Fraser's Stuff

Upyourendum

Eu referendum didn’t pass which I think is a good thing… While I think leaving would be a good idea, and EU feelings are going to cloud what should be a rational decision

Madness on the M5

I’ve sort of always wondered what a crash on the motorway would be like (while not being involved), and now that I’ve seen one it really wasn’t so nice… Thankfully it didn’t look serious and whiplash is likely the worst injury… Though some black rover had swerved out of the way and into our lane right in front of us, we only just managed to avoid hitting it… And then the massive van behind us (through no fault of his own) almost ploughed into us as well! I’ve never seen so much smoke from the tires of one vehicle!

There is such a thing as a free lunch: Day 3 - Gradbach to Brookhampton

We set off from Gradbach around 9:30 after checking out from the hostel, but we only made it 2 miles in the next hour and a half: A level results. We got to the top of the hill and pulled out our phones.
Unfortunately we were both disappointed with them, and remarks and returning of scripts may happen very soon, but for now, there’s nothing more we can do, it’s cycling time!
The hills felt harder with not only the weight of the panniers on the back, but also the weight of disappointing A level results. However after a bit of stopping and stretching we managed to battle our way out of the peak district. Soon we were whizzing along fast between towns, with nice gentle declines and long fast sections, and we started to make good time. Unfortunately, neither of us realised the word that follows “Shropshire” on the signs: “Hills”
The pace suddenly slowed as we went up a very pretty but incredibly long, about 5 miles of, about 8% gradient hill. Which knocked the life out of both of us, and we still had about 15 miles until Much Wenlock!
After many more hills and very slow progress we reached Much Wenlock to find another massive hill facing us on the way out! However hope was not lost when some cyclists who were camping LAJOG told us that it was all nicely undulating from then on, and it was. We cruised into Brookhampton and were faced with a delicious barbecue, and beer, and comfortable beds, and showers. We’d made it.

ABC, that’s an American news channel isn’t it?

Viaducts, brownies and tan lines: Day 2 - Monsal Trail

Today, after the length and difficulty of yesterday, we decided not to push ourselves massively hard, but instead to take in the lovely scenery around the area. Following advice from last night, we decided to go to see the Monsal Trail, which is an old railway line that had been paved over and turned into a cycle track. It was lovely and flat and very fast, and since we’re staying at the hostel again tonight, we decided not to take the paniers with us!
So we set off this morning, knowing that we had a few long climbs to get to the trail in the first place, which starts about 12 miles away. So we battled our way up long but relatively shallow hills, and enjoyed the long fast descents too, and before long (and stopping multiple times to take in the lovely scenery) we arrived. We quickly got up onto the trail after going under some lovely high bridges, and started going, unsure of what we’d see on the way!
Well, it was stunning, we shot off down the trail stopping every couple of hundred metres to take in the view! It was a lovely ride all the way to Bakewell, and I was gearing myself up for some fresh Bakewell tart!
Unfortunately, there was no tart in Bakewell, so we turned back to the previous old station, where there was a cafe for lunch. After stocking up on Pork Pie it was time to go back.
Again through the wonderful countryside, we got back in time for a beer and a game of monopoly… Which is now!

Oh yes… More Hills: Day 1 - Quorn to Gradbach Mill

So we got to the hostel around 10:30 last night, it was dark, we had no lights, it was very, very cold!
We started off well, setting off around 11 and stopped for tea and teacakes at Melbourne Tea Rooms which was lovely (although in hindsight we didn’t have time!)
Then in our excitement we stopped at Budgens to buy lunch, I bought myself a pork pie, and Garrood got a load of rolls, cheese and ham and made himself sandwiches. It was here that I bought 3 Old Peculiers (they were on offer!). Suffice to say that the bag fell off and fizzed the beer out of the bottle cap, so we stopped and had lunch at the side of a grotty field with the farmer watching us.
Just as we were packing up I got stung by a wasp, which was really not fun… But off we went anyway, until I realised I hadn’t got my sunglasses, so back I went to get them, about a mile back…
Then it was fairly uneventful. Just a nice solid and fast ride across the flat, and we made good time.
Then we found a lovely sign saying “welcome to the peak district” at which point it became hell… We probably averaged 5 miles an hour or less as we battled up the most savage hills I’ve ever seen, and it took about 4 hours to do our last 15 miles… (The clever ones out there will be shouting at me: 3.75!) We got to a pub at 9:05, they stopped serving food at 9… However we convinced them to cook us a nice lasagne, which was delicious, and I had a nice Guinness followed by a Brandy.
Well at least the brandy kept me warm as we cycled into the freezing cold wind in the pitch black, adorned in nothing but lycra… The other problem was that it was quite steep downhill (16%), and there was no way I was going to go down this hill at 40mph in the pitch black and with my hand made frame bag, which had already fallen off once, and had my last precious beer in it…
Thankfully though, we made it, and now we’re about to head off to the Monsal trail where we can cycle along a beautiful old railway line!