Another record ride.

After a Saturday when I couldn’t get myself off the sofa: sigh, I found myself with two days to do 38 odd miles to make my target for the month…glup. I suppose I could do two 20 mile trips over today and Bank Holiday Monday???…lets see eh.

Well the morning started lovely and bright with blue skies…perfect cycling weather…well it was until I got my bike out, returned to feed the cats…. Got chased by one of our squirrels who wanted his breakfast nuts. Sigh. By now the sky had greyed over and the wind picked up to what seemed like gale force….actually, just checked and it was gusting to 18mph which really isn’t that strong.

Well, off I went with only half a plan in mind and no maps on board so if I did stray, I would have to have half an idea where I was going. Anyway, off the back way to Penkridge along a road they are re surfacing and then the back road toward Pottle Pool/Cannock Chase.

Now I haven’t been on this road for years and when I did use it previously, I used to come the other way…. The down hill way! I forgot how much of a climb it was… not massive but long and grinding. Thankfully, there was a down hill stretch to Sheepwash Lane. Now my plan was in the start to return home from this point but that would mean the ride was only about 20 miles and I felt okay, so I thought… well, not sure what I thought but soon after I was climbing the slight hill which killed the chain last week. Good news this time…the chain remained in whole and off I went, rather pleased, over the A5 and along past the disused canal and onto Straight Mile which is…er, straight. (not sure if it’s a mile long)

From there, I was still feeling okay so down the Old Stafford Road and onto Paradise Road….always makes me laugh that name as the road goes by the prison! Well a quick loop on the outskirts of Wolverhampton, a quick blast back along the Old Stafford Road and the A449, I found myself at Gailey.

Hummmm…choices, choices… I could just carry on using the cycle path along the A449 to Penkridge, or I could be adventurous and go a short way along the A5 and then use the back road to Penkridge…. That’s what I did…. The A5.…glup! (it wasn’t too busy thankfully!!!)

Re-tracing my pedal steps home from there saw me climb the railway bridge slop in my smallest gear (small front ring…not that hard yet) and then up the next bank on the road… well I was impressed!

So, overall, what was going to be about 20 miles, ended up as 31.98 miles…sigh… I wish I had gone around the block to make it 32 miles!!!… at an average of 12.5mph… pleased with that average over such a distance.

www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=17963


So…this months totals: 31.98 plus 210.39 = 242.37 leaving 7.63 tomorrow to reach the target.