A Monday off work and so I arranged to meet up with
@Rickshaw Phil for a ride. It was still a cool and blustery morning, to start, but some sun about which helped make things feel better than yesterday.
We met down by a nearby pub and whilst having a quick chat, heard a “are you lost gentleman” from a cyclist coming past us. No and we weren’t the last time you asked us, on the top of Charlton Hill, about 10 mile away! Slightly bizarre that we have seen the same cyclist twice in recent weeks and he’s said the same thing, but perhaps he greets all cyclists in the same way?!
We set out into the wind and it was quite hard going through Hook-a-gate and Annscroft, where we turned towards Hanwood. At the junction, where we wanted to continue ahead, onto new territory for me, we found road closed signs.....Not wanting to take the other route to Arscott, we decided to continue on and see what we found, which was the right thing to do, as there was no evidence of any roadworks having started, just plenty of signs warning us! Had a slight moment on the steep descent down Pound Lane, where a car was doing a rather dangerous 3 point turn, without looking properly and I had a sixth sense to slow right down, which was the correct decision, with the chap about to pull across in front of us.
We then crossed the main road and onto more new lanes to Cruckton, passing the rather grand looking hall, but it was tough going into the wind and a surprising amount of climbing. The next main road was crossed and we climbed up towards Shoothill, where Phil took me on a loop of the lanes, some of which I hadn’t ridden before and then a new lane for both of us, down towards Yockleton and Nox. That was a nice downhill and we finally had the wind behind us, which made for faster progress to Lea Cross and Arscott, then Exfords Green, Stapleton, Gonsal and Ryton.
From there, we took the lane to Longnor, which does hold plenty of water and mud, but seemed to have recently improved......however we met a cyclist who cheerily wished us an enjoyable swim ahead
. Sure enough, we rounded the bend and found a long and deep looking flood, where the water had poured off the fields into the road. We had a look at it and Phil decided to have a run up and give it a go. He just about made it through and so I doubled back to do the same, again just about free wheeling through to the other end, without getting too wet!
At Longnor, we paused for a snack lunch and then turned back North, so had to contend with the wind again at times, mainly as a crosswind though, through Frodesley and Acton Burnell. As we turned towards Pitchford, we found our second road closed of the day, for some much needed pothole repairs. This time, with an alternative route available, we didn’t risk carrying on past the closure, instead turning up past Concord College, where there was a nice display of spring flowers outside the main gate.
I decided to take us down the lane to Acton Pigott and Cound, which I’d not ridden for 6 years, according to Strava and it’s a nice fast downhill section, which was good fun. At Cound we were back on familiar lanes to Cound Stanks, where we decided to avoid the always muddy lane to Eaton Mascott and instead head up to the A458, which wasn’t too bad with traffic, after the initial wait for a stream to pass and it’s only a short section, before lanes again, to Berrington and King St.
That wind was a pain, on the final stint to Betton Abbots and back onto the A458, where the one moron of the ride flew past us in a red roller skate, almost clipping a car coming in the opposite direction
Good to get out and enjoy the company of Phil, with 33.83 miles and surprisingly 1452ft of climbing, with a slow wind effected 11.3mph avg.
