I'm torn at this time of year, as always. There's the want to hold onto a rapidly slipping Summer, tempered by the fact that Autumn brings some glorious days, cools starts and beautiful weather, but the days get shorter, lights are needed and suddenly I start ferreting about for arm warmers.
The upside is that there's a possibility of rain and that will suddenly mean that the hot, dusty metal roads that I cherish will be rideable again. This long, sustained period of dry weather we have had has been a boon for road riding, but it makes the metal roads pretty horrible. All the metal comes to the surface, lurking like marbles. The dust and dirt I couldn't care less about, but one of the pleasures of these roads is dragging others through them , seeing and hearing their delight as they ride roads they wouldn't drive normally. When the roads threaten their ability to even stay upright, then the chances of getting them to enjoy them are slim.
Some rain will let the loose metal sink into the surface of the road, and make for a far more friendly experience. Plus, I hope that a whole lot of people watch the spring Classics and have an urge to go, get filthy and banged about on short steep hills and rough, narrow roads.
Junior and I rode the BCL on Saturday, meeting a tardy CTB on Carter Road. The humour on the ride came on the Kelly's Road descent, where I made a small excursion down a grassy bank due to the greasy roads. The damp of Sunday morning was the first time there was any moisture of substance on these roads for quite some time, net result was not a huge amount of grip.
As my back wheel starting sliding under braking, it flashed through my mind that it was several years ago that I met tarmac on this same corner in the wet, and maybe I was about to repeat the mistake. Thankfully I kept my head and merely exited stage left, stopping on the grassy bank. Junior was suitably amused. The adrenaline compensated for my fading fitness on the next climb for some time.
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