After three days of rain here in the North East of England there was an overnight change to cool, bright and sunny conditions. I’m one of those lucky people who can go cycling at a moment’s notice so when I got a text message from one of my cycling companions I was able to accept the invitation to go for a ride in the local area.
I arrived early at our usual meeting place hoping that I’d be able to take a few photographs which would capture the moment.
A GoPro video of the ride
Everyone does it – say things they later regret – and we cyclists aren’t immune. What is surprising is that the same people say the same thing over and over again and don’t seem to learn from previous mistakes.
Weather conditions are never far from the mind of cyclists but we are used to going out for a ride in comditions which are less than ideal. If we waited for the perfect day we wouldn’t get a lot of cycling done. One of our greatest bugbears is windy conditions.
How often have you heard someone say,
“The wind is against us now but it will be in our backs on the way home”?
Wrong! That’s the perfect example of Famous Last Words. What is certain is that a headwind on the outer journey will become an even stronger headwind on the return journey. It’s one of the laws of cycling. It doesn’t matter whether it’s northerly, southerly, westerley or easterley. Basically, all winds are againsterley as far as cyclists are concerned and as your ride progresses and you become more and more tired the wind in your face gets stronger and stronger.
Next, Famous Last Words which seem to invite disaster.
It’s ages since I had a puncture.
Why would anyone say something like that?
The Puncture Fairy is never far away and just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. The perfect opportunity is when it’s cold, wet and windy and the nearest track pump is miles away.
Cycling has its ups and downs. It’s the ups which can produce another example of Famous Last Words.
It’s not as bad as it looks.
In a sense that could be true. It might not be as bad as it looks. It might be worse. A recent example was when a fellow cyclist, when part way through Hadrian’s Cycleway said,
That’s the hills over with then.
Wrong. When you’ve finished the route and you’re sitting in the bar with a pint in your hand, that’s when the hills are over.
We didn’t plan to go and the date was wrong but one of the joys of cycling can be stumbling on the unexpected.
One of our regular routes is to cycle along NCN 72 (Hadrian’s Cycleway) to Wylam. By way of variety we often cross the bridge at Wylam and cycle along the south bank of the River Tyne as far as Newburn bridge before crossing the river and rejoining Hadrian’s Cycleway for the journey home. In the past two of us have, on separate occasions, stayed on the south side and continued to Gateshead and the Millennium Bridge. It’s fair to say that neither of us enjoyed negotiating the streets of downtown Dunston and weren’t keen to repeat the experience. A chance encounter with another cyclist changed that. He said a new path west of Newburn bridge was open and that the route was much improved. It seemed worth a look.
Our outward journey included the obligatory stops for a puncture repair at Segedunum and a bacon sandwich at the Cycle Hub and upon reaching the bridge at Newburn we crossed over and began the journey to Gateshead.
The first section, part of the Keelman’s Way, is a gravel path which runs alongside the river for about 400 metres. It then takes a turn south and at this point the beginning of the new section was missed. We followed the old route which joins the B6137 instead of bearing left into a new housing development. The old route drops down to the river just before Blaydon Station and at that point we realised our mistake and backtracked towards Newburn Bridge and then returned along the new section. This section features a piece of public art commemorating the Blaydon Races.
Beyond Blaydon Station there is a short on-road section through Blaydon Industrial Estate before rejoining the track alongside the river leading to Derwent Haugh.
At this point we left the Keelman’s Way to pay a visit to Pedalling Squares, a recently opened cycle cafe. We have a mission to investigate all the cycle cafes in our area – it’s a tough job but someone has to do it.
After a warm welcome and tasty refreshments we headed back down to the river to complete the journey to Gateshead. The route is mostly along the river apart from a short diversion for the benefit of shoppers.
Resisting the temptation to call in, we pushed on and arrived at another new section which ran alongside Dunston Staithes.
From here, the route continues along the river into Gateshead.
Once at the Millennium Bridge it was back on to Hadrian’s Cycleway and the journey home.
Cycling can present many challenges, steep hills, strong head winds, hard saddles and inconsiderate motorists being amongst them, but an added hazard can be Man’s Best Friend, the dog. More accurately, it is not just the Best Friend but also the Man (or Woman) accompanying them who is part of the problem. Most of my rides take place along waggonways, cycle paths and bridleways which are very popular with cyclists but also very popular with dog walkers. On a recent trip to the Cycle Hub and back, a distance of about thirty miles, I counted the dogs along the route. On the way there I passed fifteen dogs, five of which were on the lead, and two cats (neither of which were on the lead) and on the way back there were thirteen dogs (seven on the lead) and no cats. This is fairly typical in my experience. So what? Why should this be a problem to a cyclist?
Those of you who use Strava, the mobile app, for logging cycle activities will be familiar with segments. They are a specific section of a route created by users for the purpose of comparing performance over time. One segment on NCN 72 is called Dog Dirt Dash. The reason is obvious. Not all owners clean up after their dog. As well as having a spare tube and a puncture repair kit in my bag, I also carry latex gloves – just in case I have to remove a tyre which has passed through something nasty.
Of course some dog owners do clean up – but get the final step wrong.
Hedgerows are festooned with discarded dogs’ colostomy bags. Continue reading
Seaton Sluice Backpedalers 