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.