Today, six weeks after breaking my collarbone, I got back on the bike. Not on a stationary trainer in the garage, but in the real world! Virtual rides with videos are all very good, but it's nowhere near the real thing, you don't get the smells, you don't get 360 degree scenery, you don't get the warmth of the sun when it comes out, you don't get real interaction with other cyclists.
I was a bit nervous at first when loading and unloading the bike into and out of the car. My collarbone feels to have repaired itself well, but there is some tendon / muscle discomfort at times, exacerbated by lifting or moving in certain directions, so I'd planned a long route and prepared myself to turn back if it got too troublesome.
My planned route was from Hadfield to Penistone, on the Trans Pennine Trail. I'd ridden a little bit of it previously, and thought it would be a gentle test of the injury and how well it had healed. Well, I was mostly right! From the first few pedal revolutions it felt really good to be out on the bike again, and I swiftly settled into my rhythm. In the first few hundred yards there was a plethora of sights, sounds and smells that I had missed these last six weeks. The track went on at a gentle incline up towards Woodhead Tunnels, where the original railway line burrowed under the Peak District rather than facing steep inclines. No such luck for the cyclist, the tunnels are closed to the public, so the Trail goes overland.
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| Woodhead Tunnels |
Here, the trail leaves Woodhead Station with a sign pointing up a fairly steep access road. I rode up to the top to be faced with the busy A628, and no indications of which way to go. I thought this couldn't be right, so went back down the road to the station, checked the map on my computer for an alternate track out, didn't find one, so struggled up the hill again. I was wavering over whether to continue or not, before finally deciding to risk a ride up the still rising main road to try to find a track somewhere. The road was very busy and a little unnerving, and continually rising, but fortunately I spotted the Trail coming in from the left and crossing the road to continue on the right. The Trail then descended a gravel path to cross a small bridge before ascending another steep rocky path alongside some fields, eventually turning left and levelling to rejoin the A628, this time to cross the road again to pick up the road into Dunford Bridge.
The road started with a climb before topping out and descending into Dunford Bridge with views of Upper Windleden Reservoir. It was a steep descent with a long set of traffic light controlled roadworks on the right. At the end of the roadworks, I turned right onto the Trail into Penistone. The track here was a good gravel track with a slight descent, and the scenery in the sun was terrific - the decision to continue at Woodhead proved to be a good one. On entering Penistone, the Trail became more of a pavement than a track, so I decided to stop for lunch at Penistone train station.
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| Bench and sculpture at Penistone Train Station |
Once refreshed I set off for the return journey, only by this time grey clouds had rolled in and a fresh breeze had sprung up (headwind of course). I stopped to have a chat with a group of Sustrans volunteers before getting back to Dunford Bridge, and the steep climb up to the A628. I passed the lights at red, as there was plenty of road inside the cones to use, and struggled uphill. On reaching the lights at the top I saw a line of a couple of cars waiting to come down, and sure enough just as I was wanting to come out of the cones to pass the lights, the cars started to move. Fortunately they realised I needed to avoid stopping and waited for me, for which they got my grateful thanks.
At the A628 crossing I followed the track around the field again, and coming to the second crossing of the main road, decided to follow the Trail rather than the busy road that I'd come up. This turned interesting, a wide rough track with large puddles, and plenty of sheep. At one point I thought I saw a large dog ahead, possibly a Dobermann, and wondered if I was in for a savaging. Fortunately it turned out to be just a closely shorn black sheep! The rough track eventually turned into a grassy track, and started dropping down towards the reservoirs around Woodhead. Most of it was rideable but I came to a set of terraced deep steps, and with thoughts of six weeks previous on my mind, decided discretion was the better part of valour and walked down, eventually ending up at yet another crossing of the A628. Here, the Trail doubled back on itself and dropped down another steep rocky track, which I managed to carefully ride down, and popped out on the steep access road to Woodhead! It was easily missed going up, as the entrance was hidden by overgrown hedges, but I really should have seen it when I went down earlier.
The return from Woodhead was nice and easy, being a gentle downhill back to Hadfield where I loaded the bike into the car and drove home. I really enjoyed the ride, and had no reaction from my injury which bodes well for my return to Scotland in just over four weeks time.
