After yesterdays slight catastrophe with the case of the exploding tyre, I decided to have another look at my old Hutchinson tyres - only replaced them as one tyre sidewall was really worn and I'm a bit of a tyres have to match freak! Anyway having looked at them both, one is k to use, so have put that on the front wheel and moved my Bonty tyre onto the back. Now for the test ride to check it is actually OK.
I made sure the test ride was one of my local routes in case anything did go wrong and I needed to hitch my way home! I also made sure the route took me along some rubbish road surfaces.
So, I set off along Ashton New Rd and turned towards Littlemoss and following the road past Daisy Nook to take me to Oldham Rd; a right turn along here before turning off to head up Cranbourne Rd, up the one way Ladbrooke Rd and onto Whiteacre Rd. Now for the royal roads - a left turn onto Queen's Rd and a left onto King's Rd to begin the little climb to the top of here with it's junction with Gorsey Lane. Excellent views over to Hartshead Pike from here too.
No time to stop though as I wanted to get home asap due to being tired - didn't really sleep well last night.
Down Gorsey Lane onto Mossley rd for a nice little downhill section where I pick up some great speed, before taking a sneaky little turn down a road that looks like it leads purely to Tameside Hospital; but no! It houses an entrance onto Silver Springs where I had the pleasure of an isolated loop round the lake before getting back onto Mossley Rd for the return journey.
Getting stuck behind a bus isn't fun, and that's what happened to me all the way home from Ashton. The lights turned red for me as I got close, but not close enough to sprint my way across, so I patiently waited, and groaned as a bus pulled out of the adjacent bus station. Groaned even louder when I saw that it was going the same way as me!
All the way along Newmarket Rd I got stuck behind it as it trundled it's way along - the road isn't really wide enough to pass it safely without getting splattered by oncoming traffic, which was beginning to build by this point. So, I stuck with it until the turning for Daisy Nook; I took a right turn to take me to the disused Hollinwood canal and pootled my way along it until Littlemoss. I got off and back onto the road, looking left and right....no bus! Hurrah! I had beaten it to this point (or it had beat me and zoomed far into the distance).
Back home, I checked the tyres again - they seem fine, so here's hoping I may not have to buy some new ones just yet!
Boring bits -
Cold (-2), dull, grey.
Maximum mph: 26.1
Average mph: 12.6 - thanks to that blooming bus!
Distance: 14.44 miles
381ft climbed.
Chasing and overtaking buses.. !!
ReplyDeleteI would love to be able to keep up with busus never mind be in a position where they're slowing me down. The only time I ever get to pass a bus is when they are stationary at a stop!
I think I seriously need to start riding more and speeding up. I would fail your 300mile challange.
I've just started my own blog here:
http://redbikes.blogspot.com/
(You're the first person i've told)
I think I was lucky with that bus going slow enough for me to overtake/beat!
ReplyDeleteMy challenge requires an average of 75 miles per week - for me that's 2 rides to Dunham and back. Although obviously I tweak it about so I'm not doing the exact same route each time.