Gears no longer functioning properly. Grr! Struggling along in 5th thinking am in 4th etc. Called in to Woodson's Raleigh shop in Edgeley. Chain gauge pronounces everything is worn out. More or less. Hardly surprising. Me and Betty have done upwards of 3,000 miles this year, along towpaths, canalways, muddy tracks and side roads, oh and a few pavements.

It was like leaving a cat with the vet. Left her there, all worn and torn. Picked her up later that day. She has shiny cogs and a new derailleur and her chain is all sparkly and clean and metallic looking. Cycled her to the car. It was like having a new bike.

Right, Bets, let's go again! Onward and upward!

November 2013. Back in the saddle...

Been quiet for too long.
Diary of rides now topping 270 for the year and still December to go.
Gears misbehaving on Betty. Must sort.
Been out every day for months now. I have been sorting out a few new routes round Stockport. There's a great stretch along the M60 leading to Heaton Moor Bowl (bit like Super Bowl but a bit smaller - chuckle)
Have also come upon more chunks of the weirdly disconnected Fred Perry Way. I do wonder if it's possible to follow the Way of the Perry all the way round Stockport? I have the maps. They just don't make any sense to me. Cartalexia? Possibly. I do love the way the blue signs suddenly appear in the middle of estates. It must have been great fun putting them all up. Where does it begin? Is there a start point on a circle? Please advise, clever people.

Bike and Car

Time was 8.22 this morning. Witnessed a horrible incident/ accident. Car, young lady driver with glasses. Black car. Pulls out from Stockholm Road, turning right onto Adswood Road, clearly not paying attention. Coming up Adswood Road heading for Shaw Heath, i.e., from driver's right, young woman, long red hair, cream coat, white mountain bike, on main road.

Car pulls out straight into her path. No chance of avoiding it. Bike crunches into front and right side of car. Red hair flying all over the place. Bike and rider on the ground.

I was driving towards Stockholm Rd from Beech Rd. Stopped car. All flashers on. About to get out, mobile at the ready to phone ambulance. Rider gets up, clearly shaken. Not shouting. Shocked. Picks up bike and wheels it off, muttering to herself and glaring at the driver. Driver hasn't even got out of car. Drives off.

Memory. Dad teaching me to drive a car in 1967. "Treat every other driver as a B.F., son. (Bloody Fool) Expect them to do the stupidest thing and one day they will." Good advice.

The wind continues unabated but spring is flexing its nascent muscles. There is a hint of warmth in the air. So, 96 rides so far this year, 2013. Bike in good nick. Rider trying.
Left Cheadle Heath, went along side roads and parks to Sainsbury's in Hazel grove, down the side route to Offerton and down the hill then up and left down to the Goyt Valley. Cows paddling in the river. Flies waking with the smell of fresh horse dung hanging in the air. Past the new hydro station near the garden centre, along the rough old track, through the farmyard and out at Bredbury Hall. Left along Newbridge Lane to Stockport and up side alleys to the Town Hall and Edgeley and back to Cheadle Heath. What used to seem like a marathon now seems a quick twirl. Must be the new Aldi shorts. Ha