Tales of the unexpected

I'm cruising along with ease as I drop in behind ten pairs of testosterone-driven shaved legs which I'm admiring from the rear.  I'm chuckling too. I'm not a group rider.  I'm in a way, way lower league than these boys. And here I am keeping a little way off their wheels, not wanting to be rude but taking full advantage of a strapping slipstream.  To be honest, it was a better view a little further back; polished lycra rippling in ridiculously warm temperatures. 

I'm smiling. That is until one of them throws his rubbish into the bush as we motor past the lido - I'm quite taken aback by that.  When I get snotted at a mile or so on, I'm really wondering whether it's worth it.  But, he did miss me. And apologise - I guess he wasn't expecting a waif on his tail.

Thankfully, as I was leaving the door, I threw out my leg warmers and windproof but I have on my arm warmers which now need to come off.  Realising my fun is up, I pull over at the A59 and remove them properly.  They whisk off without a backward glance and a little too fast to thank them for the lift.  I feel a bit bad about claiming a Strava tenth on that section when I put in way less effort than when I'm travelling solo at two-thirds the speed - I guess I'm not the first. I've heard that some people have thrown their devices up the last section of a hill to get theirs! Well, at least I was pedalling!

I'm on my own now and it stays that way for the rest of a glorious ride that maximises my four-hour doggy window with a fair few ups and downs and a couple of small new stretches of road.  It was so warm and sunny, without suncream on, my cycling stripes are back!

First thing, I had intended to set off in the cool, less windy air but, peeping under the blinds, there were signs of a cloud inversion either building or leaving - so Little Dog came first.  And this is the result. 

I was up there for a good couple of hours in the end, with surprise company along the way.  It wasn't the most dramatic of cloud inversions but the ebb and flow of billowing cloud beneath you and here, almost within you, predictably now, grabbed my senses.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, I picked up some of old Clyde, the rat. A few of his ashes arrived in the post special delivery. I'd missed them yesterday so Little Dog and I tripped into Ilkley to collect them.  

I did say it was tales of the unexpected!