I wasn’t going to say anything in case I was accused of being a lightweight.
I left Somerset last Saturday, up the Fosse Way and across to Lincolnshire. A couple of nights at my son’s, then Monday morning Lincolnshire Wolds and up onto the Yorkshire Moors. One night there, then over the Moors and onto Ripon to stay with an old mate.
From Ripon, across the Dales, into Cumbria and the Lake District to meet up with my son who was on a course in Ambleside.
From Ambleside I was planning to go and spend a few days touring northern Scotland.
Tonight, I’m sitting back at home in Somerset, having done 320 miles today to get home.
When I left on Saturday, rain may be on the cards for me but temperatures were supposed to be mid teens.
Checking yesterday, areas of Scotland I’d planned to go to were due to have overnight temperatures of 3 degrees, with a chance of snow on higher ground. I didn’t have my linings in or cold weather gloves.🤷♂️
Having had about 3 hours dry riding to get to the Lake District I thought ‘Sod that’, and planned a route home taking in the Welsh Borders. Checked the weather, dry most of the day with chance of some light showers on my route.
I left Ambleside at a very chilly 6 degrees, got south of Blackpool and it chucked it down…… and it continued to do so across to Chester, into North Wales.
I got down to Shrewsbury and thought ‘sod this’ again….. hit the ‘ride home’ on my Sat Nav and took the motorways to get home. It didn’t get above 10 degrees the whole ride.🥶
Over 900 miles in 4 days, about 3 hours dry riding and temperatures not getting above low teens…….. I’m going back to Spain in future.🙁