Riding back from Bridgnorth

After a good night stay at the Bull's Head in Chelmarsh I loaded up the bike again, with the panniers somehow feeling even heavier than they did the previous day. Thankfully the tyres were still full or air, the rough surfaces of some of the tracks yesterday having caused no punctures. The morning was bright and sunny, and a little bit chilly as I set off for Bridgnorth. After half a mile my computer told me to take a left onto the single track road I had ridden yesterday, but I was in no mood for that again so continued straight into a fast downhill on the main road. I reached over 30mph on that stretch, one of the advantages of the heavy panniers was that it was faster going downhill! 

The road soon levelled out and shortly I heard the unmistakeable clatter of rolling stock on my left. I glanced across to see Eardington station on the Severn Valley Railway, with a few people waiting for the next train. Just after the road bore round to the left up and over the railway line on a lovely stone bridge, and after half a mile I came into the village of Eardington itself. In another mile I turned right to head into Bridgnorth, where I stopped to take a photo of the high bridge that I'd crossed (twice) the previous evening. Must admit I hadn't appreciated quite how high up I was then.

After having entered Bridgnorth through the High Town yesterday, today I turned right and headed through the Low Town to cross the River Severn on the lovely Bridgnorth Bridge, crossed the A482 and started the day's only registered climb. This was just over half a mile with gradients approaching 10%, and I began the laborious task of getting to the top. It was only just five miles into my ride, and my legs hadn't had the opportunity to get going again, and so I stopped for a breather mid way before plugging on again to crest the top. After this there was a bit of a relaxing downhill before I turned left at the roundabout off the busy Wolverhampton road and headed out into lush arable farmland. The road ran for a mile and a half at  gentle downhill to reach the A442 where I headed right, and shortly after right again on a road marked unsuitable for HGVs. 

It was one of those farm tracks where grass grew up the middle, and this climbed for a short while before reaching a crossroads, with my route taking me straight on towards Catstree. My mind boggled at the thought of cats growing in a tree! I passed several pheasants among the verges and hedges, one of which nearly flew into me in an effort to get out of my way. At the next crossroads I turned right, along more lanes with high hedges either side, and then left down a narrow lane where I was confronted by a rather large tractor and trailer heading towards me. I chose the safer option of pulling into a field entrance to let it pass, and as I did I noticed the state of the corn that was growing in there, it looked as if it was well past it's best. At the end of the lane a right turn took me to Stableford, where I turned left on the busy B4176. The road kicked up here for a short while, and I rode past a car boot sale and signs for Apley Farm Shop, Food Hall and Kitchen, which on another day I may have checked out.

At the next roundabout with the A442 I took the third exit on the quieter B4379, which joined the A4169 heading into Shifnal. Although an A road it wasn't busy. and I could enjoy the scenery of dark ploughed fields and harvested corn fields. I headed through Shifnal and out on Newport Road, underneath the M54. At Watling Street, the A5, I crossed over hoping to see a village sign for Crackleybank, but sadly it never materialised. What I did see though was a sign for Gorsey Bank, where Sandra used to work, so I stopped for a photo to send to her. I continued on through Sheriffhales, then turned left down Lilyhurst Road, where I saw a large club run from orange clad Stourbridge Cycling Club members coming in the opposite direction, and then right through Lilleshall Golf Club. After the golf club I came across the Lilleshall Hall National Sports Centre, where a number of junior football matches were being played.

The (very) long drive to the entrance of the Centre had several speed bumps, and these caused one of my panniers to become dislodged. After stopping for a quick fix I continued on through Chetwynd Aston and crossed the A518 into Newport. Newport was busy with shoppers, and there were a couple of decent looking coffee stop options but with nowhere to park the bike I ignored these and rode on. Leaving Newport along Chester Road I passed Chetwynd Deer Park, and the impressive St Michael and All Angels church at Chetwynd.

I was back on the route that I'd followed the previous day now, and crossed the A41 to head for Cheswardine. As I cycled on I was passed by a few other cyclists and had a brief chat as they came by. I'd thought of stopping at Cheswardine and sitting on the bench by the church that I'd seen yesterday, but I hadn't realised that my planned route actually skirted the village. As I rode on I noticed the fields either side of the road looked to be planted with bamboo, with a narrow strip of rape at the field edges, and coming round a corner I spotted a nice looking large house in the distance with bamboo and rape in the foreground, and stopped to take a photo.

The roads continued for a couple more miles with bamboo and fields either side, and I soon crossed the Shropshire Union Canal underneath the Berrisford Canal Aqueduct and entered Market Drayton. Here I followed National Cycle Network route 552 through a little ginnel and then through side roads to exit the town and head towards Norton In Hales. I crossed the canal again, and found that the flood on the approach that I'd ridden through yesterday had now disappeared. It was a very pleasant couple of miles ride to Norton, where a sign at the entrance to the village indicated that it was a National Winner in the RHS Britain In Bloom Champion of Champions. At Norton, by St Chad's Church,  I followed signs for NCN 552 which indicated 5 miles to Audlem, and I knew I was on the last stretches to home.

The first stretch away from Norton took me to the highest point remaining on the route, and I found I was managing the hills fairly comfortably now. I was still wary though of the final ramp of Old Park Road after Weston though, which I knew well from many previous rides. That was way ahead of me though, and I planned on stopping in Audlem for a coffee somewhere to prepare for the final fifteen miles or so of the ride. I soon found it wasn't going to happen though, when I rode past a turn off for Audlem, and realised my planned route was going to take me past the village. I crossed the A525 and rode along Longhill Lane and down Bunsley Bank past Audlem Cricket Club, rejoining Longhill Lane to come into Hankelow, a mile or so north of Audlem. 

From Hankelow I followed the A529, turning right at Hatherton and continuing on to the crossroads with the A51 at Walgherton. I stopped here to take a couple of gels in readiness for Old Park Road, and crossed straight over and into Wybunbury, where I turned right into Wrinehill Road then left onto Cobbs Lane for another little ramp before a downhill that set me up for the ride through to Hough. I crossed Newcastle Road and headed on in and out of Weston, crossing above the A500 to reach Weston Road where a right turn took me to the start of Old Park Road. There was at least a bit of a downhill stretch here to give me some momentum, and I found I had no real difficulty in making it up the short, sharp climb at the end to turn left onto Slaughter Hill. Fortunately it was a downhill stretch from here to Haslington and I chose the long way into the village via Crewe Green, as opposed to another climb up the continuation of Slaughter Hill.

Here the wind, which had been in the main very helpful on the way home, became a blustery headwind for a while, until I turned north in the village to take a left into the charmingly named The Dingle. Shortly after crossing above the A534 I turned right into Clay Lane, following it left past Lakemore Farm Park and the Sandbach Flashes to the junction with Hall Lane. From here it was a short stretch to the canal bridge and traffic lights at the railway bridge, then a right turn in Elton Road for the final leg to home. It had been a much better day than yesterday, and was a very enjoyable ride home. All that was needed now was a good cuppa and a hot bath to recover!

 

 

In which I try cycle touring from home....

I bought some panniers a while back as I've got a couple of long distance cycle routes that I fancy having a go at. Before using them in anger, I thought it prudent to do a short overnight trip to get used to the feel and ride of them, after all you don't want to find out any issues when you're miles away from home! So, with the weather finally playing ball after all the rain, I booked a pub just south of Bridgnorth and set about filling my panniers with what I thought I needed. First impressions were that they were individually not too bad weight wise, so I attached them to my rack and prepared to set off. The first thing I noticed was how heavy my bike felt at the back! 

I set off down the road, and it didn't feel too bad to be honest, although you could tell that there was a bit of weight at the rear. I'd done a couple of miles and was feeling pretty good, when it hit me that I'd left my bike lock back home sitting in the kitchen! I didn't want to go back, so planned to stop at a bike shop in Audlem that I knew was on my route. Feeling a bit happier I rode through Winterley and Haslington on my way to the first test of the day - the climb out of Haslington towards Alsager. It went surprisingly well, and I crested the climb comfortably and headed on through to Weston and then Wybunbury, and from there down to Audlem. The sun was out and although there was a chill in the air it wasn't too cold, in fact it was almost perfect autumnal cycling weather. I parked my bike outside the shop, leaning it against a post, but the assistant wouldn't have it and told me to bring it into the shop. Clearly he'd read the same BBC News item I had about Audlem Fire Station being broken into for the second time recently! I bought a lock, mentally wincing at the weight that was going to go into my panniers.

Climbing out of Audlem, I turned off shortly for Norton In Hales. The wind was from the south it seemed, and was one of those irritating winds that blow more or less constantly, making it difficult to hear if anything was coming up behind. From Norton I headed towards Market Crayton, crossing the Shropshire Union Canal (and a bit of a flooded road!).

Reaching Market Drayton I weaved my way through the town and headed out towards Cheswardine, recrossing the canal, where I stopped to take a photo of the lovely church.

There was a bit of drama when I set off again, a police Range Rover with lights going and siren blaring speeding in the opposite direction! Continuing on, I came to the A41 and crossed over to Chetwynd Park. Here my bike computer twittered at me saying I was off course, but I thought I was following NCN route so headed into Newport with the computer constantly chirruping and telling me to turn round. Eventually at the end of the road it relented and told me to turn right, which I knew would bring me back on course. Sadly it also brought me to a 10% climb, and I was starting to feel the extra weight on the bike by this time. I managed to crest it though, and then the computer threw me another curve ball by saying the end of the route was in one mile! There then followed a lot of toing and froing, swearing and use of maps before I decided I knew where I should be going and headed off.

If I thought things were going to settle down I was in for a rude awakening. I came to the A518 on the outskirts of Telford and was sent off on a number of different cycle paths, of various surface material, not all of which were easy to spot, and which were occasionally populated by sundry dodgy looking yoofs! Eventually I was thrown back out onto roads, near Wellington Station, and was promptly presented with the start of what I knew would be the biggest climb of the day, by far. What I hadn't realised until just now, was that the climb was The Wrekin, a well know and well feared climb. To be fair, it was a fairly steady climb with occasional awesome views over towards Shrewsbury with the M54 beneath me.

Eventually I got to the top and then descended to The Wrekin Forest Glen, where more climbing presented itself up to Little Wenlock. My legs were complaining by this point, so when the road reared up I had to get off and walk uphill. Soon I reached the top where more lovely views presented themselves south towards Ironbridge Gorge. Descending down to Coalbrookdale I had another round and round experience with the computer as I approached the railway viaduct. After heading into and out of the Enginuity museum I eventually retraced my tracks and headed straight on, instead of visiting the museum, up hill again. Fortunately this was followed by a downhill, tricky at times on surfaces that may have been original from the Ironbridge historical times, until I came to a T-junction and headed left through Ironbridge, where I traversed the famous iron bridge over the River Severn. On the other side I picked up the Severn Way, an off road surface which was suffering in places from the recent rain and which runs alongside the River Severn from its source. After a while the route ran alongside the Jackfield Tile Museum, an imposing building.

Further on, at Coalport Road, the route became a Permissive Way for five miles. This was by far the worst part of the whole trip, a lumpy, bumpy, muddy, pot-holed, rock strewn slog, which seemed to go on for ever and ever. I was getting really sick of the damn thing, tired and cold (it had clouded over and the temperature under the trees had dropped a little). Eventually it came to an end, and with the end of the trees the wind was in my face again. I cycled past Bridgnorth Golf Club and turned left at the main road into Bridgnorth, and through the town centre. There was another hiccup which led me to go over the high level bridge to Bridgnorth Railway Station, on the Severn Valley line. Their Diesel Gala was taking place and the noise of throaty engines was filling the air. My computer told me I'd gone wrong though, although I couldn't see how. I retraced my steps over the bridge and headed down to where I was sure I needed to go.

Fortunately the computer picked up the route again, and I headed out of Bridgnorth towards Chelmarsh, where the pub I'd booked was, and was three miles away according to the road signs. The road climbed heading out of Bridgnorth, and I hoped this was the final climb that I'd face, although the computer didn't announce it so I thought that was odd. At the end  of the climb the road continued on in a manageable rolling fashion before I was directed right down a single road with passing places. This turned out to be the climb I was expecting, and by now I'd had enough of climbing, as indeed had my legs. I got off and walked a couple of times, climbing back on at the top. This road again was an iffy surface, gravel in the middle and flooded at one point. I wondered why the route had sent me this way instead of staying on the main road, as the pub was signposted but not off the main road. Anyhow, eventually I rejoined the main road and lo and behold, half a mile later the pub came into view. I turned into the car park, climbed off and checked in, tired, weary legged and ready for a hot shower.

I'd learned a few things about how panniers affect the way a bike rides, not least that they get heavier the more climbing you do! Tomorrow, on the trip back, I might learn something more.

St Luke's Hospice Salt Line Cycle Challenge

I'd entered the St Luke's Hospice Salt Line Cycle Challenge as my Dad would have been 87 this year, and I thought a great way to honour his memory was to raise money for a deserving cause, especially with the ride coming two days after his birthday. With the ride starting at eight from Winsford, just a few miles away, I planned to ride to the start and back home again after completing the 75 mile route option with my son Scott.

My plan for a good nights sleep was scuppered by my cat Rosie waking me for food, and while I was having my breakfast I began to worry that it wasn't going to be light enough to ride to the start. Checking the sunrise times I discovered that sun was due to rise at 7:08, and I was planning on setting off at 7! In the event it was perfectly fine, and I enjoyed a fairly relaxed but chilly ride to the event HQ, other than forgetting to start my bike computer until one mile in, and triggering an emergency alert on the computer by stopping in potholes to respond to a text from Scott. I did get to see a pretty good sunrise though.

Arriving at the HQ I registered and waited for Scott to arrive. With final instructions received we set off downhill to the Winsford bypass and headed out parallel to the River Weaver for Whitegate. We knew the first 25 miles of the route were the hilliest (don't ever believe anyone that tells you Cheshire is flat!) and at Whitegate we turned left to ascend Cinder Hill. It's not particularly steep but the road surface is poor and stops you building up any momentum. At the top we continued past Whitegate Station and out past Little Budworth, skirting Oulton Park race circuit and heading through Eaton to Tarporley. Although it was chilly the exercise soon got us warmed up, and given the early hour the lack of traffic on the roads made for some pleasant cycling.

Leaving Tarporley we crossed the Shropshire Union Canal Main Line near Brassey Green, a lovely descent leading to a tight bend and a nice stone bridge over the canal. This marked the start of another climb up to Beeston Castle where a right turn lead downhill towards Tattenhall. At a T-junction we turned left for another climb up to Burwardsley, followed by another descent, another left turn and then the hardest climb of the day up to Harthill. This done, we knew that while there was plenty of climbing to come it wouldn't be as bad.

From Harthill we crossed the comparatively busy (a car held us up!) A534 for Bickerton then turned for Cholmondeley, where I knew there was a farm shop and cafe that I had tentatively suggested as an option for the first brew of the day. Unfortunately as it was downhill at this point, and we were going along fairly quickly, I failed to spot the entrance to the shop until I was right on it, so we settled instead for the first official feed stop just a few miles later in Wrenbury. This was by the Wrenbury Lift Bridge on the Shropshire Union Canal Llangollen Branch, and sure enough after we had crossed and stopped, the bridge was raised to let a boat through. Fortunately neither of us were stuck the other side desperately needing the toilet. We'd covered around 28 miles, although it didn't seem that long because of the company and chat.

Leaving Wrenbury after a snack, we headed through Sound and crossed the A530 to cycle past Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker, now not at all secret. With the sun having gone back to bed now, it was still chilly with little prospect of an increase in temperature coming any time soon. We headed into and out of Nantwich on busier roads, then along the quiet Wybunbury Lane to Shavington where we turned right for more busy roads leading to Hough. Here we turned left to cross the main Crewe - London rail line, stopping by a convenient field for a comfort break. Quick cycling tip - one of the most important things to look for in cycling shorts is how well they facilitate an outdoor comfort stop. 

We set off again through Weston and from there headed along Old Park Road. It had been fairly flat cycling since Harthill, but now we had a short sharp climb to deal with, taking us up to the Crewe - Alsager road where we turned right and headed into Alsager itself, with the traffic level increasing again. In Alsager we headed towards Lawton Heath End, and rode past the end point (or the start if you go in the opposite direction) of the Salt Line Way. Ironically we were not going to ride on the Salt Line Way, despite the name of the event, instead we continued past and turned left on Betchton Lane. A little while later we passed the midpoint of the Salt Line Way (the Way is bisected by the road we were on - Roughwood Hollow) and at the end of the road turned right onto Hassall Road, over a motorway bridge to Alsager Road where we made another right. This brought us past the start point (or end....) of the Salt Line Way at Hassall to climb again over the Trent and Mersey Canal, cross the A533 where we had another short sharp climb. We then crossed the A50 to go through Smallwood, then left down Pools Lane to Brookhouse Green. I'd ridden this road once before, and have avoided it ever since as it is a very poor surface and mucky, a typical farm track. From here we followed Brookhouse Lane (a good road to ride in the direction we were going) to cross the A534, shortly after turning right for our second official feed stop at Brereton Heath Country Park.

There is a nice little dairy / coffee / burger place across the road from the park, The Little Cow Shed. They also had a kiosk in the park, so in addition to the food we had a nice coffee. Just before we set off again I popped into the toilets, which were toasty warm and made me feel like staying for a long while! Just after the feed stop we crossed the A54 onto an off-road gravel section with a nice little bridge over the River Dane. This took us into Swettenham, with a bit more climbing, and then onto Lower Withington, passing pubs with a lovely roast dinner aroma in the air. We rode on towards Holmes Chapel, joining the A535 for a short while before turning right to pass Jodrell Bank. With the little climbs that were coming fairly often we were starting to feel the previous miles in our legs, but knew that we weren't that far from the finish, with just two relatively significant climbs to come to test our legs. 

We rode into Goostrey where we turned right, then right again to head out of the village on Boothbed Lane. At the A50 we rode across onto Townfield Lane, continuing onto Baker's Lane where we turned left to cross above the M6 and head into Lach Dennis. A right turn took us through the village, past another aromatic pub to turn left, eventually crossing the A530 onto the rolling back road into Davenham. After a few more ups and downs we came to the bridge over the A533 which always brings me to a crawl, and today was no exception. Fortunately it's only short and we soon came to the main road through the village, where we turned left to commence the final slog up London Road, cresting it and turning right for Moulton before rejoining the busy A533 for a short while into Winsford. The wind had risen considerably by this point, and the last couple of miles through Winsford became attritional. Eventually though we turned into Station Road and rode under the start / finish tunnel back to HQ. We signed in, had our photos taken and then availed ourselves of a very welcome sausage roll and hot drink.

After an all too brief rest and chat about the day, we set off on our bikes again - Scott to his in-laws just round the corner where he would load his bike into the car and drive home, me to ride the last eight miles home. Although this was into a headwind, I managed to get home in a decent time and headed straight into a hot bath. It was a great day, a lovely autumnal ride on generally quiet roads, and more importantly has raised a significant amount for St Luke's Hospice. In all I rode just over 90 miles, spending 6 hours and 20 minutes in the saddle.

Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Challenge Day 2

Day 2 of the Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Challenge began rather too early for me, waking up well before the alarm was due to go off at 6:30. It all sounded quiet outside, so I tried going back to sleep, but couldn’t get comfy and in the end I gave up and got out before the alarm went off. It looked like it was going to be a nice day; plenty of blue skies with little cloud, although there was a bit of a chill wind blowing. Breakfast was served from 6:30, something that surprised me yesterday but now that I was up and about I was very glad for. A sausage bap, cup of coffee, banana and some bara brith went down very well, after which I changed into my cycling gear and packed up the tent.

I set off shortly after 8 at a fairly relaxed pace. The first few miles of the day were gently rolling out of Hutton Cranswick through Skerne and into Driffield, crossing the Hull to Beverley railway line and heading out of town towards Nafferton. I was riding with others at this point as all the riders had been set off together this morning. At Nafferton I crossed the railway again to loop on farm lanes back up to the railway, crossing this time at a gated crossing where I had to dismount and walk over. Continuing on single track roads I rode towards Lowthorpe and then Harpham, after which I came to another gated crossing to walk through. Here the lady before me kissed the marshal as she went through, which I thought was a bit of a strange toll, until she explained to my relief that it was her husband.

Shortly after I came to a road where a left turn brought me to another level crossing, this time on the road, and therefore rideable, after which I headed into Burton Agnes. Here a left turn onto the A614 and a short uphill stretch led to a right turn and the first climbing of the day just past Burton Agnes Hall. This was a mile and a half climb which afforded the first views of the sea to the right, all silvery with the sun and bright skies reflecting off it. This was followed by a nice five mile descent through some woods, where the temperature noticeably dropped, to the outskirts of Bridlington.

At the top of the climb from Burton Agnes

At the A614 again I took a cycle path to a crossing where another marshal shepherded riders across the busy road, after which the cycle path continued alongside the road for a while before turning off into town to reach the promenade at North Marine Drive. I stopped to take a picture here, and a fellow cyclist asked where the first checkpoint was, as she was meeting someone there. I thought it was Sewerby, but couldn’t remember where that was in relation to my current position, so I told her I thought it was not far, less than ten miles. Imagine my surprise when one mile of cycle path later I rode into the Ship Inn at Sewerby, the first checkpoint!

Bridlington

Setting off again past Sewerby Hall I climbed up to the village of Bempton, crossing the Bridlington to Scarborough rail line and, ignoring an optional visit to the RSPB centre, heading on to Buckton. Here I recrossed the railway and climbed up Grindale Road, with glorious views over the countryside to the sea, to reach the A165 Bridlington – Scarborough road. 

Grindale Road

As it was very busy it took a minute to cross safely, after which I descended to Grindale. Just after the village a right turn led to some more climbing up towards Reighton where I turned left to Hunmanby Gap. I was now on familiar roads, as I’d ridden around here regularly when I lived in Scarborough, and at the turning for the Gap I popped down the road for a sentimental photo, recalling many happy times when we strolled along the beach and visited the cafe there. It was also here where I’d rung the Sea Life Centre at Scarborough to tell them one of their penguins was in the sea and looking distressed, only to be told that they suspected I’d noticed a tired guillemot! Well it looked like a bloody penguin to me…..

Hunmanby Gap

After an energy bar and a drink I headed back to the A165, crossing at the roundabout towards Hunmanby, climbing gently up and through the village to pick up the short but steep climb of New Road. 

Hunmanby

This led to a nice bit of rolling Wolds road, before turning off to ride past the Wold Top Brewery and onwards into Fordon. Here my bike computer chirped with the first ‘proper’ climb of the day, a 3 mile steep climb that took me past some very pretty poppy filled fields, so nice I stopped for a photo.

Poppies outside Fordon

Towards the end of the climb I crossed the busy B1249, the main road that travellers to and from south will use when visiting Scarborough, and rode along a wonderful tree lined farm track to Ganton Hill where I turned left for a fast downhill into Foxholes and back to the B1249. Shortly after I turned off to Butterwick and Weaverthorpe, where the second checkpoint of the day was. I checked in and out again to ride through Helperthorpe, after which the route turned left for Sledmere. I knew this road from the Sundown 60, where it is a nice 3.5 mile downhill late on in the ride, but today the tables were turned and it was time for climbing those miles.

Butterwick

At Sledmere I rode past Sledmere House and Gardens before turning off for Kirby Grindalythe, the narrow road climbing steeply followed by a steep descent, then another steep climb and another steep descent into the village. Turning left here I was caught by a following group who remarked that there were only around 20k to go. I’d been wondering for a while about another big climb on the route, but I had half been expecting it to have arrived already and so I was hoping for not much more climbing. A mile later I turned off into Back Side (with an appropriate juvenile snigger) and rode into Duggleby, where I realised with despair that the climb I’d been expecting was Duggleby hill. The climb started on Cupid’s Alley, and was a 1.6 mile slog. Half way up the climb an ice cream cart stood at the side of the road – I could have murdered a choc ice then but knew I’d struggle to get going again if I gave in!

At the end of the climbing I turned left, passing Settrington Beacon and enjoying some fantastic 180 degree views over the North Riding of Yorkshire to the north and the Howardian Hills to the west. This was followed by a 17% descent into Settrington, where the route left the main road and turned off onto a narrow track that led to a ford of Settrington Beck. Fortunately the Challenge route was directed over a bridge to rejoin the track shortly after the ford so no splashing was forthcoming. I knew I was on the last stretch now, although the roads were still rolling and throwing in some short sharp climbs, and I finally came to the B1248 where I turned right into Norton, following the route through the town back to Norton College.

I’d finished tired but happy, and checked myself in, picked up my goody bag, got showered and changed and set off for home. It had been a great experience, with all sorts of weather, fantastic scenery, great organisation and the route was very well signposted too. Maybe I’ll do it again next year, if I can just forget that next year it will go clockwise and there will be some really steep climbing at the start of the first day!

Day 1: 74 miles, 4,081 feet climbed, 5.75 hours on the bike

Day 2: 71 miles, 3,648 feet climbed, 5.5 hours on the bike

Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Challenge Day 1

The Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Challenge is a two day, 144 mile ride along the route of the Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Route. I’d entered as I’d seen signs for the route whilst riding the Sundown 60, an event I enjoy riding, and wanted to see more of the beautiful scenic route. So it was that on Saturday 29th July at 8:37am I set off from Norton College in drizzly conditions.

It wasn’t long before the first of many short sharp climbs appeared as I road through quiet lanes to Kirkham, where a left turn took me through Westow and some more climbing up to Leavening. This was a place I knew well from the Sundown 60 – it is a stinker of a climb up to Avro, although at least I didn’t have the preceding climb to get up to Leavening that the Sundown 60 has. The roads are narrow here, with a couple of bends, and there were quite a few cyclists toiling up along with me. I heard a car behind just before a bend, and it was making a horrendous screeching noise every so often. Eventually it came up to and passed me, I realised it was a van pulling a trailer and by the smell that it left in its trail I knew that its clutch probably didn’t have a great deal of life left in it! Shortly after this a lady asked me to look at her gears as she had trouble getting into bottom. I passed on what I saw to her and her husband, but whatever the issue was it seemed to resolve itself. Further up the climb I overtook a couple, one of whom was hauling a little dog in a kiddi trailer. I joked that they needed a set of six huskies at the front, rather than pulling one behind! At the end of the climb I came to one of my favourite parts of the Sundown 60, a long, smooth, sweeping descent into the village of Thixendale with lush green pastures rising up on either side. The drizzle had eased by now, but I still kept my rain jacket on to keep the chill out. 

The climb up to Garrowby Hill out of Thixendale

At Thixendale I left the route of the Sundown 60, turning right for a long climb up towards Garrowby Hill through another picturesque little dale, passing the Robert Fuller Gallery (robertefuller.com) – a renowned British wildlife artist and film maker. At the A166 on Garrowby Hill I crossed onto a cycle path before turning right for a 15 mile stretch of generally downhill riding. At Huggate another right led to a delightful single track road that led to Millington Woods, where a steep switchback took me back up and through to Millington, and the first checkpoint at The Gait Inn. Here I stopped for a toilet break, and had a couple of my energy bars, resisting the tempting smell of the burgers on offer! Continuing on I cycled along quiet roads through Kilnwick Percy and into Pocklington, dipping in and quickly out, passing the rugby club and heading out to Burnby, passing the slightly malodorous household waste site. 

More climbing lay ahead leading to Londesborough, and then a left on Intake Hill. Whenever I see a “Hill” on my computer directions I groan inwardly, expecting the worst, but this time it was a pleasant downhill that took me to the A614 where I crossed unimpeded by traffic into Market Weighton. After 37 miles of lovely, quiet Wolds roads, Market Weighton was busy, particularly the High Street where a roadside banner advertised Giant Bradley Day, which piqued my interest, it turned out to be a day celebrating the life of William Bradley, born in Market Weighton in 1787. Known as The Yorkshire Giant, he was one of Britain’s tallest men, reaching 7’ 9”. Heading out of town on Spring Way, the route ran alongside the Market Weighton to Beverley Rail Trail, a shared use path running along the track bed of the former railway. Unsurprisingly this was one of the flatter sections of the whole route! After four miles I turned right at an impressive bridge taking the Rail Trail over the road, and headed south to Arras to cross the A1079. 

The bridge carrying the Market Weighton - Beverley Rail Trail

After another mile the route went off road onto a mainly grassy track, with the odd section of gravel thrown in for good measure. It was narrow and overgrown in places but rideable, and I made my way along the mile long section with relative ease. At the end I rejoined the road for a nice downhill blast into North Newbold, where the second checkpoint was. After checking in, I set off again straight away as I was feeling good, pausing a few hundred yards later to take a photo of the rather nice Norman church, and to take off my rain jacket as the day was much fairer now with the sun putting in an appearance. 

North Newbold's Norman Church

In another half a mile at South Newbold another two mile climb led to an excellent four mile gentle downhill stretch to Walkington and the outskirts of Beverley. Here the route took to more cycle path into the centre of Beverley, passing the Minster on cobbled streets, then followed roads to leave again. Beverley was a huge culture shock even after Market Weighton, with more crowds and heavier traffic, including one young driver whose hi-fi volume seemed stuck on eleven! 

Beverley Minster

Two miles of cycle path alongside busy roads took me to Cherry Burton where I turned off and normality resumed. From Cherry Burton it was just ten flat miles to the overnight camp stop, and I rode on nice quiet roads through Etton and South Dalton to reach Hutton Cranswick. A short piece of cycle path took me over the busy A164 Beverley Road into the town, past the railway station and then left into Maggison’s Turnpike. Half a mile further on I turned left into the Hutton Cranswick Sport and Recreation Association and the campsite. I checked in, picked up my food vouchers (very important), pitched my tent and had an unexpectedly good shower before scarfing down burger, chicken wrap with cheese, potato salad, coleslaw and finishing off with gooseberry crumble. Oh, and a couple of beers to avoid cropset! 

The campsite

Gold dust!!

It had been a tough day at times, but certainly very enjoyable with plenty of beautiful little hamlets, lots of greenery and nice quiet roads. The weather had started off wet, but the ride ended in sunshine and warmth. Sadly later that evening the rain returned and set in, causing the live band a few issues in keeping their electrical equipment safe, however I couldn’t really complain. After a few more beers and chatting with fellow riders I got into my tent and fell asleep listening to the rain on the tent, hoping for a good night ahead of the second half of the ride the next day.

Laureen's Ride - cows, alpacas and llamas

I'd seen a few signs for Laureen's Ride whilst I'd been out on my bike around the Knutsford area, so I recently decided to look it up and see what it was. I'd assumed it was a charity ride, for some deserving charity, however I was slightly disappointed to find out that it was just a ride named after a local horse riding resident who created it while recovering from a broken leg. It is billed by Cheshire West and Chester as "ideal for horse riders with friends or family on bicycles". We'll come back to that......

It sounded appealing, and somewhat different to my usual rides, so I planned a route to link into it from home. I set off along the Trent and Mersey canal towards Middlewich, starting on nice hard packed gravel towpath which turned into hard grass track after the Plant Lane bridge. This continued after the lock at the Mill Lane bridge, with the hard part of the track becoming quite narrow in places. It wasn't too bad to ride on with my mountain bike, the only alternative was to ride on the brick blocks on the side of the canal, and I wasn't prepared to go for a splash in the mucky water! Reaching Middlewich I was a bit nervous of the swans that I knew inhabited the canal in large numbers by the Kings Lock pub. Fortunately there were only a couple, and none of them felt like attacking me as I rode past. After the pub, I passed Middlewich Chandlery and left the canal, heading up through a track to an industrial estate where a left took me to the roundabout on the Holmes Chapel road, where I went straight across and then right along the very familiar road through Byley to the Three Greyhounds pub. Here a right, then left, took me past Shakerley Mere, over the M6 and on to turn right into Townfield Lane. A short while later I turned left into Sandy Lane and joined the route of Laureen's Ride.

This took me along typical country lanes, paved but narrow with occasional potholes. After a mile or so of this, the route turned onto Sandy Lane, not sandy at all but more of a cinder style surface that morphed into a typical farm track - grass in the middle with dirt / stone tracks either side.

There were also numerous gates to be negotiated, and at one of these I came to a rather bumpy stop and noticed that my computer was beeping loudly. Looking down I noticed that the Incident Detection feature had kicked in - this basically will send an alert out if it thinks you've had a fall on your bike. At the same time my phone was making worrying alarm sounds via the computer's app. Fortunately it gives you thirty seconds to cancel, which I hurriedly did - I didn't want to scare Sandra for no reason! Sandy Lane eventually came to the main road near Radbroke Hall, and here I turned into Stocks Lane to turn left down a drive signposted Colshaw Hall Farm Access Only. This was a decent paved surface which turned left and right through farmland to join onto School Lane near Lower Moss Wood, where a left turn took me onto a bridleway. This was more of a dirt / grass track, again going through some lush farmland with wheat growing.

The track passed through Ash Farm and became a paved road leading to Seven Sisters Lane, where I turned right to cross the A537 Chelford Road onto Marthall Lane. I knew there was a left turn ahead, as I'd checked out some of the route on Google Maps beforehand, and sure enough it soon appeared. A paved driveway brought me to a narrow bridleway gate onto a grassy track, which was clearly feeling the benefit of the rain as in places it was quite tall, and you could feel soft patches where the water must have accumulated. The track bore round to the left and I came to a gate where the bridleway went up a bit of a climb with little to give an idea of where the path was other than a narrow trail of beaten down grass.

I struggled up the climb and at the end found myself back on road for a short while before diverting left onto another bridleway. This again was a narrow track through farmland, with a sign asking people to keep to the hedges around the field. It was turning into a harder ride now, the way was not obvious again, the ground was sporadically boggy where water had collected and cows had churned it up. I came to a gate into another field where cows were grazing, and trudged through the very boggy ground to the other side. I followed the hedge to a point where my computer told me I needed to go right, and then saw that this would take me along the hedge where cows were grazing! I decided to move out into the middle of the field to pass the cows, and as I was walking through the field I realised that ones of the cows had taken an interest in me, and was following. I shouted at it to stop it, but when I continued so did the cow! I shouted again, which now got the attention of the other cows, who clearly thought something interesting was going on, and moved towards me too! So I shouted again, and carried on moving, wondering if being knocked over by a herd of cows would trigger my Incident Detection. Fortunately I was walking quite quickly through the field, and managed to get to the hedge so if the worst happened I could keep that at my back. As the hedge veered to the left, I moved out of sight of the herd, and they must have lost interest. I came to another gate, getting through it quickly and breathing a sigh of relief. The going was better now, and I could ride again, and the bridleway took me to a road that lead to the Bulls Head pub in Mobberley. The route joined the Knutsford to Wilmslow road for a short while before turning left along Church Lane, passing the cricket club, the lovely St Wilfrid's Church, Mobberley Ice Cream Company, and then turning right onto Lady Lane before coming to the perimeter of Manchester Airport. 

Here I paused to take a photograph, watching a plane taking off and noticing a buzzard high up in the air. The track then dropped through a wooded area, becoming boggy again in places, before rejoining the roads on Ostler's Lane and heading south towards Knolls Green. Here the route rejoined the Wilmslow road for a short time before turning left onto Moss Lane and through to pass the Plough and Flail pub. After the pub, the route joins a stony / dirt track, passing Lindow Court Park, before rejoining tarmac at Moor Lane to head towards Fulshaw Park, where it turns left into Rotherwood Road. This turns into another stony / dirt track, uneven in places, but which goes through some lovely woodland.

The track narrows towards the end, and with the stony track being replaced by lots of old bricks, and vegetation encroaching. Eventually though, by Mossways Park, this becomes tarmac road again, and brings you out into Morley Green by the Cheshire Smokehouse. I continued on towards Wilmslow and turned left into Nansmoss Lane, following this to the junction with the A538 Altrincham to Wilmslow road. This is a very busy road, fortunately there is a wide shared path running alongside, and I followed this for a short while to cross over onto a road which took me to the Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate Country Park.

Although the road was a dead end, there were the occasional speed bumps in it to jolt over. I came to the Mill and found that the route took me up a flight of stone steps, then a gentle incline to leave the grounds and head into Styal. Here I turned left onto Altrincham Road, past the Ship Inn, where people were sitting outside in the warmth of the sun enjoying a cold drink. Sadly I had no money with me! At Holly Lane I turned right, and then left onto the Restricted Byway of Wilkins Lane, another stony / dirt track. On reaching the end at Moss Lane I turned left to follow the road back to Altrincham Road, and then right onto the old Altrincham Road, no longer open to traffic. This took me back to the airport perimeter, and past the Southside Manchester Viewing Area.

I left the airport perimeter and rode through a lovely meadow down to the Bollin Valley Way, at the end of which I turned into the Airport Inn Car Park, and crossed the A538 to ride uphill on the shared path. At Morley Green Road I turned right, and followed this to pass the Cheshire Smokehouse and from there retrace the route back past Mossways Park and along Rotherwood Lane to Fulshaw Park on the outskirts of Wilmslow. Following various roads to Upcast Lane, I turned right onto a bridleway opposite Lindow Cricket Club. This was an easy ride along a decent gravel surface, and at the end I turned right onto Clay Lane which turned into a stony dirt track and passed a field of  alpacas and llamas. One alpaca was sitting proudly atop a mound of dirt!

The track changed here into a narrow dirt singletrack, squeezing between trees and fence and with roots and boggy bits making it hard going. It soon returned to a wider farm track though, before reaching a road again, eventually threading through to the Wilmslow to Knutsford road. Here I headed towards Knutsford for a brief spell, before turning left onto Warford Lane and then right onto the wonderfully named Noahs Ark Lane, nice and leafy but sadly no animals two by two! At the end in Warford I turned left for Great Warford and then back towards Little Warford. Just past the David Lewis Centre I turned left onto a bridleway which started out as an easy riding stony / dirt track, however just past the centre it turned off through what looked like a tree nursery, with a barely discernable track at the edge of the field to follow. A little further on this passed through some woodland and here the track became very boggy, so much so that it was necessary to push the bike through the muddy sections. I soon got back on tarmac, much to my relief, and came to the outskirts of Chelford, where I turned right, crossed the main road and headed along Pepper Street, and turned right onto another bridleway.

At the end of this, I rejoined the road and turned off on an unnamed lane to reach Sandhole Lane, where a double decker bus was being restored in a garage across the road. I turned left onto another bridleway which went through a field that had been mowed, so no previous evidence of where people had gone. My computer directed me straight ahead, but I couldn't see anything obvious so followed the hedge to leave the field, but my computer was beeping at me to make a U-turn. I noticed another entrance to the field, followed that and managed to pick up the bridleway again. It became very narrow again, and also very bumpy underfoot (underwheel?) where many horses must have trodden passing through. It was becoming a real struggle and fight to keep the bike going with enough forward momentum, and I had to stop and hike several times, even when I had left the fields and had joined what seemed to be a normal track. Eventually I came to the end of the bridleway on Stocks Lane again, and followed the road left and then right to cross over the road towards Goostrey. 

After a mile or so I came to what would be the last bridleway of the day, and turned right off the road. This immediately became a very claustrophobic, narrow track, with the vegetation seriously in need of a bit of management. In addition to this, the track didn't go straight but meandered, so surprises were often thrown up around a corner, including lots of muddy little areas around exposed tree roots that demanded a full focus to get through. Eventually the bridleway widened and turned into a paved road that came to Boots Green, where Laureen's Ride continues straight on to cross the A50 into Townfield Lane, which is where I picked it up earlier. As I'd now completed the route, I turned left to head into Goostrey. 

At Goostrey I crossed straight over onto Hermitage Lane, which has some truly awful sections with many clumps of shallow potholes. From here I rode into Holmes Chapel, ignoring my planned route on another Restricted Byway (which had more to do with fatigue than anything else - in hindsight I wish I'd done it), and from Holmes Chapel down the A50 to Brereton Green, where I turned right onto Back Lane, left onto Ward's Lane into Sandbach and back home.

It had been a mostly fun and interesting day, and with all the new roads to me it had at times felt like a typical Scotland trip. There were probably three sections of the route that I'd avoid if I did it again, and you can probably guess which these were. You'd need some very fit and strong family and friends on bicycles if you were going to drag them along on your horse ride, but maybe when the route was conceived the grounds weren't as churned up from the amount of rain we've had this last year or two. At the end of the day, it had been a pretty decent day on the bike.

The (No) Sundown 60 2024

Must admit I didn't have the usual level of anticipation and excitement for the Sundown 60 ride this year, following the loss of Sandra's mum at the end of April. Losing someone you love leaves a huge gap in your heart, and it does take away your mojo for a while. However, the weekend came and so I packed up the car with the usual camping paraphernalia and set off to pick up my son, Scott, who had decided to join me this year. It was quite a nice day when we set off, and considering it was a Bank Holiday Saturday the traffic was fairly decent and we made good time to the A64. Here the weather changed to overcast as we joined the heavy traffic heading towards York and the coast. 

The sat nav had a change of heart here, and rather than sending me down the A64 after York, where I knew there'd be long queues, it offered a chance to go via the A166 even though that was closed at Stamford Bridge, suggesting I'd save fifteen minutes. I'd diverted along here last year, due to heavy traffic, so had an inkling of what to expect, however when we hit a queue of stationary traffic a little later it didn't look great. Nothing was moving for a long while, but when we did eventually get going again we came to the reason why - three way traffic signals at road works with a very narrow (7 feet!) possibly traffic calming measure. Judging by the number of scrapes along the side plenty of drivers couldn't navigate through carefully enough, no wonder traffic wasn't moving!

Once through we made good time to the Wold Top Brewery where I followed the signs for camping through the brewery and onto the camping field. After being kept awake until the ridiculously early hours by inconsiderate campers last year, I headed straight across to the far side of the field to set the tent up. The first thing I noticed when I got out of the car was how chuffing cold it was! A week ago the forecast was for a sunny day with a clear night, perfect for a good sunset. Now it was likely to rain later in the day, indeed the field was damp and there had been heavy rain in North Yorkshire a couple of days beforehand. I'd been debating over choice of clothing for the ride earlier in the week, but it was between short sleeved and long sleeved tops - I'd discarded the idea of thermal bottoms. I was now beginning to regret that decision, as even with my long sleeved jersey and base layer it felt chilly. Ah well, I'd surely warm up on the ride.

A new feature of the event this year was to set the riders off according to expected average speed. Previously I'd held back to set off amongst the last, but as the first group to go were the 12-14mph group we found ourselves in the very first group to set off (I would have loved to make 14mph for the route). After a selfie we set off, Scott nearly riding into the back of me, and after the usual nice downhill out of the brewery we headed west through Wold Newton towards Foxholes, being passed by cars and some of the faster cyclists who'd set off after us. I wondered how many of them realised it was sixty miles and we had a tailwind start. 

At Foxholes we crossed the Scarborough road, and the traffic calmed down after this, although there were still groups of faster cyclists coming through. After one such group had gone past, I heard a shout from behind "I'm just going to wheel suck for a while". It was a lady cyclist, so I shouted "No problem" and made sure I kept a reasonable speed so that we didn't drop her. I had to call Scott to slow down a little a couple of times as well, as I knew what the rest of the day would bring and knew we had to keep some energy in reserve for the latter stages. Soon the lady behind pulled out past us and I noticed she had Little Miss Chatterbox on her jersey, and remembered her from previous years! The route climbs gently from Wold Newton to Duggleby, at which point there is a mile long climb. We passed Little Miss Chatterbox on this and at the top enjoyed a good downhill to North Grimston, after which the road continued generally downhill. We were often passed by the faster riders, many of whom had really noisy freewheels. I'm not sure why they made so much noise, as my Shimano freewheels are quiet and my SRAM one only makes a little clicking. I wondered if it was a "look at my expensive bike" audible badge, as it did seem limited to some upper range bikes. Whatever the reason, it would do my head in if I owned one of them!

After another climb and steep downhill to a road junction we passed Kirkham Abbey, crossing a lovely bridge over the River Derwent and beginning a half mile 10% climb. We passed a couple of cyclists on the narrow road, but got stuck behind a couple spread across the road towards the top, after which we turned left on Riders Lane, crossing the York Scarborough railway line for a second time. At the end of the lane we turned left and began our return to the brewery over Howsham Bridge. This marked the start of a five mile stretch which climbed over 700 feet! The gradient varies, but it is hard at the start and even harder three and a half miles later after Leavening. We passed Ryedale Vineyards just before Leavening, and passed the even more tempting Jolly Farmers pub at Leavening too! Despite the effort required, we were rewarded with some wonderfully panoramic views over the Wolds. Eventually we reached the high point of the ride at Aldro and were treated to a lovely three miles descent to the feed stop at Thixendale. I love this section of the ride, the smooth road flowing between steep sided pastures with sheep grazing (though no Highland cattle this year). Too soon we were in the village and pulling into the village hall, thronging with hungry cyclists. 

It was a good Yorkshire spread, with Yorkshire tea, ginger parkin and Seabrooks crisps. After replenishing our energy levels we set off again. The usual post cafe stop chill kicked in when we got going again, although Scott had cleverly packed a gilet and popped this on (he still had bare arms though!). We rode along on a rough, occasionally badly pot holed road towards Fimber, where after a short steep climb we were treated with a nice downhill to cross the Beverley Road at a roundabout and begin the climb up to Sledmere. Although a longish climb at two miles, it is a fairly forgiving gradient throughout, and we soon found ourselves passing Sledmere House and Gardens. At Sledmere we turned left following the Yorkshire Wolds Way cycle route. We saw several signs for this on the ride, and I'm due to ride the Yorkshire Wolds Way Cycle Challenge at the end of June, cycling the full length of the route over two days. The road from Sledmere was a good one, being generally downhill for around four miles to Helperthorpe, picking up the road on which we'd ridden outwards. 

We retraced our steps back towards Wold Newton for a couple of miles, feeling the wind that had pushed us on the outward leg and which now was wearyingly in our face. Before Butterwick we turned right, for a mile of climbing up to the B1253 where we turned left for a little more climbing before crossing the Scarborough road and passing East Riding Crematorium. On a good day you can see the North Sea from here, needless to say we didn't see anything. We'd felt a couple of spits in the air, but as yet nothing had come of it. A little further on we turned left towards Octon, and at a bus shelter we stopped for an energy gel, and for me to water the weeds. We remounted, and shortly after the spits started coming with more frequency and so I stopped to don my rain jacket. At Thwing we turned north for a cracking descent to Wold Newton. We technically broke the speed limit along this road, fortunately there were no speed cameras to catch us.

At Wold Newton we started the penultimate climb of the day, a mile up towards Fordon at 4 - 8%. There were a few more cyclists around us here, some of them stopping for a rest before the climb, some of whom we overtook. After the summit we dropped carefully into Fordon and turned right on the road leading to the brewery. Scott said at this point to leave him if he stalled on the final climb of the brewery drive, but I told him he'd be fine. We turned into the drive and immediately headed upwards, crested the worst part of the climb and took the last little incline which felt almost like a flat road after the earlier section. Here I pushed on the pedals and sprinted away from Scott to pass through the finish line first - you have to crush the youngsters spirit don't you! We signed in, got our beer and food tokens, looked at the queue for fish and chips and decided to have the beer first! 

After a well deserved pint, we went back to the car, fetched our clothes and got showered, then joined the by now shorter food queue and sat with our fish and chips in the spitting rain. Finishing our tea, we had a few more beers and whisky under the covers as the spitting had turned into a very damp drizzle. We didn't bother checking the sunset times as there was absolutely no chance of seeing any kind of sunset.

All in all a pretty good day, followed up by a full English at Redcliffe Farm, then a trip to the Spirit of Yorkshire distillery before returning home, fondly(!) remembering what a ball ache it was driving from Scarborough to York on the A64!