Monday 25 August 2014

NWAlps-Wyre Forest-NWAlps

I woke up today and suddenly thought i needed a long ride. I thought, yes, the Wyre forest will be the mid point. It would be easy on a road bike but i wanted to ride through the forest too and given the rough nature of the terrain there was only one thing for it, i needed a mountain bike. Now I'm not so masochistic that I felt the need to do it on a singlespeed, there is far too much flatish tarmac which would slow me down and infuriate me so I dug out the geared bike, transferred tubes, pump and bags etc and set off into the strong headwind. I knew where i was going, or so I thought. I'll admit i got sort of lost but only lost in the sense that I didn't know where i was but knew i was heading in the right direction.Back on scheduleI make it to Bewdley and the disused railway into the woods at 22 miles, less than I thought it would be. Next I made my way on lovely dry surfaces through the forest to refuel at the cafe. By this time I was really hungry and so focused on ordering a "pork power bar" and cake that I may have seemed a bit rude to a guy asking about my bike. After i had consumed calories I felt guilty about it but the guy had already moved on.
On the return leg I found a bike path that went into the very sandy (almost fat bike territory) and hilly area which avoided a very busy road and linked me to the road back into Stourport. It was whilst waiting at the rail crossing at Hartlebury i was waylaid by a pub with it's own attached brewery! well you have to don't you? This made the rest of the ride a slightly more pleasant if slower prospect and by the time I got home I had very heavy legs, which had nothing to do with the beer and everything to do with 53 miles on a knobbly tyred bike!
Ride 123
53 miles
Total 2455
commute 523

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