Riding off road in the mud is fun, or rather, it can be fun. It can also be a pain in the backside but when the conditions are right you just can't beat a bit of dirty playing.
Being rather mild, and with the sun out, I ventured out on my Camino for a winter spin, starting off with a stretch long the canal near us. A good towpath surface, and with no dog walkers or anglers it was a fun blast riding alongside the canal. At the bridge I doubled back on the road on the opposite side and headed for the Wheelock Rail Trail, a short blast punctuated into two parts by the bypass. A few more dog walkers here, but people free after crossing the bypass, where I soon turned onto the canalside again. No smooth gravel path here, just some tracks in the grass with mud and fallen leaf debris. A couple of locks to ride up before exiting at Malkins Bank and following Betchton Road into Hassall, turning down Roughwood Lane and passing the Pottery Barn, before turning right to drop down and pick up the Salt Line at its midpoint break.
From here I headed into Alsager on the Salt Line, a smooth track as you would expect from a former rail line. I passed a few people as I cycled on, some cheerily acknowledging me, others being more miserable. At the end I crossed over into Cherry Lane, climbing up on the tarmac to head back on Sandbach Road before turning off onto Betchton Lane to head back to the Salt Line mid point. Here I rejoined the Salt Line in the other direction, back towards Hassall Green, seeing nobody and looking around me at all the glorious winter colours. At Hassall Green I turned right to pick up the canal again, and rode back on the firm(ish) muddy tracks alongside the water, over tree roots, avoiding the muddier lines, flying down the grassy slopes of locks and going cautiously down the cobbled sections.
All too soon I came off the canal to rejoin the Rail Trail and head back past Wheelock station, past the football club to exit the trail at Abbey Road. I rode along Salt Line Way, turning left into Moston Road and down the side of Bargain Booze / Select Convenience along Sandy Lane, into Elton Road and home. Just over an hour, it was a fun ride, occasionally bit of an effort up the odd hill but one of those days where it just feels good to be alive, and fortunate to be able to ride a bike along such great countryside. I'm 64, I feel 14 again.
