I met regular riding companion Cathy at Chorlton Water Park today and we
headed off east to Stockport, a new direction for us. Cathy had a little
knee trouble last week, so I got her to lead at her pace. On the way to
meet Tony I had to yell at her a couple of times to change down because
she'd crossed her chain. On stopping for a bit of explanation it turns out
she thought some gears were preferable because they are more efficient, and
had no idea she was doing any harm. Cathy thinks that Audrey and I are a
little odd, because we met on urc, so adding another Tony B to our
collection of occasional riders will have reinforced that opinion. All I
can say is that she's missing out on lots of useful information.
Tony and his tourer were easy to spot in Mersey Square. After a bit of
discussion Cathy decided her knee would be better if she did a short ride
today, so she headed for home while Tony and I headed south towards Hazel
Grove. The trouble with Stockport town centre as a meeting place is that
almost every way out is up, so Tony immediately found out just how slowly I
go up hills, a lesson frequently repeated during the ride. The hills
practice was good though, it's very satisfying to make it up all of them
without getting off and walking - but the 19" bottom gear does help.
After Hazel Grove Tony got us onto a nice country lane to the east of the
A6, which goes up, and then up, and then up a bit more till we turned right
and stopped. At this point the legs were like jelly, so it was time for a
couple of dried bananas apiece and a lot of water. Tony posed an
interesting question, does a dried banana contain the same nutrients and
calories as an undried one? If anyone has an answer I'd like to know.
The next lane got us back down to the A6 in High Lane. We turned right to
go north for a few hundred yards to take a lane towards Poynton. This
narrow lane goes downhill on cobbles, a level crossing at a shallow angle
with very prominent rails and then down some more cobbles. There were some
very inconsiderate oncoming motorists who didn't want to grant me enough
space to cross the rails at right angles so I got off and walked across.
Not long after the level crossing the lane goes up again quite steeply so I
got another chance to try out bottom gear. After Higher Poynton I spotted a
cafe and Tony immediately suggested a cup of tea, which seemed like an
excellent idea and got extended to lunch. During lunch we spared a thought
for MSeries, wondering if he'd left Edinburgh yet and what the weather would
be like up there. The cafe got duly marked on my map and Tony pronounced it
a great place to bring his kids to play in the garden, if the Middlewood Way
opposite would be OK for them to go for a family bike ride, including of
course Mrs B's brand new bike.
So at this point we left Tony's usual circuit and got onto the Middlewood
Way, which is an old railway line that used to run from Stockport to
Macclesfield. There is a cobbled slope down to the track at this point. It
has a wide track for horses, separated by a fence from a narrow track for
walkers. We rode side by side down the horse track which was good going as
there hadn't been any rain for ages. The signs seemed to expect cyclists to
mix with the walkers, but as there were plenty of walkers the horse track
seemed better. We met a couple of families with small children cycling, and
Tony pronounced it a good place for a future B family day out.
The signs saying Macclesfield 4 miles were very tempting, but the sky had
been getting ever more threatening and the wind ever colder so by mutual
consent we looked to turn west and rejoin Tony's route. However the road at
Adlington goes over the Middlewood Way without a way off. Neither of us
fancied scrambling up the bank with bikes, so we carried on, off the bottom
of Tony's map, but I had the next map with me so that was OK. The next
bridge over the Middlewood Way had steps up to the road. Tony gallantly
offered to carry my bike up the steps, but I'm quite used to doing my own
carrying.
The next lane was a fabulous sweeping long windy descent to the A523. I
thought we'd lost more height than we had earlier in the day, so this was a
pleasant surprise. A very short stretch of the busy A523 south took us to
the turning for Prestbury, which is back on my home cycling territory and
pretty flat. Arriving at Dean Row I'd done about 25 miles. Turning for
home meant a short ride for the day of 34 - it really felt early to be going
back, but the sky still looked like it was promising rain, and Tony had
carrot cake to make with his 6 year old, so home it was. I made it back to
Didsbury in the dry, and if I hadn't gone into Aldi for another pair of
shorts I would have got home before the rain started.
Thanks Tony for a ride somewhere I don't usually go, and getting me to
challenge myself with a few more hills.
--
If law school is so hard to get through....
how come there are so many lawyers? - Calvin Trillin
Steph Peters delete invalid from [email hidden]
Tatting, lace & stitching page <http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/index.htm>