So, some cycling.

Well I call myself a cyclist... some would rightly call me a fat slob but hey ho, so its about time I did some cycling...hummmmm.

As I may of said, a couple of weeks ago, I slipped and damaged the back of my left knee. This has been quite painful to walk on or indeed, put in certain positions. So, I've been doing all the right things: elevating it, resting it and keeping my weight off it. It is the leg I hurt in my car crash so it has never been right but come Friday, it was feeling okay to test out. Thus, off to the disused railway line at Haughton for a quick ride.

For those who like me, like the history of train transport in the UK, the disused railway line I am talking about ran from the market town of Wellington in Shropshire, to Newport Shropshire and then via Gnosall (the G is silent), Haughton and Derrington ("they" didn't put a stop in Derrington as it is only two miles from Stafford so they felt people would prefer to walk.....most people struggle to walk to their cars now days!) and then on to Stafford station. The line was some 22 miles long and closed in 1964 if I remember correctly, although a bit to the MOD base was still open until around 1990 and about 10 years ago "they" reopened a section from Wellington to the other side of Hadley in the hope that firms on the industrial estate thereabout would use rail transport....they didn't and the yard is mostly empty apart from stored units.

Once the line was a major link between Strewsbury, the coal fields and ironworks around Ironbridge and mid wales. However, after 1964 it was left to rot upon closer with all major stations and the bridge at Gnosall being removed. However, about 15 years ago, the section of line from Stafford to Derrington opened as a mixed use path. Slowly over time, this got extended to Haughton and then on to Gnosall (once they had sorted out a farmer who didn't want people crossing "his land"....add comedy voice here and some badger sets. Thankfully (and I mean this only for this farm), the farm went bankrupt so while the bank were faffing around trying to sell it, the council built the path anyway....not sure what happened to the badgers but they were: "no longer a problem...." Hummmm?

The path was then extended from Gnosall, down the hill past my a lovely bridge (if Iworkout how to do it, I'll stick a picture of the bridge up) and on it into stages to the road bridge over the Wilbrighton where the path terminated for a couple of years. If you wanted however...and had a bike capable of doing so, you could push on to Newport over the unmade route onto the next made section which run out from that town to a spot half a mile out of town. Thus, there was a gap of some mile between made sections. This was filled about 2 years ago giving the cyclist, or dog emptier, a 13 mile traffic free path to use.

The majority of the rest of the route from Newport to Wellington is either unused, or has been taken over by the mega fast A518. Its not a nice route to cycle on due to all the idiots in one ton boxes but luckily there are some nice backroads which can be used.

Anyway, enough history lesson... back to the ride! Well, as this was only a test ride, I decided to get "Richey" my CX bike out and do a few miles from the car park at Haughton...it used to be the goods yard...its strange how such a small place needed a good yards back in the day but then I supposed they had coal and stuff delivered and the local produce transported to market.... and off to Gnosall. Its about 2.5 miles each way with a small "climb" of about 70 foot each way. However, upon arriving at Gnosall, my leg felt okay so I pushed on; first to Wilbrigton and then to Newport itself before returning back to Haughton, a total of 13.6 miles in 1 hour 15 minutes. Quite a leisurely ride but this is not a path anyone should try to go fast on and those who do are morons....goes off to check his Strava for the ride....:-)

So, two days later how is my leg feeling...well sadly I did have a reaction to it so am hobbling a little. But, being the brave soldier I am, I am going to remember "Rule 5" and "Harden the F*ck" up.....it you don't know what the rules for cycling are, I'll cover them in a later post... and after shopping with my Considerably Better Half (CBH) later and mowing the lawn, I am going to head out for another cycle ride along a disused railway line...this time the Isobella Line. I bet you can hardly wait for a match report for that.

Finally, managing to stick to the pre-op diet although did stray a little last evening after returning home from seeing Alan Carr at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton....match report: he was okay.... when I had an additional piece of toast not accounted for in my daily calorie intake. I will do better!