Lunch at mum and dads was awesome, home cooked mac n cheese was the perfect carbs for the return journey (and by perfect I mean delicious, I'm still not an expert nutritionist!) As we talked over lunch the heavy shower that had started just as I stepped inside the back door of my parents house was continuing, so heavy and dark had it become that we needed lights on in the house to see lunch!
Whilst I did need to get home for dinner and to see Jan, there still didn't feel like any need to rush off into this heavy rain, but with the clock ticking on and lunch finished I was contemplating setting off again as the rain started to ease ever so slightly.
Bike reloaded once again (thanks mum for the additional snacks) I said my goodbyes and headed off on the return leg of this particular adventure. I had been fooled by the slightly lighter skies because the rain continued to be heavy as I started the ten mile trip back to Hardy's Monument, but far worse was to be found as I left the village because the sheer volume of rain that had fallen over the previous hour or so was washing off the fields meaning the road was flooded. My cycling rain jacket was keeping my top half dry, but the depth of the flooding mixed with the rain meant that within seconds my feet were soaked.
As I tried to find the shallower parts of the flooded roads my lower pedal position (and foot) was almost always in the flood water. At times my top pedal position (and foot!) was also in the flood water and whilst I wasn't cycling very quickly I was worried about falling off Red the bike / finding hidden pot holes / getting washed away..... which soon became even worse as I realised I was cycling into a thunder storm!!!
At this point of my cycle home; soaked feet and legs, a slight concern about what was in the flood water and now thunder and lightening in the valley I had no option but to simply laugh. What else could I do ? The rain had to ease at some point and I had over 50 miles of cycling to complete my self created challenge.
As I cycled out of the valley up the hills towards Hardy's Monument I encountered a little less flood water, apart from the occasional mini river flowing across the road, the rain started to ease and the thunder did too. Out of my saddle putting maximum effort into the climb to the monument I realised that my laughter was genuine, not me having some form of breakdown, I was truly loving this experience even if challenged by both the weather and the steep climb!
Once at the top I knew I had no such difficult climbing to do (lots of hills, but none as big) and with spirits high I headed eastwards with a tail wind heading home. Sat Nav to reassure my decision making I soon found I was eating into the miles, my rain coat not needed after another hour of cycling and fuelled by the aforementioned mac'n'cheese I was feeling really good physically.
Traffic was starting to increase as I was getting closer to home, still a small number of vehicles but I did encounter an incident with a white van which neither the van or I could have seen coming. As I pedalled around the edge of the firing range at Lulworth, demarked by red flags from time to time I cycled over a hump back bridge (possibly over the railway line for Swanage railway ?) On the way down from the bridge I looked down and by pure fluke spotted that both my phone and Buble the battery charger had worked their way loose from my handlebar bag. With ninja like reflexes I caught my phone, but Buble was far less fortunate hitting the road, bouncing a couple of times before being run over by the van which was behind me.
I stopped once the van had passed by to head back to save Buble..... but the various impacts meant that Buble was a little thinner and less in one piece than previously. I placed what was left into my handlebar bag to take Buble home, but my initial assessment was that I had lost a trusted cycling companion which had helped me cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats plus many shorter adventures over the previous couple of years.
Luckily my phone was charged enough and the route home known to me well enough for the loss of Buble to not have a significant impact on the rest of the days adventure and I soon found myself within sight of Corfe Castle again knowing that only a few hills lay between me and the last 15 miles of relatively flat cycling on the way home.
Even a few months later its hard to say if the tail wind pushing me home, my level of fitness or the mac'n'cheese played the most significant part of me making it back home. Whatever it was I felt like I could simply keep going, maybe for another 30 or 40 miles (that's how good I was feeling!!!) but I got back to see Jan having completed a grand total of 115.8 miles. Mission complete, my longest ride so far....and courtesy of the self inflicted detour easily more than the 100 mile target / 108 miles it should have taken to get there and back again......
Even more surprisingly I felt awesome the next day, apart from feeling a little tired from the effort my legs felt fine.... probably could have done another big cycle the next day, but as it was I took the time over the next week or so to rest, relax, reset and get ready for my next adventure, the new job!
Rest in pieces Buble, you will never be forgotten (but maybe replaced by a newer model...)
PS I'd just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has read any of my blogs so far, and in particular those of you who have subscribed to be amongst the very first readers of each new blog. Thank you :-)