It finally happened. After a long few years and a final 6 month slog my amazing wife (Mrs Rouleur to you lovely people) has handed in her PhD thesis. No longer will I be the smartest in the house (not that my MSc ever meant I really held that title), but I don’t mind for what it also means is that I RIDE AGAIN!!

The last six weeks or so has seen my cycling and running falter as I played the role of ‘single parent’ while poor Mrs Rouleur toiled away day and night. I am sure I could have found time (lunchtimes for instance) but I am just very poorly organised!

This weekend though saw my much heralded return to two wheels (OK only my wife and cycle buddy really cared) but what a time to return.

Desmond, not the fictional barber from your youth, but a rather nasty storm, decided to play havoc with the UK and though Surrey didn’t suffer anywhere near as as much as other parts of the country it was still ‘rather windy’.

However the opportunity to play with my new Garmin Vivoactive (great purchase BTW) and more importantly to get back in the saddle was too much of a pull and so myself and my less Roly colleague rolled off to brave the winds.

We rolled through the Surrey and Hampshire countryside like we were pedalling through treacle (or at least I did, it seems my ride partner has been possessed by Fabian Cancellara since the last time we rode) and eventually made it to our coffee stop where I also indulged in a little well earned sustenance in the form of an almond croissant.

12 miles in and after some pretty horrible winds I was glad of the caffeine hit, but it was just a short stop as we had places to be (home tidying for me, and IKEA for my mate, not sure who had it worse).

One ill advised off road cyclo-cross detour later I had managed to get a tree (OK twig) lodged into my derailleur that despite extracting very carefully (read yanked out) proceeded to play havoc with my gears for the next 15 long miles! At one point with my gears/chain locking up I nearly joined my path loving friend on the deck (more of that later).

Returning my chain to where it should be and an epic sulk/paddy later I put the hammer down (well for me anyway) for the next 10 mins until the we hit a hill (I was stuck in top gear by this point). Rolling over the top and through the last few miles I had time to breath deep and take stock.

Here are the things I learnt;

1. My less Roly colleague has improved considerably since the days when he exclaimed he didn’t realise he could brake in the drops!
2. When it’s as windy as it was, being a comparable weight to a walrus is very beneficial for staying up right.
3. No matter which way you turn on the roads it will always be a headwind!!
4. My buddy still falls over when clipped in, this time managing to tear his brand new knee warmers in the process (maybe I should re-think number one).

Yes, the wind, my penchant for over eating, enforced time off the bike and mechanical issues had conspired to make this a tough tough ride but my Garmin said 31.4 miles…. not bad for a fat lad!!

The only thing left to do is sort out my gear issues and get ready for a ride one evening this week, a little birdie tells me I might even have new kit to play with too 🙂