The garden chair rides again. It has been so muggy the last few days that I have not been motivated to go out on the bike. Today I thought I ought to go. No sooner had I got the Linear on to the road outside the house than three teenagers passed by on the pavement. There was a younger one on a bike, and a girl and a lanky lad. The lanky one said, "Hey! That's a sick bike!" A vision of diced carrots and an acrid taste passed through my mind before he said, "I do so like that bike!" The other two said nothing, so I replied, "Well, it's a bit different." They carried on walking, and I adjusted my mirror and launched. (That's not another word for throwing up. Or maybe it is, in some circles - "I'm terribly sorry. I've just launched my lunch").
I pedalled gently round the block, then joined the main road. I came to my local uphill traffic lights preparing for the uphill launch but pedalling s-l-o-w-l-y to the line the lights changed just as I got there, and I rolled through smoothly. Not too much traffic about, and I came to the roundabout on the A54, stopped at the lights then carried on.
After a mile or so I turned right into an estate then after a short downhill turned left onto a steep track which leads down to a sports centre and playing fields. Here the entrance is through an A -frame barrier which I have cycled through many times on my upright bike but so far have had to push through on this recumbent. Now that the mirror has reached its final position (I hope), I should be able to ride through. The access is downhill, so should be easy. I waited for a dog walker and a mountain biker to come through. Surprisingly the mountain biker got off to push his bike through the barrier then pushed his bike up the hill. It is very steep but I can get up it on my tourer. I noticed that he was drenched with sweat, and now that I had stopped moving I felt the heat too. I said "It's a bit hot for this", and he replied "It seemed like a good idea when I started out, not so sure now!"
A slight hitch when your bike is 88" long is that there is not a straight run at the barrier.
Still, going downhill, not too much of a problem. It is a lot steeper than it looks.
Roll slowly through, keep the front end towards the left to avoid bashing the mirror and once inside the barrier stick your elbows out to keep upright, and pedal through!
Unfortunately I don't have the knack of being able to take pictures while actually riding! Once I got rolling again down the path through the sports fields it was pleasantly cool. After reaching the road I turned left on to Grange Lane which connects this part of Winsford with Whitegate.
On a muggy day like today it has the advantage of being mainly downhill. Grange Lane has vehicle barriers at both ends. There is access for walkers, cyclists and horses, otherwise it is used for farm traffic. The surface is uneven but rideable depending on the weather. Currently it is dry and dusty, but with a bit of rain becomes very muddy with many puddles.
Towards the Whitegate end what appears to be the main lane is actually a farm road. The lane itself continues to the left and looks more like a footpath.
It is very overgrown at the moment.
It continues into a wood. Here a tiny brown frog hopped across the path in front of me but by the time I got my camera on to it it had disappeared into a pile of leaves. After the wood the path opens up into a road again, giving access to some houses in Whitegate village.
After regaining the road I turned right on to Mill Lane, up a short sharp hill , then level and a gradual downhill, pushing easily in a high gear to let momentum carry me through a dip before dropping down a steep winding descent. Unfortunately there had been an increase in traffic in both directions so I wasn't able to straighten out the bends to maximise speed downhill. It was still a pleasant contrast to the last nadgery slow speed section. Also I had a chance to try out the brakes. The rear caliper which came on the bike wasn't too inspiring but having replaced it with an old school BMX Dia Compe Big Dog double pivot caliper and Clarks MTB pads there is a noticeable improvement. Due to the weight distribution of this type of recumbent, the rear brake is the main brake, so this is a significant upgrade.
Next a level stretch, then right across a narrow bridge past Meadowbank and the rock salt mine, then Mill Lane becomes Bradford road.
I had intended to get onto the old railway line here where the branch to the salt mine met the road, but there was a lot of traffic coming from the opposite direction which made it difficult to turn right at the point where the pavement is lowered for the access point. Unlike an MTB, you can't just bunny hop up the kerb on one of these! The old railway has a branch which continues alongside Bradford Road and I got on it further along at the next access point. This meant doubling back for a short time but what the hey, it's a leisure ride.
Rolling along, no pressure, a good surface, shaded by the trees, I was feeling pretty chilled in my garden chair on wheels, just enjoying the breeze and lazily twirling the pedals.
I had it on good, if youthful, authority that I was riding a sick bike, innit.
I carried on to the junction with the main part of the old railway path and followed it in the direction of Whitegate. It was very pleasant. I could have gone faster, but then I would have got hotter. There were many flies about, but although they were a nuisance they didn't seem interested in biting me. I think that even at 8mph I can ride faster than a fly can fly, in still air.
Eventually turned off left at the site of the former bridge at Grange Lane, back towards the sports complex and playing fields. On Grange Lane I spotted in the distance 3 teenagers, one younger one on a bike, a girl and a lanky lad. "it's that man again" one of them said, and the lanky one said, "give us a ride!" as I went past. I just smiled and carried on. I cycled along the path between the playing fields and passed three young boys and one of them said, "look at that sick bike!" That's twice today I've heard "sick" used in that context, never heard it before unless on TV etc.
Getting psyched up for the A-frame now, dropping down the gears, starting the climb, bottom gear on the derailleur, then bottom gear on the hub gear, something not right, not fully engaged so had to lose momentum to back pedal briefly. Gear selected, but going too slowly now and wobbled to a halt. Got lined up, but couldn't speed up enough on the slope to hold a line, zig zagged then stalled 2 feet from the barrier. Not only stalled, but fell over in a patch of nettles. That's a first for me, not fallen off this bike before. Then a group of schoolkids came down the hill (it was that time of day). One of them asked if I was OK, having heard my expressions of displeasure on making acquaintance with the nettles. Well, it could have been worse. At least I didn't land on my face. No photos of this event. More interested in being somewhere else, quickly.
The bike was OK. I got through the barrier and pushed it up the hill in record time, powered by embarrassment. After reaching a flatter section round a corner I sat on the bike, pondering its (or my) limitations. Apart from the prickliness from the nettles I actually felt OK. How could I have done better today? Perhaps turned round after stopping the first time and got a proper run up to maintain speed? Perhaps this manouevre is beyond the bike's design limitations. Or, just a matter of practice. The bike's good points outweigh any shortcomings even if I ultimately do have to get off and push in similar circumstances in future.
The rest of the ride home was uneventful, and despite the highs and lows it had been a varied and interesting experience.
Mileage a massive 12.5 miles, Max speed 27.2mph, Average 8.9mph due to trying not to break into a sweat.
) I settled down (amongst the rubbish 
) to eat my blackberries by the windmill. Oddly this first shot looks a bit like a dewy early morning, but I can assure you it wasn't!
