Weak Knees But Still Trying

Well, today I went out on the bike again! Good job this is a cyclists blog........

I spent a good portion of the day sorting out a new mobile phone and plan as my current provider - Vodaphone - is rubbish around here. Now, like many cyclists nowadays, I rely on the mobile to call for assistance should there be a major issue on while out on the bike. There just isn't any service round here! So, I'm going back to 3 and I have a nice swanky Samsung Galaxy II s on order.

Once I'd sorted that I decided that the weather was too good to miss out on. I'm also trying to have a good month in terms of miles and hours in the saddle. The ride I did yesterday was quite lumpy so I decided to do a shorter but still lumpy one. I headed from home on some nice flat roads that give a good warm up and then I headed from Milford (the home of Mammoth Cycles) through Brocton and up over Chase Road, steep but too bad. A nice long climb took in some lovely countryside and I got to see some deer in the woods above Brocton.

I rode past the cafe at Springslade Lodge, this is a great cafe run by Kay and her staff. It caters for cyclists with Bike Parking and you can either sit indoors or in the large garden area. The food is excellent and ranges from bacon butties to full cooked lunches, there is a campsite there too if you'd like to camp and ride your mountain bikes.

From Springslade the ride heads past the Commonwealth War Graves and the turning to the German War Cemetery. A couple of sobering sights that remind one of the frailty of life and the sacrifice made during those terrible wars by both sides.

The descent to Rugeley is a blast and some good speeds can be reached - just watch out for the cars pulling out near the bottom visitor centre.

Well, by this time I was getting a bit warm and tired so I decided to head home - why I chose to go into my village the back way I'll never know! It's lumpy and today, it was into a headwind. I struggled up the hills and was relieved to hit the descent past what was the Wicket Pub and back to the village. All in all a good ride, no stops and no eating huge pasties - so hopefully some of the flab I picked up in Austria will start to fade away. I can only hope - now, where is that beer ;-)

Here is the Endomondo workout for today