the penny will drop..... 
That is............. It's a lot better by bike!!