The weather has been mostly dismal this month, and up to yesterday I’d only had a chance to get out on a bike once in March. But the weather forecast was promising for Saturday. I checked it carefully on Friday – no rain was forecast for the whole day, with a moderate wind blowing from the south. That would normally suggest a run out down south of course, but unusually, I bothered to check the weather to the south, and it turned out that it was due to rain a bit further down. By Friday night the weather boffins had decided that it would rain round these parts as well, but interestingly no rain was forecast west of Chez Moi. So I decided a trip out west was in order.
I thought it might be fun to repeat part of the old Wales route, as far as Stone – I hadn’t been much further than 20 miles along that route since I did Wales and back in 2017. Stone is 42 miles from here. If I got up early enough, I’d go a bit further.
I did get up early enough, and had mounted the Boardman by 07:30. It was cold. I’d wrapped up warm with overshoes and two pairs of gloves, but I was not comfortable. Still – as I always say, I don’t choose to do these things because they’re easy.
I like this route. Large stretches of it are pleasantly flat and the scenery is pleasant. There’s a stretch of dual carriageway in an industrial landscape at Rugeley, but even that is quite pleasant in its own way. It’s not usually busy.
I stopped at the same shop at a village called Sandon where I’d stopped on the Wales trip in May 2017. I chatted to the lady behind the counter, who – it turned out – had just bought it. She wanted to know how many miles I’d done. She was impressed that I’d done 38 miles and even more so when I told her that I’d have to do at least another 38 to get home. For non-cyclists the thought of doing more than 10 miles or so on a bike can seem like an achievement, but it’s easier than it sounds.
I refuelled at the bench outside her shop, then pressed on another three or four miles, to Stone. My intention was to continue on along the Wales route for another 7 or 8 miles, then turn back so that I’d clock up 100 on returning home. I’d managed to reach Stone without recourse to Google Maps thus far, but I took a wrong turn out of the town, along the A520. I realised I’d done this fairly quickly but wasn’t really bothered – 7 or 8 miles in any direction would do, and I was exploring a bit of new territory. This started to feel like a bit of a mistake before long, though – the A520 north of Stone is quite an interesting, twisty road that snakes through woods, reminiscent of the Lake District – but the road surface was wretched; rough and crumbly – and it was quite hilly as well. After a mile or so I decided I’d find a landmark to turn back from, but fortunately the road emerged into flatter, open territory and improved quite a bit. I pressed on and a few miles later, found myself on the outskirts of Stoke on Trent!
I still hadn’t clocked up the requisite 50 miles, so I kept on keepin’ on. But as I penetrated Stoke, I found myself descending a series of steep-ish inclines. I’d already given myself a bit of a climb to come back and didn’t fancy making it worse, so I turned at a roundabout on 48 miles.
Back at Stone, I took a wrong turn again – this time because I was in the wrong lane at a roundabout. But since I had to add a few miles anyway I thought I’d see where it went, for a bit. I stopped at a Travelodge, then consulted Google Maps for the first time. I’d been entertaining the idea of a detour via Stafford Bingley Hall on the way back but the road I was on didn’t seem too promising so I turned back to the main route.
A few miles later, south of Sandon, I noticed a regular bump-bump-bump – almost as if I was riding over a road with little speed bumps. This seemed odd, as the road surface looked fine. I disregarded it and didn’t notice it again until a few miles later. I stopped, and examined both wheels. The rear tyre had a slight, but noticeable bulge – it actually looked slightly twisted. I’d inflated both tyres to 100psi before setting off, and clearly the rear one didn’t like it. To be fair I knew it was on its way out anyway – it was starting to look a bit worn out, and if I’d been a bit more diligent I would have checked it properly a day or two before attempting a long ride, and changed it.
I let a bit of air out, and that seemed to help a bit. I was still about 35 miles from home. The clockwork ‘bump’ from the rear was only noticeable on smoother surfaces. I decided to take the quickest route home without a Stafford detour, take it easy (or even easier) and it got me home OK, although I could have done without the added anxiety, of course. I’ll be changing both front and rear on the Boardman, possibly later today. They’ve both had a remarkable innings.
I took a wrong turn coming home after Croxall. Realised what I’d done when I found myself going along a picturesque road into Walton Wood, which I’d never seen before. Really nice along there, will try to include it in a future ride. So I came home through Coton and Measham instead of Clifton and Appleby. Probably a nicer route anyway and I’d guess that I’d preferred the Clifton / Appleby alternative due to the elevation numbers.
I’d didn’t rain all day, either on my ride or at home. The temperature climbed nicely during the day, and I had to take one layer of gloves off. I was actually a bit too warm by 2pm. Generally a bright day, the wind wasn’t troublesome, the roads were mostly dry and the sun came out a few times as well – including over the last 20 minutes of the ride, just before sunset. The wind picked up over the last mile, which was nice as it helped to blow me home.
My knees were a little sore by the end of the ride but nothing drastic and they feel OK this morning. Very happy to have done a 100 miler again; it’s been nearly two years. I am going to attempt Wales and Back again in a few weeks if weather and circumstances permit. Probably on the Cannondale. And I’m faintly hopeful that I might just manage that 200 miles up to Hartlepool. We’ll see.
100.54 miles, 166 this month.