the "it's shut, No! it's open" ride

no entry, a photo by rOcKeTdOgUk on Flickr.

these signs must have been put up after the weekends gales. Matt had txt me a picture of one so i used todays ride to investigate. i actually entered the woods through a secret entrance where there were no signs so came up to this one from the wrong direction. i stopped to take the picture and, as i was about to pedal away a car pulled in front of me, which looked a bit dodgy to be honest. the driver lent out of the window shouting "it's open, it's open"....er? he then explained he worked for the Lickey Hills ranger service and that they had spent 3 days clearing the wind felled trees from the paths in the forest and it was now safe to ride through, he'd spotted me taking a picture of the sign and doubled back to tell me it was ok to enter. what a nice man! i didn't have the heart to tell him i'd already ridden through and that not much of my route was on the usual paths!. i encountered quite a few fallen trees on the rest of my ride, should have borrowed Matt's trail saw. it was very muddy, but you always know it's been a good ride when the shower tray you've washed in resembles the trails you were riding earlier.
ride 61
12 miles
total 1116
commute 346.5