Not getting much leisure cycling in as commuting and utility cycling remain the regular saddle action. Pedalling my hoops round again today delivering Cycle campaign membership renewals. I enjoy the distribution rides though as the renewals are delivered to me randomly and the addresses then dictate my route and the distances to be cycled. Plus there is sense of purpose to the ride which works against going out and doing mindless circuits for the sake of it – or riding to beat a watch. Today I enjoyed my second sublime moment of the weekend – and of recent memory – not sure what’s going on what if my mind wants to be mindful then who I am to distract. Anyway yesterday’s unparalleled sense of beauty was experienced whilst driving through the village of Heath listening to Television’s ‘Marquee Moon’. Hitherto I’ve not been a fan of Television.  I think the length of the track coming in at 10 minutes assisted my transcendence – that and winding quiet country roads ebbing and flowing beneath four wheels. Today back on two wheels and assisted by an endorphin buzz I found myself achieving transcendence whilst meandering along county lanes edged with cow parsley as far as the eye can see. The other thing of note today was having to slalom around snails promenading across smooth black tarmac on the Station link and A61 path after some heavy rain earlier in the afternoon. I was keen not to squish them as after all they were only doing what I was doing  – enjoying some fresh air on a Sunday afternoon.

 

 

 

Out pedalling today in the unseasonably warm winter weather on the campaign trail delivering memberships. First weekend ride of the year apart from weekday cycle commuting. Convoluted route today around the outskirts and suburbs and back along the Chesterfield Canal.

I noticed today how much the countryside between Inkersall and Arkwright is being converted into a sunshine state with acres of pasture now being turned over to harvesting the suns rays via massed ranks of solar panels. Not sure how I feel about this change to the countryside. It may be easy on the environment but it’s not so easy on the eye. I guess it’s the new revolution in agrarian endeavours.

Hoop driving along the old Arkwright Colliery train line – long since ripped up and now forming a loop on the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) – and the NCN Cycle Route 67 – I passed the apple tree I have noticed on previous trips that stands out-of-place in scrub land on the right when approaching from the Calow end of the line. A sighting of this tree always brings to mind romanticist notions of a long dead Fireman or Engine Driver lobbing high the core of his lunchtime apple from the footplate of his coal locomotive and it taking root and bearing fruit. I prefer this version rather than it being deposited by a bird in flight after passing through it’s digestive system.

There’s nothing romantic about ‘bird dirt’.

Usually my punctures arise from hawthorn hedges – but I was deflated in more ways than one to discover today’s puncture was due to a small tack in the tyre wall.

How do such things end up on the road?

As part Two/ Day Two of the pedalling adventure we travelled from Loughborough Basin to Market Harborough. The original idea being to pedal along the Grand Union Canal (Leicester Line) through Leicester and then onto Market Harborough via Foxton Locks (& the Market Harborough Branch of the Canal).

However as before the tow path essentially is not geared up for cyclists and the going was very tough out of Loughborough navigating what seemed to be field systems not changed since medieval times and a wooden style or restricted metal gate at every hedgerow. So our overall assessment is that accessibility for cyclists or wheelchair users is virtually nil along significant chunks off the Grand Union Canal/ River Soar unless you can lift your transportation over a variety of gates and fences. It is true that some of the gates are RADAR gates accessible via a key to disabled travellers but these are few and far between. Reduced accessibility is a great shame as there are some truly tranquil spots along the waterway that should be able to be enjoyed by everyone.

The water appeared relatively unpolluted and coots busied themselves amongst the flowering water lillies as we pedalled southward. As we were falling further and further behind our schedule though with each gate we clambered over our mission being to reach Market Harbough before dark after a late start resolving yesterday’s puncture which had deflated again over night we eventually abandoned waterway for tarmac with heavy hearts. Not even a lemonade and some chips could bolster our resolve by that point. So to pick up some speed we pedalled through villages until we joined NCN Route 6 and the Canal once more near Birstall take us back to water and the Soar via Watermead Country Park and onwards into Leicester via Abbey Park.

Through Leicester the going is good with decent surfaces to pedal upon and which enabled us to look up from the ground and check out the historical aspects along the route. There is an aroma that forms on canals when the water is agigitated at weirs and locks. It’s hard to describe but it’s not unpleasant and has a fresh earthy tang about it. Going through Leicester and it’s suburbs we could detect in places another aroma at times an aroma of a different ‘class’ altogether as baseball capped youth huddled together in bushes and on benches.

The going deteriorates again past Glen Parva to a rutted track interspersed with low stone bridges to carefully navigate and so our speed inevitably slowed down again as the going got bumpy. About an hour out of Leicester we again opted for asphalt and left the Canal to pick up the pace and headed ‘cross country’ to Foxton via Saddington & Gumley before heading into Market Harborough itself.

Overnight accommodation in Market Harborough was the ‘Three Swans’ on the High Street who were very accommodating about our cycles and secured them in a shed overnight. We returned to Derby on the train the next day and so we were able to retrace a lot of our journey out of the train window which was interesting.

We cycled back from Derby Station to Lower Kilburn via the City Centre and Little Eaton. Overall a good experience only slightly marred by the multitude of inaccessible styles and gates which ultimately became exhausting.

As part of a two day expedition cycled from Lower Kilburn to Loughborough taking in the sights via two local waterways. First part of the journey was on road through Heanor and onto Langley Mill to join the Erewash Canal (which starts slightly further up country at Eastwood). The Canal can accessed through a gate behind KFC. The Canal runs adjacent for the most part with the River Erewash and the Midland Mainline with all three visible to each other at some sections and so representing the historical progression of transportation in the area quite vividly from paddle to horse drawn to steam and then to diesel. The Canal winds through the backyards of Ilkeston, Long Eaton, and Sandicre passing the now defunct Derby Canal spur on it’s way to canal’s end at Trent Lock. Never having peddled down this towpath before it’s an easy going hidden gem of a waterway and beautiful in the sunshine.  The trip only slightly marred by the multiple K-Bar gates that are ubiquitous along urban waterways these days. Trent Lock is some 16 miles from Lower Kilburn.

We crossed the Trent via the Railway Bridge to the west which has a handy pedestrian bridge strapped to it’s side and after negotiating Sawley Marina and the A453 (via a short cut through the bushes) we crashed onto the River Soar/ Grand Union Canal (Leicester Branch) ‘tow path’. Peddler be warned though the River Soar/ Grand Union Canal (Leicester Branch) is essentially geared up for walkers for this initial part – and as we were to find out essentially for all of it’s journey to Leicester. Whilst the going is restricted to a dirt path/ furrow and bumpy in places it can be negotiated easily by an MTB or Hybrid. What proved more difficult were the multitude of styles and restricted gates where we had to bump and hump the bikes over the top. Despite seeking to perfect our style between panniers on panniers off front wheel first back wheel first it never became any easier and ended up being a chore that detracted from the experience overall. Additionallly the Hawthorn hedgerow that seems to track every Canal in the land caused us some difficulties and required ‘eyes down’ vigilance in places and the gift of a puncture just before Loughborough. People are pleasant though and we pass some jolly anglers on Route.

Journey’s end at Loughborough Basin and a night at the Loughborough Premier Inn.

Participated in this years encourager to cycle commute to work. Last year there were gales blowing so I gave it a miss. Cycled all the way there and back clocking up a faster time than last years Children in Need cycle to work. Came back a different route this time going the same way home as I cycled in. Sometimes retracing your route by return can be uninspiring but in this way I was able to take up the challenge of two inclines that have intimidated me for months in terms of their respective gradients viewed from the comfort of the car. Managed them both though in good order and so this added an additional sense of accomplishment for the event overall and banished another couple of bogeymen hills!

Out on the second Friday night ride tonight – B is for Bridge.

Like last time I learnt new information about my home town and places I have been and seen many times before but never really appreciated until now. The evaporation of our industrial past over the last 150 years has been incredible when you look back on what was then. This together with the disappearance of associated architecture does make you wonder what the next 150 years will bring in terms of heritage. Lidl & Morrison’s don’t quite have the same je ne sais qoui in terms of archeological gravitas in my view but then again who knows. Roll on next month: C is for Chapels.

When I get carried away with my own fitness (that’s relative to tortoise: mph) I have a largely uphill local route that I do to remind me of my own limits.

Wheezed my way round it today to level my exuberance.

Riding down the Cinder track taking advantage of the unseasonably good summer weather. Although the Cinder track is less Cinder and more of a Pothole path with plenty of shake rattle and roll along the way. I iamgine it’s a even more of a challenge when wet. Cycling out of Whitby and over the Larpool (Esk) Viaduct affords backwards views of the ruined Abbey at Whitby which also provides an atmospheric navigation point for the return journey. Onwards and towards Robin Hood’s bay the track runs parallel to the Cleveland Way – the coastal path – and so the sea can be seen from a variety of high points along the way heading past Robin Hood’s Bay and onwards to Ravenscar (the town that time forget) and the Radar Station down the incline from the old station.

There are a number of long inclines on the Cinder Track which the original locomotives struggled with up until the clousure of the goods and passenger line until 1965. These inclines still prove a challenge to the casual cyclist part of the challenge being safely negotiating the lumps and bumps so as not to lose your centre of gravity and have your wheels slide out from underneath you. Only cycled as far as Burniston as from a previous trip I know the track ends at a less than salubrious Sainsbury’s car park in Scarborough. At Cloughton sought a way down to the sea without success before heading back to Whitby.