And now for the missing rides:
March 27th: After my March century I wasn't able to get out for anything other than commutes for a couple of weeks. When I did it seemed a good time to get the Raleigh out for its first trip of the year.
A decent ride was called for and I set out to do an orbit of Shrewsbury - about 35 miles was the plan.
Having ridden the Hawk all through the winter it made the Raleigh feel like a rocket ship in comparison. I made really good progress to Condover and even better on the way to Cross Houses once I picked up the tailwind. I see that a new 40 mph speed limit has been imposed on the road to Atcham which hopefully will make this a bit more pleasant to cycle on in future. The climbing starts at Upton Magna, where I got up the hill pretty well but then found an unexpected road closure the other side - there was no problem walking the bike through though. The next climb felt fairly easy and a good run to Astley followed.
The wind started to make itself felt on the way to Hadnall and I found it hindering more than expected at Harmer Hill. This continued to Baschurch and to a lesser extent to Little Ness. After that it was more of a cross wind to Forton. I got up the climb at Bicton pretty well and decided to head through the new estates and round to Meole Brace - the right decision I think as it was flatter and I could maintain a better speed.
I almost collected another cyclist in Meole, who had swung out of a side road without looking. He made a point of overtaking before the end of the road - I could hear you having to really sprint to catch up so don't try to look so nonchalant.
The final climb of the day was a slog as ever and I was a little disappointed at how much I lost off the average speed in the last mile.
38.5 miles at 15.1 mph average. 1445 feet of climbing apparently. No photos taken on this one.
April 1st: With the clocks having changed it was a nice sunny evening to get out with
@gavgav. I used the Raleigh again and on the way to meet Gav I realised that the saddle might still be a little low, so paused to adjust it.
The wind was fairly strong and a bit chilly which did slow us, especially when heading towards Stapleton. The amount of rat-running traffic didn't help either. The wind stayed as an againsterly as we headed towards Acton Burnell but did seem to get better once we headed for Pitchford, and more so to Cantlop. We had a decent run to Weeping Cross and picked up a proper tailwind right at the end of the trip. I had a surprisingly quick run home after parting from Gav and have set a load of new personal bests on Strava which I suspect will last for some time.
23.7 miles at 14.4 mph average. 1150 feet of climbing and no photos again.
April 8th: A chance to get a ride in on a nice day and although it was tempting to get one of the better bikes out I chose instead to try out some more tweaks to the Hawk. I thought that my Dudgeley, Wilderley and Pulverbatch loop would be good as a test run with the mix of flat and hilly riding.
Although the bike felt as much of a lump as ever I did notice that I seemed to be making surprisingly good progress and it felt like I could push on harder, which is the feeling I had been hoping for since fitting the new cranks at the beginning of the year.
Nice to see a few cyclists out and about on the way through Longnor and Hollyhurst. The crossing of the A49 was fairly easy then I was into the climbing from Dudgeley. The bike seemed to climb well but \i found it quite easy to overdo it - I wasn't sure if that's the lack of recent riding or the legs need to adjust to the new riding position. Either way, once I reigned in my enthusiasm a bit the climbing went well and I decided to carry on up the hill to Picklescott, which I hadn't intended to do originally.
As well as the bike, this was a test for the camera I've bought recently. It's far from new but is better than my previous compact cameras so I had hopes of getting some decent photos.
The descent of Pease Lane was good as ever but at the bottom I didn't recognise where I was for a moment as the wood there has been completely chopped down. I know it's a commercial crop but it's still a shock to the system seeing a familiar landscape so dramatically changed.
By Pulverbatch I was feeling it in the legs on the climbs so opted for the fast way back. There seemed to be a bit more of a headwind here so I've been faster, but enjoyed it anyway.
Traffic was a bit busy on the way through Exford's Green and at Hunger Hill my decision to head back via Condover was made a bit easier when a lorry driver kindly let me out onto the A49 and having a good gap in the traffic coming the other way.
27.7 miles at 13.2 mph average. 1697 feet of climbing. Really quick for this bike on this route and the weather was great - shorts and t-shirt weather.
The Fox at Ryton. There has been some good news about this recently. The community group trying to save it has been able to make the purchase and although there is quite a bit of work to be done to the building they hope to reopen towards the end of the year.
At Dudgeley looking towards Caer Caradoc.
Picklescott.
The descent of Pease Lane.
Really different at the Wilderley end of the lane.
April 14th: With the spell of nice weather looking like it was coming to an end it seemed a good chance to get the Galaxy out for its first trip of the year. I did originally have it in mind to do a longer ride but settled for the longer version of my Acton Burnell route as this bike hasn't done that many miles since changing the cranks last year. This proved to be the right call as a number of stops were needed in order to make adjustments in the first few miles.
The wind was quite blustery so initial progress wasn't brilliant but after Longnor it started to help more and I got along better. Flag of the day at Cound was that of Georgia. I decided to risk the A458, which wasn't too busy and I had a nice tailwind for that bit.
It took me a bit of thinking to decide which way to head back from Berrington and I settled on going along Lyons Lane to Condover as I really wanted to see how it would go with a decent tailwind on the stretch up to the A49. This was a good choice and the bike really flew along to the A49 and into Bayston Hill.
23.7 miles at 15.2 mph average. Strava says 1025 feet of climbing, but it also claims my average speed was 0.5 mph slower so I don't know how much I trust it.
Good looks and it goes well - I do like this bike.
April 19th: After the rain of the morning cleared through I took the chance to get out. The Hawk was used for convenience and because I expected the lanes to be a bit muddy. There was still a quite blustery easterly wind so it made route choice a bit tricky but I settled on riding out over Lyth Hill to Pontesbury, Habberley, Pulverbatch, PIcklescott and back via Leebotwood.
Being Easter Saturday I found it busy at the top of Lyth Hill but not excessively so. I was a little surprised that the track across the top was drier than expected. Heading towards Plealey I encountered a horse drawn carriage. I did intend to stop to take a photo but a car came along at just the wrong moment so I decided against it and carried on to Plealey then Pontesbury with a decent tailwind helping.
In Pontesbury a car overtook sounding like it was only running on 3 cylinders and smelling like it was running on coal. I wonder how much further it got.
The climb to Habberley was a little busier than I'm used to and the pub in the village looked like it was doing a decent trade. The lane to Pulverbatch was much quieter but I'd found the headwind and it made the climbs more of an effort. I almost ran over a squirrel on the descent from Pulverbatch. The ride to Wilderley was much less eventful, which I was glad of.
The climb of Pease Lane went pretty well and felt better than the previous couple of steep climbs. I was a little tempted by the Bottle and Glass at Picklescott but I hadn't brought my wallet. Probably for the best.
The descent to Smethcott from here is quite twisty so I didn't take it quick and treated the descent into Leebotwood the same. I did toy with the idea of extending the ride to Dudgeley but decided not to this time so crossed the A49 and headed back from Leebotwood. I had a crosswind on the way to Longnor then Condover - it just took the edge of the cruising speed for the rest of the ride so no records were likely to fall on this occasion.
26.3 miles at 12.2 mph average. 1690 feet of climbing.
At Pontesbury.
En route from Habberley to Pulverbatch.
Outside the church at Leebotwood. Most of the daffs locally have gone over but they are still going strong here.
April 21st: The rain earlier in the day had gone through and there was some nice sunshine. I asked Doug if he fancied joining me for his first ride of the year and he agreed.
This was a good test for the new handlebar I got him and things look good from this first ride - I even seem to have got the setup about right from the off.
Doug got along alright considering he hasn't been out for so long. The route round the inner ring road, through the Quarry and back via Sutton was chosen to be easy and not too long, with the attraction of a pub stop along the way. A few other cyclists out and loads of people out walking along the riverside which did make the cycling a little slow at times.
After riding the length of the Quarry we retraced our steps to cross Greyfriars Bridge and had our pub stop in the sunshine at The Coleham Tap. While we were there a lot of dark cloud rolled in from the west. I thought we'd have time so we didn't rush our drinks but we did set off back once the sun became obscured.
We decided to take a shorter route back along Belle Vue Road - mostly fine but one overtaking driver did force the car coming the other way into a stop rather than waiting a matter of seconds for a safe chance to pass.
The rain started just a mile from home and came down as a deluge with water flowing down the road in a torrent. I was seriously expecting a flash of lightning at any moment.
A good ride but we were soaked to the skin and my shoes were squelching by the time I got back.
11.2 miles at 10.6 mph average.
Great weather..... until it wasn't!
