The cross-headwind to Norton/Malton made the ride seem harder than usual, but helped on the return leg with colly so that was fun!
My search for batteries was needed because one of my NiMH cells died suddenly. I have long since stopped carrying spare AAs for my Garmin Etrex. I always recharge the cells before a long ride and they
usually last 25+ hours on a charge. Only this time, they
didn't! One of them died after just 3 or 4 hours of riding.
Here is some free advice, folks: Batteries
can and
do fail!
Second item of free advice: If your smart battery charger suggests that there might be a problem with a battery,
believe it - don't just switch it off and try again later! (It charged the battery on my second attempt, but was obviously telling me the truth initially.)
I managed to get replacement batteries from
Morrisons in Malton. They only had packs of 8, which was a pain because I rarely use standard batteries (NiMH rechargeables make far more sense). What was worse was being charged
£8 for the pack - way over double the going rate! I'll carry 2 of them with me for backup on rides in future, though this the first rechargeable failure that I have had in years.
Colly and I both really liked the route I had worked out back from Malton. I said that I would mention it here in case
@nickyboy fancies an alternative route from Stamford Bridge to Malton in coming years. The roads are much quieter and the scenery is nice. We obviously did it in the opposite direction to the way it would be done on a Scarborough ride, but I reckon that it would be no harder (or even slightly easier) in terms of climbing and is only a little further. The usual route is shown in green on the map below, and my variation in red.
The route back through the south of York by the university was fine. Cycling provision is great in the city - we barely had to go on any roads and the ones we did use were quiet. I think I would have liked to have gone to York university - I'm sure I would have got back into cycling as a student rather than 3 years after graduating. I certainly never felt even slightly tempted to get a bike for my 3 years in the centre of Manchester/Salford!
We saw a steam train going past just after Bolton Percy*** but were not quick enough to take photos of it. (Colly has posted a picture above but he obviously found that online somewhere!)
I said goodbye to colly at Aberford and rode back to Garforth on his suggested shortcut.
I said that I missed the train to Leeds by 10 seconds - I actually ended up standing next to it before it left, but the doors had been locked! It meant a frustrating wait for the next train, and it was then delayed by 7 minutes which was enough time for me to miss a connection in Leeds. Rather than waiting a long time for the next train to Todmorden, I caught the Blackpool North train instead. It passes through Hebden Bridge but turns off before getting to Todmorden. I had worked out that it would be 15-20 minutes quicker for me to cycle the extra 7.5 km home from HB station rather than hang about for the next train to Tod. It was damn cold riding in that northerly wind a couple of hours after sunset!
I stayed up just long enough to watch the highlights of the Vuelta but then the long day caught up with me. I slept for over 9 hours rather than my usual 6 or 7!
*** I must be getting slow in my old age - it didn't even occur to me to think of that as '
Bolt-on Percy', as someone suggested on the outward leg!
