The G60 Fail and Bail

It was a bit of a low-key week on the cycling front this week. It took me all week to shake the fatigue from last week’s 17 hours in the saddle with just plain off the bike rest and a couple of easy rides.

Today’s forecast looked moist to say the least and leaving the house ready to take on anything, it was raining pretty hard but I was in good spirits and up for it. I rolled out at 9.45am down through Catshill and it was bucketing it down. I got to the start, no one there as I expected. I hung around for a min, took a selfie and decided to just get on with it.

After climbing back up therough Marlbrook and heading to the Lickeys the rain did ease a touch. Jumping offroad for the first time, the trails were awash with mud and streams of water making it a little harder to pick your lines. The soft spots made it a little harder to push through at times but with a bit of protection from the trees, despite being really wet it wasn’t that cold and actually felt quite nice to be riding the empty trails. Just a few dog walkers braving it.

The climb up Bilberry Hill steps was the first real test of skill. Pick the right line, remain seated for grip and try not to put my foot down. Success! (just). The legs felt good.

Climbing up to Monument Lane, the clouds were really low with mist hanging around the tree tops. I jumped onto the trail that runs parallel to the road but bailed halfway as it was badly flooded from the road. It looked like a drain was possibly blocked in a dip. After a few yards I picked the trail back up and enjoyed a bit of brief shelter in the trees. The top usually hosts a great view into Birmingham City Centre in the distance but you couldn’t see a thing for low cloud. I also found out that riding long, wet grass is really hard work too.

I dropped down to the donkey path and dismounted for the steps. I remounted for a good run down to the flatter section then I passed a number of groups of youths walking with rucksacks. They had a leader or teacher with each of them so I assumed it must be DofE or Scouts time of the year or something.

I expected the climb up Waseley to be really slimy. It’s usually a really muddy track when it gets wet but it was actually holding up well. Over the top there were more groups of young walkers all kitted out in rain gear and then a big dog came running straight at me just veering away at the last second. I thought he was going to jump me and I froze for a second but it just ran off having fun. The owner trail-running behind acknowledged an apology.

The field gate was still closed in the corner so I took the two kissing gates to the lower field instead. The rain soaked long grass meant I was soaked too. The car park was busy though with more mature walking groups gearing up.

The descent down Quantry Lane was the first time I felt the chill. I told myself it was expected and I’d be climbing up Clent soon so I’d warm up. The climb up Clent was a nice steady effort which did warm me up. The ascent of Walton Hill or Waltonberg as it’s called sometimes was interesting. It’s got a rep for being a cobbled climb when actually it just uneven bricks and concrete. Even sat down my rear tyre skidded a couple of times but it did tell me the legs were on a good day.

At the top I stopped to take a couple of pics. Low cloud was all around me and then it got a bit biblical. An almighty rainstorm hit as I descended off the hill and kind of killed off my motivation for the ride. I got really cold, really quickly. At the bottom, the roads were rivers. I passed a Summer Fayre in Clent village hall. I felt sorry for them. In Clent village I had a choice. Left to go home, or straight on to carry on. I opted to carry on and hurtled towards the next bridleway at the end of Hossil Lane only to find it overgrown with massive brambles and nettles. And to add insult to injury, it was flooded too. I ploughed through and managed to ride 99% of it with a couple of sections I scooted. I was scratched and stung and in the end I got arsy and just rode as hard as I could the last few metres to get out of it. I’ve never seen it so bad.

Ironically at the end of it, on Hackmans Gate Lane, the sun was beginning to come out but I was done. My fingers were numb, feet soaked and getting numb and the rest of me was soaked through an cold. All I could think about was a hot bath so I pedalled home hard just gifting myself a final offroad sector up through Pepper Wood before descending back to Catshill and going home.

The hot bath was worth it.