17/5/22
I have to work on building up my mileage this year. Today I set off on the Linear hoping to get to Wrenbury and then to see how I got on. I climbed on and launched at 11:45 am, with a view to turning back wherever I was at 2pm. A mild cloudy day, definitely T shirt weather. A distinct headwind, with shades of contrariness as it would disappear then give a blast from another direction. It did a good job of dragging my average speed down, I just hoped I could depend on it to boost my average on the return journey.
I started well, with little wind holding me back until I reached the lights on Darnhall Bridge. I didn’t need to put a foot down but as I emerged from the shelter of the trees on the other side I could feel the wind in my face. I plodded steadily on with the Garmin showing 11-12 mph and the average steadily declining from its original 15mph. I always start any journey in this direction on a downhill slope. I was passed by another cyclist and the road turned leftwards. There seemed more wind now and he slowly receded. From his point of view I was the one receding. If I was just a bit fitter and rode more...etc etc. He wasn’t that fast but maybe it helped that he was less than half my age.
I came to a dip and dived down it, getting up a decent bit of speed but again there was the wind sucking at the fruits of my efforts. There followed a long straight into the wind lined by trees turning it into a wind tunnel. I just eased off, trying to ignore the figures but at worst I was managing 7 mph which didn’t feel like hard work. Past the “Little Man” pub, through a staggered junction onto a longer open stretch of straight road through open countryside. I settled down to 7-8 mph. Under the Crewe -Chester railway line, over the canal bridge next to some impressively deep locks on the Middlewich branch of the Shropshire Union canal.
Sharp left into Venetian Marina as despite the wind and the short distance I fancied an ice cream. As if I had time to squander. Still, the ice cream was jolly nice. A boat passed in each direction through the locks. One was almost silent and I wondered if electric narrow boats are becoming a mainstream thing now. The other one had a well silenced internal combustion engine.
I got aboard my lengthy steed and launched, pressing on into the wind. It was a tight thing getting up to more than 9 or 10 mph even on the following downhill stretch but eventually I reached the point where it steepened to pass over a bridge and the wind was blocked by a field hedge. The Garmin recorded 23 mph despite weaving round the impressive collection of potholes there. I got up the slope on the other side churning along in high gear before following the road left and meeting the wind again. Past Reaseheath Agricultural College, over another selection of potholes and across the Chester/Wrexham road fairly easily into Welshman’s Lane. This lane winds about and comes out at the end of Welsh Row, Nantwich. This picturesque street with many styles of buildings covering several centuries is traffic managed and not easy to negotiate. I keep meaning to take some photos but didn’t manage it today.
I turned right to get on to the Wrenbury road and worked my way through the parked cars that were choking the traffic flow until I reached the Wrenbury road. Up a steep slope, over a canal bridge over the Llangollen Canal then down a long slope on the other side. Back into the wind again. Mostly flat with dips to cross small bridges, and after passing Ravensmoor and Wrenbury Heath a few humped bridges over the Llangollen Canal, I came across the sign announcing Wrenbury-Cum-Frith.
Frith has several meanings, including forest, peace, kinship. Possibly the historic site of a royal hunting forest. It’s also used in Watership Down which I re read recently. I first read it in 1980 while staying at a YHA in Bristol, and stayed another night so I could finish it. A story about rabbits? It still reads well, and its appeal is its universality. Perhaps the sort of thing that appeals to beardy cyclists of a certain age. Strange the things that go through your mind when you’re out on your bike.
I had a few minutes left before 2 pm so I carried on into the village. A pretty big village, I didn’t get to the far side but turned back after stopping for a photo at the crossroads in the centre.
I’d hoped for a wind assisted trip back, and for most of it that worked out. Certainly on the way back to Nantwich I was able to remain in high gear and power up the other side of the dips. If I’d known it was going to be this speedy I might have given myself another half hour before turning back -perhaps have reached No Man’s Heath or even Malpas. At one point I reached 27.2 mph but the wind assistance made me push myself more than might have been wise bearing in mind how little mileage I’ve done this year.
Curiously, I saw a lot of rabbits on the way back. Coincidence? Synchronicity? Or was it that having thought the thought about rabbits, I noticed them, but on the way out, they hadn’t registered.
Rolling stately into Nantwich, up Welsh Row and into windy Welshman’s Lane it was a bit of a shock to come to a stop at the Chester/Wrexham road with nose to tail traffic belting by in both directions. Despite there being a cycle track leading to a traffic island to help cyclists cross, there would have been a bit too much sticking out on both sides for safety, so I ended up sprinting straight across, pushing the bike to Wettenhall Lane between cars, much to the surprise of the van driver waiting behind me. I was surprised that I could still sprint more than anything.
I continued rolling on my way, down the next dip and up the other side, and found speed dropping a bit now up the long gradual uphill which led to Cholmondeston, the marina, over the canal bridge, under the railway bridge and on to the straight open road. Here the wind assisted again making rolling along easy. Starting to wilt, but helped by the wind through the tree lined wind tunnel. Pedalling hard down the next dip and slowing right down up the other side and having to start using the low gears to keep going on the level. Is this the precursor to the dreaded bonk? I’ve written about, it but never suffered it for years. Only a few miles to home, I gritted my teeth and carried on. Curious. A slight downhill or on the flat, the legs kept going. The tiniest uphill, and the get up and go got up and went. I ground on, but the thought of getting up the other side of Darnhall Bridge became very daunting. I wobbled to a halt outside Darnhall Village Hall. There was a small garden with a tree and a plaque on a plinth. More importantly, there was a bench. I rummaged about in my bag and found a couple of Twix fingers and a drink, leaned the bike against a fence, and parked myself on the bench.
I must have passed this spot a gazillion times but never noticed the millenium oak or the plaque. This is apparently the geographical centre of Cheshire.
Soon after I’d eaten the Twix, I felt much better. I noticed that the traffic lights above the bridge just down the road were cycling automatically, when previously I’d thought they responded to vehicles only. I gathered my wits and my stuff and rode down the road a little way. Just then a car drove past so I followed it to the lights. Behind, I heard what I thought was a tractor coming out of a yard behind me. The lights changed, the car went, I followed, and a rigid truck passed me going fast down the hill. There was just room for the truck and nothing else on the bridge, so I braked then pedalled furiously once it was clear. I was more annoyed at losing momentum than the truck bullying past but I heard another vehicle behind and once I’d cleared the bridge another identical truck hurried past too. They were only trying to do what I was doing but if I’d been more alert I’d have stopped uphill and gone through on the next green.
I was left to grind up the slope in low gear. A curious thing about recumbenting is the unavoidable vista as you climb a hill, combined with the inability to stand on the pedals to make it go by faster. On reflection, I was never one to stand on the pedals even when I rode an upright bike regularly -just sit and twiddle, but there was always the thought that I
could, if necessary. On this upslope there is a distinct horizon, emphasised by the low seat, beyond which the world might have ended. It encourages a certain philosophical attitude. Why fight it? Just relax back in the seat and twirl those pedals. Let the world go past. The climb out from Darnhall Bridge is always the sting in the tail when returning home from this direction, often when you’re not bursting with energy at the end of your ride. I felt much better as I watched the crest come closer then worked my way up through the gears going down the long gentle slope beyond. I took it easy on the way home and felt fine afterwards.
Satisfactorily increasing the mileage. I’ll stretch it a bit further next time.
Distance 29.31 miles, max speed 27.2mph, average speed 9mph.
Total Ascent: | 470 | ft | |
| Total Descent: | 469 | ft | |
| Start Elevation: | 187 | ft | |
| End Elevation: | 187 | ft | |
| Min Elevation: | 122 | ft | |
| Max Elevation: | 254 | ft | |
According to BikeHike
32 ft per mile ascent approx
. If I'm going to use an under-saddle bag I'll need one that matches better, and the blue one is about 33 years old.
