Not exactly springlike

Now, it's not often I get my outfit so badly wrong but it's always good to know what you're capable of in circumstances that are a little testing.  

I should have known when the forecast switched multiple times in the run up, between 'sunshine and cloud' and 'overcast', that they weren't really sure.  I reckon there was a maximum of three minutes of sunshine in nine hours. And the light north-easterly that I was cycling into was cold.  I had my spring outfit on.  It was most definitely winter kit weather!  I haven't pedalled using blocks of ice for a long time nor ever been given the cold shoulder by the wind. My windproof was donned for many more miles than I'd anticipated, over and above the descents, and I canned the idea of the outdoor cafe in Fremington pretty early on. 

My camera came out for one photo (not even a back up shot) and this is it. 

On saying all of that, I've had a wicked adventure!

I dipped my toes into Swaledale - my earliest adventure in the year that far afield. I say dipped in because I took the easiest hill over from Leyburn; didn't quite make the valley floor (where the cafe is); and turned a sharp left to come straight back over into Aysgarth and Wensleydale where the wind, now on my tail, was not quite so biting.

Not having stopped at a cafe, it felt a bit of a timewarp when I dropped over from Kidstones back into Kettlewell. By this time, there was definitely supposed to be some warmth in the air but the only time I vaguely over-heated today was on that last hill.  I would liked to have stopped for a refuel at one of the many cafes on the run home but I just concluded it'd be miserable setting off feeling cold when I was acceptably luke warm if I kept pedalling.  Instead, I scheduled my home-made bars half at a time to ensure I had enough for the last leg from Bolton Abbey.

And there it was. Home.  A hot shower.  And, heating!  Rich had just switched it on after tracking my progress, thinking when he let Little Dog out that it was a little chilly.  (A little chilly!)