Today was the day that
@Rickshaw Phil, his brother Doug and I headed out on my replacement 50 Mile charity ride, in aid of the British Heart Foundation, due to me missing out on the Worcester event, following my Mum passing away. The reason we did it for BHF was that I was treated for a Heart condition called Mahaim Fiber Tachycardia in 2011.
Phil and Doug picked me up at 09:00, we loaded the bikes onto the roof rack and took them over to Dad's house, south of Shrewsbury. It was already feeling warm in the brilliant
and so plenty of water bottles were filled and after a quick chat with Dad we set off in the direction of Ryton.
Ready to Start
Good progress was made down to Longnor and then we began the first big climb of the day up to Cardington, where refreshment from the water bottles and lunchboxes was sought already.
Doug prepares for the strong Sun at the top of the climb
From there we took the road to Plaish, and I always enjoy looking at the stunning Plaish Hall.
We dropped down the lovely section to Church Preen and then turned onto new territory in Hughley, where we began the second big climb of the day, up Wenlock Edge to Presthope. It was hard going up there, but wound my way up and waited at the top for Phil and Doug, who caught me up soon after. I hasten to add that Phil had dropped back to make sure Doug was ok, otherwise he would have flown up!!
No danger of Ice in this weather!!
From Presthope we dropped down nice lanes into Bourton. This was a poignant moment for me, as Mum grew up in the village, living there until she married Dad in 1973. We paused to take a few photo's and it was a nice moment, with a tinge of sadness as well.
Me in Bourton (and either Phil or Doug's thumb
)
There was more nice cruising down to Monkhopton, but here we began the biggest climb of the day and boy did it hurt. A 20% climb up for about a mile and I was glad to reach the top for a rest
. It was getting very hot now, in the midday sun as well.
The view from the bottom of the climb at Monkhopton
You're taking us up there!!!
There was a bit more climbing, but then some nice flat ground across the top, near to Upton Cressett and I was pressing on quite nicely up here, only realising after a while that Phil and Doug seemed to have disappeared behind me
. I waited at the next junction and they appeared within a couple of minutes, but Doug looked to be struggling quite a bit and was suffering with his Stomach, which was worrying at only 20 miles into the ride.
View from near Upton Cressett
No more ride photo's from me i'm afraid, as my Iphone battery was struggling to cope with the pictures and Strava already! useless thing it is!
We pressed on though and rode what I think was the best mile of cycling I have ever had. There was a superb straight downhill section where I reached 37mph and also a Buzzard took off from the side of the road just and soared at head height for a good 20 seconds in front of me, before swooping off to sit on top of a Telegraph pole
Simply amazing!!
We then joined NCN Route 45 and dropped down through Oldbury Wells into Bridgnorth, where we stopped at the Severn Valley Railway Station for Doug to buy some water, as we wondered if it was the Orange Squash he was drinking that was upsetting his Stomach. We had originally thought of lunch by the River in Bridgnorth, but we were all rather peckish and so decided to sit on one of the benches at the station and munch away instead. We had a chat to a couple who had cycled from Ironbridge, along the same route we were planning to head and they mentioned it was a bit rough in places..............
We were back rolling again and were looking to continue on the 45, but it isn't particularly well signed as you head down by the river and so a quick detour/wrong turn by me added a couple of hundred yards, before we decided it was actually a case of cycling across a playing field and then down the off road track, which used to be the Severn Valley Railway continuation. It was nice to be away from traffic, but in places it was very rough and uncomfortable!! The couple were right
We had a brief moment, when Phil stopped to take a photo and the next thing I see is Phil hopping around and his shoes being kicked off. He had been stood in a BIG Ants nest and they had decided to join him for a ride!!
He avoided being stung and we pressed on along the track to Coalport and then Jackfield, where thankfully we rejoined the road again, all be it through some major roadworks where the road has been slipping down the hillside in the Gorge.
We arrived at Ironbridge and decided it was time for a pint, especially when I saw that the Real Ale list at the Tontine Hotel contained 3 of my favourite beers!
I opted for Shropshire Gold and we had a nice pint in the glorious hot sunshine. We were joined by another cyclist, who was down from Stafford. He was a really nice chap and we had a good chat about our routes and his recent trip to watch the 3 UK stages of the TDF. Hello if you are on here by any chance?
Next was the trip out of Ironbridge, to Buildwas and Leighton, where there is another brute of a climb, but some nice downhill as well, and onto Cressage, where a couple of cars/van behind us seemed to miss about 3 places to pass us on the main road, but neglected to take them. As we reached the junction at Cressage for the A458 I heard somebody shout something from behind us. Doug informed me that it was the van driver, but we weren't sure who he was shouting at. I hope it was the car driver who made a meal out of things and not us, as I was not pulling in on a main road for him to pass us!!
We crossed the A458 and began another hard climb up onto Cound Moor. Doug was really struggling now and I reached the T-Junction and waited there for a least 5 minutes, with no sign of Phil or Doug. I started to get a bit worried that they had taken a wrong turn or that something had happened, but they appeared soon, after Phil had been bitten by something and Doug had needed to pause.
Next were lanes to Acton Piggott and Acton Burnell, where we came across a very big lorry that took up the whole road, just after riding through a Ford. From Acton Burnell it was a gentle climb up to Frodesley and then we turned off back in the direction of Ryton, with another final brute of a climb to get up, just before I reached the 50 mile mark for the 1st time ever
We arrived back at Dad's shortly after, very hot and feeling the legs a little bit, but having thoroughly enjoyed one of my best bike rides ever.
52.5 miles (First half century for Doug and I)
3094 ft of climbing (easily the most I've done)
10.9 mph avg speed
£520 raised for the British Heart Foundation so far (
www.justgiving.com/gavin-taylor4)
Made it!!
. Should be fun though
It would be rude not to see what it was like, (yummy) then wandered back to Warkworth and rode back with bro and Samuel for a total of 25 miles.
. Doug and Gav beg to differ.
He persevered though and enjoyed the next downhill as much as Gav and I did (speeds up in the mid 30s mph)
) At this point he noticed that his phone battery had gone flat (charged this morning
) so hadn't recorded the whole route on Strava properly.
)
