A very foggy morning brightened into a pleasing afternoon with hardly any wind and I was all set to get out straight after lunch... until I got a text from a friend who needed help with a stuck pedal on his son's bike - he'd already broken two hex tools trying to get the thing off so I was very chuffed to be able to sort it for him by getting the crank arm off, applying some strategic heat and making use of my breaker bar. By the time that was done it was mid afternoon. Still time for a bike ride but perhaps not as long as I originally had in mind. I got the Raleigh out and opted for my longer Acton Burnell loop as it's a good one for getting plenty of miles in the time available.
I had a little bit of a wait for a gap to get out onto the A49 and was able to enjoy the brand new road surface, apart from the fact that they have put green cats-eyes across the turning for Condover, which was a bit disconcerting when I hit one. There were a couple of adjustment stops to fine tune the new saddle (not helped by it having shifted during the ride with Gav because I hadn't tightened the clamp properly
). With those done I was happier with it for the rest of the ride.
The lane through Ryton to Longnor was mostly drying out apart from one section where mud had been dragged out of the adjacent fields. The main issue was dodging the potholes. Reaching Longnor the school day was finishing so I got slowed up by the extra traffic and people trying to find parking spaces. I had a pause at the crossroads for a drink then it was a good run to Frodesley and Acton Burnell. I had a small hold up shortly after passing Concord College when I found a lorry blocking the lane then after that I didn't see another vehicle through Cound Moor and Harnage. Flag of the day when I reached Cound appeared to be the St. Patrick's Cross, although it wasn't easy to tell with not enough wind to stir it.
I decided to head up to the A458 this time and enjoyed this fairly flowing section until a driver backed out of a driveway without looking, forcing me to stop. I'm not sure he even realised what he'd done.
I had intended to stay on the main road into Cross Houses but the traffic there was grinding to a halt so I took the lane to Berrington instead - it's near-as-dammit the same distance going this way and without the usual headwind I got along the lane faster than I've previously managed.
Lyon's Lane was also good to ride along without a headwind but I did meet two vehicles just on the narrow and steep section (this happens with surprising regularity) so I couldn't make the most of the descent in this direction. After getting to Condover again the run up to the A49 was good - down on the drops I had a nice 19 - 20mph cruise going on. Not too much of a wait to join the main road this time and not much traffic wanting to overtake me when I was on it.
23.5 miles at 16mph average. Great to have a good blast round a very familiar route.
No photos this time.
