27/3/22
First half way decent ride this year. While checking over the Linear I removed the lightweight front carrier as the P clips weren’t up to even its tiny weight. If I find something stronger it may go back on in the future.
A few frustratingly fine days have gone by with cycling opportunities blocked by mundane tasks. Today I have time so I get my things together and go. At the back of my mind is an eventual tour in Wales this year, with better preparation and fitness than last year’s jaunt. I’d hoped to have been able to get out and ridden more by now, but it is what it is.
Looking reasonably presentable today. Least worst shoes, slim fit black trousers, blue fleece top as despite the sunshine the wind is cool at times. Black baseball cap and shades. Everlasting track mitts.
I wheel my lengthy steed through the gate and lean it against my fence. I park my aged bod on the garden chair which provides the rider’s perch. My hands wander over the controls. I fiddle with the mirror and get a feel for all the levers. Not so much a cockpit check but my fingers fall easily on to the familiar controls. I reflect on the terrifying strangeness that it once had. It must be baffling to anyone used to a conventional bike. Now it’s familiar territory to me. I have moved things about and made changes over time.
On the left bar end is the shifter for the three speed hub. Normally in middle gear, it gives the option for an extra low range or extra high range when needed. Where the bar end joins the handlebar is a friction lever for the double chainring up ahead. Next to that is a button for an electronic buzzer in case the bell doesn’t attract attention.
On the right bar end is a Sun Tour Bar Con to operate the seven derailleur gears on the rear hub. Where the bar end meets the handlebar is another friction lever. This works a large chrome bell on the accessory bar at the front via a gear cable. The friction is wound off on this lever so the spring on the bell can pull it back.
The brake levers point upwards. The left one operates the rear double caliper brake, the right one operates the front drum.
It’s all fairly symmetrical.
Ah well, enough self indulgent pondering. I look round, see the coast is clear, place my right foot on the right pedal at just before 12 O’clock, push, sweep up my left foot on to the left pedal and roll along the pavement to a spot where the kerb dips before crossing over and get into a rhythm. Not much traffic, on to the uphill lights, trundle through on green without stopping.
Although I haven’t ridden this bike in earnest for far too long, everything falls into place just as it does on my DF bike.
I’ve not replaced my cycle computer since it jumped overboard and disappeared on my last ride as I’ve been hoping to pick up a Garmin SatNav which I can transfer from bike to bike. In the meantime it’s quite relaxing to ride without one. No idea what speed I’m doing, average, etc.
I keep rolling until I reach the A54 roundabout, ease off speed and insert myself into the minimal traffic before turning right down the long hill to the town centre. I enjoy the breeze before turning left into Grange Lane. Mostly level or downhill until I climb out of a dip up to the access to the Whitegate Way.
Shortly after I pass a sign proclaiming “No Motorcycles or Quads” and climb up the access ramp I see parked up a pair of small motor bikes, one with a number plate, one without. Their riders are sitting at a picnic table not far away. One of them shouts, “I bet that takes some concentration” and I reply,”not really”. I could give them lots of advice about where you can and cannot ride a moped or motorbike based on all the enjoyment having a motor bike has given me over the years but doubt it would do any good. I’m not going to let it spoil my day.
There are quite a few other people about, mostly with dogs, some walking for the fun of it.
I carry on. The tree lined former rail line is loud with birdsong. Maybe it is just birds thuggishly claiming territory and seeing off their rivals but it all sounds joyful to me. After a mile or two of gradual uphill I am heating up so stop to put my top into the bag.
I pass a few more walkers and dogs coming the other way. A middle aged couple comes the other way, and the woman says, unexpectedly, “that’s a cool bike!” I say thank you, and keep on rolling.
The first such comment this year.
I see a balloon tied to a bench in the distance and as I come closer I see that it is a new one with fresh unweathered wood. The balloon says “Happy Mother’s day” and alongside the bench is a container of fresh flowers. I keep rolling and decide to have a closer look on the way back.
Ahead is a young mum cycling with a small boy on a tiny bike pedalling energetically behind her. I ease back a bit and let them enjoy their ride. Soon we come to the old Whitegate station where they turn off into the car park and I carry on.
The walkers thin out after passing under Whitegate Station bridge and I’m left to enjoy the peace and quiet. I realise how much I’ve missed being out on the bike.
As I approach Kennel Lane bridge I come up behind a group of walkers straggling all over the path but by the time I reach them they’ve turned up the slope to the bridge and Kennel Lane.
The trend is downhill after the bridge making for easy pedalling. I change up to the large chainring. The surface has dried out well after the last few weeks of miserable cold and wet. The tyres are very audible on the gritty surface, particularly the Big Apple on the front.
I come up behind a walker moving briskly along. He is wearing everyday clothes rather than walking gear, no backpack or hat. He stands out due to this. He doesn’t reply to my “hello” in passing. As he diminishes in my mirror he is still keeping up his pace.
Despite now being in a shady cutting it is still bright and warm. I pass under a bridge beneath a local lane, heavily reinforced with concrete supports which make it gloomy underneath.
I hear traffic and soon a wide bridge comes into sight. I pass under the A49, feeling the vibration as trucks pass overhead. A couple of mountain bikers pass by in the uphill direction.
The line curves to the right and comes out of the cutting. It is soon on an embankment. A bit further on I know that the track curves away from the original line, which is covered in woodland, separated by fencing. An unseen train rumbles by on the main line, probably passing the site of the historical junction with this line.
I come to a picnic bench and information board. Here I stop for a snack.
As soon as I stop I feel the cool wind and put my fleece top back on. The track is at the same level as the adjoining fields on this side. There is woodland on the other side, and a path leads down some steps to join the Delamere Loop bridleway.
I have ridden that route in the past on my tourer in the dry but it becomes very muddy in places when wet and probably a mountain bike would be more suitable especially in the winter. The first part is also rutted and quite undulating. I don’t have any ambitions to ride my recumbent that way today. It’s probably do-able but I would probably end up pushing it in places.
My original plan was just to do an out and back to the point I’m now at. I feel like pressing on but I reflect that it’s better to get home feeling that I want to do more, than to overdo my first proper ride this year and get home feeling wrung out.
While I’m putting my stuff away a mountain biker emerges from that path looking a bit flustered. I see that he’s got an electric bike which it looks like he’s struggled with to get up the steps. He nods at me then heads off up the slope.
I start off then realise I’ll need to be on the small ring so change down. The electric mountain biker is long gone so I just take it easy. I have a few attempts at taking photos on the move and manage it without falling off.
The A49 Bridge.
Going under the A49 Bridge
I pass under the first two bridges then stop to take my top off as I’m heating up again.
Kennel lane bridge -"the third bridge"
After the third bridge I encounter a horse and rider coming towards me As they get closer I notice that the horse is shaking its head and breaking its stride so I pull in to my side and stop. Horse and rider pass by and I say “Hello”. The rider doesn’t reply.
Not many walkers on this stretch but a few mountain bikers pass in the opposite direction. Something I have observed today is that many people walking dogs have two or three dogs with them, mostly small ones. I don’t remember many people having multiple dogs before or during the pandemic. Maybe it’s just coincidental.
I carry on through part of the old line where the trees fall back and the route levels out.
I change back to the large chainring and find myself moving faster than expected. The trees close in again then open out before Whitegate bridge. I arrive at the old station and stop to set up for a photo.
A woman of mature years walking a retriever stops and says, “That’s an interesting bike. I bet you get fed up with people stopping you to ask about it. Is that what they call a recumbent bike?” So naturally I feel duty bound to fill in some details. I think afterwards that its such an unlikely combination, an old geezer like me on a vintage recumbent becoming some sort of babe magnet. It does seem to be more women than men who show an interest. It can’t just be my youthful, magnetic charm as that ship sailed long ago. Not even a fridge magnet today.
The retriever lady carries on walking her dog, and I take some photos.
The old platform.
Note the collection of hands on the wall above the fence.
I know that the rest of my route back to tarmac is varying degrees of downhill, so I leave the chain on the big ring. I’m alongside the old station platform so I hold myself up with one hand, put both feet on the pedals, and launch. Simple and so gratifying compared with the usual launch routine.
Rolling along, through the barrier into a corner of the car park then through the narrow access on to the trail again, the closely spaced posts blurring past in my peripheral vision at each side. Remembering how anxious I used to be about passing through narrow gaps when I first started using this bike.
The surface rushes by a short distance beneath me as the pedals turn majestically slowly in high gear. Soon I see a balloon attached to a bench and a colourful splash of flowers. I stop at the bench. The balloon still reads “Happy Mother’s Day”. A plaque on the bench commemorates the parents of three named offspring. By the newness of the bench it is a recent bereavement. Quite poignant that they are still wishing the departed a happy Mother’s Day. I don’t take a photo as it feels like an intrusion into someone’s recent grief.
I continue thoughtfully on my way. There are more cyclists about now. Two roadies overtake me after we have negotiated a group of walkers and dogs, with a “Thanks, buddy”.
Another bike appears in the distance and rapidly approaches, coming uphill. First I see the rider is not pedalling, then I see there are no pedals, then I see it’s all black. It’s obviously an electric moped or motorbike. As he goes by I say, “you’re gonna get done!” I doubt that he heard me. It’s most likely one of the bikes I saw earlier.
I carry on, down the slope to Grange Lane. Down the dip, up the gradual slope on the other side, then across the sports centre car park. I hear a small boy wailing for his mum and come across him sitting on the path by the kids’ playground with his shoe off, holding his foot. I say, “Hello, have you fallen over? He stops wailing to watch me go by then when I turn the corner out of sight starts again. “Mummy, where
are you?” sounding more cross now. Plenty of people about, I’m sure he’ll survive.
I’m following the path towards the dreaded “A” frame barrier which I haven’t done battle with yet this year.
A dog walker pulls his two dogs towards him as I go by and says, “Are you going to get up that hill?” “I don’t know, I’m not feeling very fit” I reply.
Still, after wriggling through the barrier, I just get on and ride up it, not even needing to change to low gear on the hub gear. Quite gratifying, actually. I’m not such a wreck as I thought.
Out on to the estate road, left on to Delamere St and then right on to Woodford Lane after an obliging motorist flashes to let me through rather than let me be stuck between two lanes of traffic going in opposite directions. I don’t even have to stop and put a foot down. Either a) people are just nicer than you might expect or b) it’s the recumbent factor and he wanted to see the bike go past.
Left at the end of Woodford Lane then across the A54 at a cycle/pedestrian crossing point. A long downhill along an estate road then a slightly undulating route to my back gate.
Felt pretty good on getting home. I'm hoping that the forecast cold spell is not severe enough to stop me getting out again soon.
Total Ascent: | 411 | ft | 11.9 m |
| Total Descent: | 412 | ft | 139 ft |
| Start Elevation: | 188 | ft | |
| End Elevation: | 188 | ft | |
| Min Elevation: | 119 | ft | |
| Max Elevation: | 277 | ft | |
14.68 miles according to BikeHike. 56ft per mile ascent approx.
A bit slower than hoped but the March challenge ride is bagged and all being well I can improve on that for the next one.
