We Didn't Want to Go to Coventry

It was never our intention to go to Coventry.

After the partial success of our Kenilworth Castle ride last month [see Kenilworth Castle Knee Explosion], we decided to try it again, with some 'improvements' made to the route home. I volunteered to come up with the new route back, so I sat myself down in front of Google maps for an hour and came up with the worst ride we've ever done.

Jonnie never wanted to go to Coventry

The first 20 miles, our original route, was fantastic: gently rolling countryside, quiet lanes, breathtaking scenery. At this point, we were tooling along at a respectable 16.0mph average. Unfortunately, that was when my version of the route took over and within half an hour we were hunched up on the B4113 as a steady stream of cars and lorries roared past us at 60mph.

I missed a turning and we ended up in Coventry. Moody looking fellas peered at us from Transit vans as we carefully navigated our way through backstreets and between parked cars. Jonnie and his phone's satnav found us a way back on track and we time-trialled our way around Knowle and back to Solihull for a total of 45 miles. Unfortunately, the unkempt cycle paths and stops to consult Jonnie's phone had eaten into our average. To make matters worse, I bonked 5 miles from home and Jonnie stayed with me for the last painful minutes. By the time we limped home, our average had disintegrated to 14.1mph.

Strava details here: New Route

2 hours and 2 beers later, Jonnie and I watched in disbelief as a pack of elite riders let Niki Terpstra ride away from them to win Paris Roubaix. I lost my money on Sagan then...

Finally, the knee. It didn't seem to be too bad on the actual ride, although it was aching. After the ride, however, I was finding it difficult to get around. Walking up the stairs was very painful and down them was even worse. I smothered the knee in Deep Heat and elevated it. Maybe a visit to the doctor's is needed?