gavgav
Legendary Member
The final day of my long weekend for my birthday and I got out for the longest ride of 2016 so far for me, passing the 40 mile mark for the 1st time this year.
The Met Office forecast was for heavy overnight rain, clearing by 4am to a mild and windy day. I awoke at 9am to find it still raining, cold and no wind at all
.
I was heading up to @Rickshaw Phil 's house first of all, to meet his brother Doug, no Phil unfortunately as he was at work
. Our 10:30 meeting time was looking decidedly dodgy, with the weather, but it did relent just before I was due to set out and so it was a "quick" trip up to meet Doug, say hello to the rest of the family (including the dog who was very excitable 
!) before we headed through the village and out to Condover, Ryton and Longnor, where we paused for a rain radar check (it looked fine until 4pm
)
Doug in the gloom!
We were aiming for a pub lunch and so pressed on towards Church Stretton. On the narrow resurfaced section we were cruising quite nicely and a Mercedes came up behind us, with a hoot of the horn. I can only assume it was a "get out of my way" hoot, but we pulled into a layby and there was another hoot with a wave of thanks and so I'll let him off on this occasion.
We arrived at The Ragleth Inn, in Little Stretton, and had a very welcome pint and Sausage & Fried Onion Baguette with Chips, each, and it was just about mild enough (with 5 layers on!!) to sit outside and keep an eye on the bikes.
Very blurry selfie and one of Doug enjoying his Cider
After a pleasant hour chatting we got back on the bikes to begin the tough climbing section of the ride. It was blooming freezing as we doubled back through Church Stretton and I was glad to begin the long and testing climb up Folly Bank, just to warm up again. We wound our way up the climb and I arrived at the top about a minute ahead of Doug, just far enough to get the camera out and ready to snap him arriving
Whilst we were paused at the top, I noticed the bench, that I sit on quite frequently for some lunch, had a plaque on it that I hadn't seen before! Whether it was there before I really don't know, but it explains why the climb is called "Buftons Bank" on Strava
There is a nice descent into Cardington, spoilt somewhat by a large lorry blocking the road and the driver securing his load, before we branched off to Plaish and then the fast descent, where we had to negotiate a Sheep that was sat in the road and had the look of "this is my road" on its face.
There is then a bit of a lumpy section through Church Preen and Kenley, before we descended Kenley Bank, then the short sharp climb up to Concord College. We came across a queue of traffic there, waited a minute or so, before things started to move again. There is building work going on at the college and 2 massive low loaders had picked up some diggers and we're just departing. I wasn't about to squeeze past them on the narrow road
We arrived in Acton Burnell and the fast section to Pitchford and Cantlop, where Doug was branching off back home, to keep the ride manageable for him. I wanted to do a few more miles yet, but Doug did excellently considering this was his longest ride for many months and it's a hilly one. I'm sure with a couple more rides he will be ready for our Lake District Holiday that is coming up soon
.
I continued to Betton Abbots and then up Wenlock Rd, through Sutton Farm, along the old track bed, down to Meole Brace and then home, passing through my gate just as the heavy rain returned again. We had been very lucky on the ride, with just spots of rain here and there.
The roads had been filthy muddy and wet, so I hosed the bike down, having done 40.4 miles with 1840 ft of climbing, at an average of 11.2 mph.
The Met Office forecast was for heavy overnight rain, clearing by 4am to a mild and windy day. I awoke at 9am to find it still raining, cold and no wind at all
.I was heading up to @Rickshaw Phil 's house first of all, to meet his brother Doug, no Phil unfortunately as he was at work
. Our 10:30 meeting time was looking decidedly dodgy, with the weather, but it did relent just before I was due to set out and so it was a "quick" trip up to meet Doug, say hello to the rest of the family (including the dog who was very excitable !) before we headed through the village and out to Condover, Ryton and Longnor, where we paused for a rain radar check (it looked fine until 4pm)Doug in the gloom!
We were aiming for a pub lunch and so pressed on towards Church Stretton. On the narrow resurfaced section we were cruising quite nicely and a Mercedes came up behind us, with a hoot of the horn. I can only assume it was a "get out of my way" hoot, but we pulled into a layby and there was another hoot with a wave of thanks and so I'll let him off on this occasion.
We arrived at The Ragleth Inn, in Little Stretton, and had a very welcome pint and Sausage & Fried Onion Baguette with Chips, each, and it was just about mild enough (with 5 layers on!!) to sit outside and keep an eye on the bikes.
Very blurry selfie and one of Doug enjoying his Cider
After a pleasant hour chatting we got back on the bikes to begin the tough climbing section of the ride. It was blooming freezing as we doubled back through Church Stretton and I was glad to begin the long and testing climb up Folly Bank, just to warm up again. We wound our way up the climb and I arrived at the top about a minute ahead of Doug, just far enough to get the camera out and ready to snap him arriving
Whilst we were paused at the top, I noticed the bench, that I sit on quite frequently for some lunch, had a plaque on it that I hadn't seen before! Whether it was there before I really don't know, but it explains why the climb is called "Buftons Bank" on Strava
There is a nice descent into Cardington, spoilt somewhat by a large lorry blocking the road and the driver securing his load, before we branched off to Plaish and then the fast descent, where we had to negotiate a Sheep that was sat in the road and had the look of "this is my road" on its face
.There is then a bit of a lumpy section through Church Preen and Kenley, before we descended Kenley Bank, then the short sharp climb up to Concord College. We came across a queue of traffic there, waited a minute or so, before things started to move again. There is building work going on at the college and 2 massive low loaders had picked up some diggers and we're just departing. I wasn't about to squeeze past them on the narrow road
We arrived in Acton Burnell and the fast section to Pitchford and Cantlop, where Doug was branching off back home, to keep the ride manageable for him. I wanted to do a few more miles yet, but Doug did excellently considering this was his longest ride for many months and it's a hilly one. I'm sure with a couple more rides he will be ready for our Lake District Holiday that is coming up soon
.I continued to Betton Abbots and then up Wenlock Rd, through Sutton Farm, along the old track bed, down to Meole Brace and then home, passing through my gate just as the heavy rain returned again. We had been very lucky on the ride, with just spots of rain here and there.
The roads had been filthy muddy and wet, so I hosed the bike down, having done 40.4 miles with 1840 ft of climbing, at an average of 11.2 mph.
.
What a lovely evening for it. Little bit of the journey riding with a chap on an MTB always nice to have a chat on a ride.
