I’ve got a bit of a funny week with two different gigs to go to in Manchester this week (Wednesday – Alice Cooper and Saturday – The Cadillac Three if anyone is interested), so it’s been trickier to plan in rides around work.
Today seemed the best day for a mid-week longer ride, but I had a Doctor’s appointment in Newport at 4:30, so wherever I went, I had to be back for that. An 82 mile ride out to Jodrell Bank and back to Newport fitted perfectly, as long as I did not hang around too long at the cafe.
I set off from home just before 10am with the aim of arriving at Jodrell Bank just after midday. I headed out through Child’s Ercall and up that nasty hill at Mill Green, then through Tyrley Locks to join my normal route from Newport. On the way through Wybunbury, I stopped to take a picture of the lone tower at the church (see the picture above – see here for the history of where the rest of the church is).
The rest of the ride there was uneventful and I arrived as planned shortly after midday. For a change, the telescope was not facing straight upwards and as I got closer I could hear motors and creaking. The first time I’ve ever seen the telescope move and very impressive it was too!
After a lovely lunch, I headed on the normal route home via the side of Congleton, Alsager and Madeley. For a change, the weather was behaving itself and not only was it not raining, but there was hardly any wind! As usual I went past the Opera In The Sticks at Clonter (picture below) and told myself we must visit sometime. One day…
I sometimes stop to fill up with water at the Swan With Two Necks on the A53 (and might sometimes have a sneaky pint while I’m there) but with needing to be back in Newport at 4:30 and having enough water with me, I pushed on.
All to soon I was at the top of Shay Lane and making very good time. It’s all (literally) downhill from here, so I arrived in Newport with 25 minutes to spare and enough time for a quick trip to the New Inn for a cheeky Blonde.
After the Doctors, I popped round to Tim’s as he’d messaged saying he was having problems getting his wifi working in his garage for Zwift. It took a while to work out what was wrong but we got there in the end, so I headed home.
As I was getting close to home I realised I’d hit about 91 miles, so thought it would be rude not to get a Century in, especially as I’d not done one for a few weeks as the sportives are now shorter to reflect the shorter days.
An extension to Stoke on Tern and then back via Great Bolas should sort that out.
As I was coming back through Great Bolas I heard a low rumble and saw lots of lights coming from the road on the left. It was the Nova Raiders fast group! Nice to bump into them, even if it was very brief. Lovely to hear the shouts of “Rookester” as they went past.
I arrived home in the pitch black with and over 102 miles on the clock and a fab ride out.
Route: click here
You must log in to post a comment.