It Only Gets Better From Here ｜ Winter Solstice Ride

Anyone who lives closer to a pole than an equator will be all too familiar with days getting shorter and nights getting longer during winter. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it is currently as bad as it gets. This, would you believe, is actually 10.58 AM. However, there is good news because from the 21st of December onwards, the days do get longer and we're on our way to spring. Oh, yes, and what better way to celebrate than a ride to see the sunrise on the solstice. Now, this does, of course, mean getting out in the dark, which, as we said, is not hard in winter. The sun doesn't rise until 8.11 this morning, but the place where we have chosen to watch the sun come up is 60 kilometers away and we're going to go get coffee on the way. Here we are, 5 AM, getting ready to ride in the dark in the middle of winter, but remember, this is a day to celebrate because however bad it gets today, tomorrow, it's going to be that little bit better. Let's do it. I'll finish my coffee first, shall I? I need to leave desperately. I'm going to be late. We are out of the lights of the urban town center. **** off. No matter what happens, this is good. Unfortunately, Dan Lloyd is currently hibernating, but the rest of us are due to meet in the tiny village of Tutankhamen, which is roughly equidistant between each of our houses. From there, we ride south to Wales, the smallest city in England, for a very early coffee, and then on to mythical Glastonbury Tor for sunrise. More on that later. It's not all bad at this time of year. There are some redeeming qualities, and not only because it makes the rest of the year seem better. Good morning. It's actually a big cup of coffee. It just looks small in my hands. Hello. So early. Even the dogs don't want to get up. Yes, you stay there. Make porridge. This sunrise better be worth it. You know it's so early. It feels like when you're a kid, you only got up as early to go on holiday. Apart from we're not going on holiday, we're going for a bike ride. Step three, make coffee. Coffee. This will get me around. Ready to roll. Get it up. Here we go then. We are off. Now, it was absolutely pouring with rain all night, but the forecast has said it's going to dry up from four. Sure enough, it is dry, and I'm not too pessimistic about our chances of getting some kind of sunrise, which is pretty blooming cool, isn't it? Funnily enough, when I took you on a similar journey six months ago for the summer solstice, I was back home by now, having watched the sunrise and had a cup of coffee. I'm officially 12 minutes late leaving. Oh no, 11 minutes. I'll take that. I would have ordinarily said I don't mind early morning rides. Even this is a bit early for me. Tell you what, this sunrise better be worth it because if it's not, it was all Si's idea. I've also got mudguards on my bike. I bet none of those jokers have got mudguards because it's blooming wet and horrible. I'm going to stop moaning now because we're going to get coffee, we're going to get cake, and we're riding our bikes. Life is all good. Hey guys, I'm definitely going to be late because it's 6.30 and I'm not there. Love you, bye. I guess I'll buy the coffees. Just come to the agreed meet point. Si and Alex, late as usual. Conor? Yes, I'm getting cold when I'm around. Unbelievable, we've been here like 20 minutes now. Yes, it's ticking on. Time is ticking on. We got up on time, we left the house on time, made up ground, smashed it here, and then twiddling our thumbs and the pitch black. All right, guys. Here he is. I thought we were doing sunrise, not sunset. It's so dark, isn't it? It is, it's inky black. It feels like it's three in the morning, but it's quarter to seven now. Quarter to seven, we're cracking, we're going to get a move on. Hello, mate. All right. Hello, a little beer around the corner. Sorry, I was a bit scared. I'm 15 minutes late. I know, you're the least likely to be late as well. Mate, I've got so many excuses. I'm really sorry. Should we go see the sunrise? Well, let's go get coffee first. Come on. I feel like I should probably buy the coffees. I'm late. I think you probably should, actually. That's a great idea, mate. I'm on a rare day of form, just to let you know. Shotgun sitting on Alex's big flats. Yes. They are the best. He's the only one who's got mudguards on. Okay, so I was late and Ollie's now giving me the punishment. I'm doing 380 watts in the wheels. It's just, it's uncalled for. It's unnecessary. 7.04. This is Wells. We are just looking for the only coffee shop that is open at 7 AM, which is, should be down here. There we go. There it is. That does look open. Oh my God, it's fuelled? Yes. Caffeine. It's got colder. To be fair, the forecast did say it was going to get cold. Oh, puddles. You might be wondering why we've chosen Glastonbury Tor as the place to see the sunrise, and it's a good question. It's located in the southwest of England, and as the name suggests, just down the road from where the world famous music festival takes place. But that's not it. No. It's because this lump of rock, which sits 158 meters above the Somerset levels below it, is steeped in myth and legend. Did you know that it's where King Arthur was buried, and how you get into the fairy world? Plus, Jesus supposedly visited here, and it's the final resting place of the Holy Grail. And as if that wasn't enough, the Tor also sits on the UK's most powerful ley line, which is an invisible line of energy that joins up places of ancient significance, and which allows you to tap into ancestral wisdom and focus your spirit. That's Ollie's reason for coming anyway. The rest of us just want the view. Oh, watch out. There's a massive turd there. He brought him along, hasn't he? I was just about to go into some kind of poetic thing about the significance of Glastonbury Tor. Conor was going to give us a history lesson. I was just about to say how mythical and amazing it feels standing here looking at the Tor. Oh, watch out. There's a massive turd there. Oh, God. No, I'm going slow through this one. Oh, God. That's awful. In possibly the most GCN thing ever, we've been actually hammering it because it turns out we might actually miss the sunrise after all that. Which way, Alex? Left here. We've got 10 minutes. 10 minutes. There we go. I think I'm Matthew Vanderpool today running up these steps. Parkour. How has Si got so far in front? Come on, boys. You got this. Hurry up. We made it. Ollie? God, I was not expecting you. I don't want to say it, guys, but I'm pretty sure Conor's going to need to walk faster than that in the Atlas mountain race. I think this guy on the right is going to beat him. I think I might need to do some walking practice. Morning. Good day for it. Oh, no. Yes, I thought about it. Well, fair play, lads. Yes. We cut it fine, but that was- Where is the sun? Pretty much bang on. Can you not see it? It's over there. Is that what that is? Yes. Poking his head up. I'm glad I took my vitamin D tablet today. Well, what I was thinking is if the sun doesn't actually properly pop up, the nice thing about AI is that we could maybe create a sunrise over in that direction. So, guys, tomorrow, this is important, right? Tomorrow, it's going to be better than today. Tomorrow, we will have more daylight. Yes. It's an optimistic thought this time of year. Turn a corner. Yes. I feel sometimes like I might actually be a half-druid. Really? I genuinely feel that this is a momentous part of the calendar. Is it exactly six months from tomorrow that will then be the longest day? 21st of June, yes. That is just equidistant. My birthday. Is it? It's the longest birthday you can have. If the glass is half full, we've basically got six months of summer ahead of us from now. Yes, exactly. It's nice. It's basically warm and dry from tomorrow. Yes. I looked at the forecast, there's a yellow weather warning for rain. Well, yes, it might not technically be warm and dry tomorrow, but that's where we're going. That is absolutely stunning, isn't it? Outstanding. Brighter than I thought. We've lucked out today, haven't we? Should we go get breakfast? Yes. Conor was asking if there's anywhere with an eating challenge. Brilliant. I'm up for that. I'm more concerned about going down on steps. At least Dan didn't miss out on anything. Yes. I'll tell you what, guys. That was blooming good, that. Yes, I enjoyed that. You never regret getting out of bed once you hit the road. It's tough when the alarm goes, but once you're out and into the blackness and riding your bike, it feels amazing. It was very black this morning. It was horrible. It was also very wet. I'm the only one with mud guards, so I'm quite disappointed by a lot of you. Yes, but no, that was cool. It's going to be a good year next year, isn't it? Yes, I'm looking forward to it. Definitely felt like wacky races on the way to meet you guys, but then once we got up to the tour and we could take it in, it was a nice peaceful moment. Also, can I just apologize for being late this morning? I'm really sorry. Apology accepted. Do you guys feel a little bit more spiritual now, a bit more in tune with the seasons? Yes, I do. I feel any time I see that sunrise. Yes, that, yes. What a sunrise. That was the thing to help one out. Breakfast was my favorite bit. Right, then. 40k back home. Let's do it. We'll get back in time to do a day's work, probably, won't we? Thanks for organizing this, Si. It was a brilliant idea. I suppose technically, I almost did, didn't I? Yes. All right. My pleasure, guys. All right. See you in a year's time for again. Thanks. Let's go. Love you. Bye. Well, there you go. In life and cycling, chasing sunrises and sunsets, you just never know what you're going to get sometimes. It's still sunset.