Miles

No, not Miles Hunt, (was going to put a long list of "Miles" here but couldnt think of any of them) but the miles I did over the weekend… a grand total of 41 of them! No wonder this morning why my neck and back feel a little sore....

Well, I can see you are getting all excited waiting for me to tell you all about the two rides I did….. blimey J. Saturday first then.

My plan on Saturday was to get up nice and early and head to Birmingham but in the end, I didn’t roll out of bed until just after 7, so missed the start time (Its more the return time I was thinking about as I was planning to get the train back and by 11 to 12am, they might be busy and difficult to get my bike on). So instead I thought…lets go to Newport along the Greenway…..

The Greenway, or the old Stafford to Wellington railway line closed in the 1960’s and slowly, has been turned into a cycle path….well at least as far as Gnosall. That bit of the route is easy (if a little bumpy over the first few miles) with a slight up hill slope (perhaps a 50 foot “climb” over 3 or 4 miles…. You do notice it when you come back down as you can pick up some speed….. However, when you get to Gnosall, the path hasn’t been “made” so is only followable where people have walked.

So, out of Gnosall the first stretch is fine as dog walkers use it so the path is solid if a bit muddy at times (???? How can it be solid and muddy….. I know what I mean!). There is a lovely bit when the track goes under the A518 with a very high bridge and a sandstone cliff…. I will work out how to put pictures on here one day. The next bit is also fine for a mile or so until you hit them….. the loose gravel (or more likely ballast). Its horrible and deep and impossible to cycle through. So much so, people have made a separate path around this section which is also a bit nasty as there are loads of tree roots to bounce over.

The last section… blimey, its rough! Indeed, its difficult to find the route as not many people walk it and the grass which covers it was about 3 foot high! Speeds drop considerable over this section…not that I go very fast anyway!!!.... and I dropped as well when I hit an unseen muddy patch and came off over the right side. (add embarrassed icon here). I managed to displace the handlebars and get loads of crap in my gears which took ages to clean out. Oh, and I also banged my left knee…. But I landed on my right side????? Can’t work that one out.

Well got to the end of the track…about 11 miles from home, in just under two hours. I know that’s not great but I think it took me about 10 mins to get the bike fixed after my “crash.” I didn’t go into Newport as I will leave that reward for another day.

The ride back was difficult to start with due to the problems above, but once the other side of Gnosall I could pick up speed as outlined above.

Here is the route. Total time out…3 hours 45. Total cycling time. About 3 hours 20 mines.

http://gb.mapometer.com/en/cycling/route_197804.html