Today’s ride was a repeat of yesterday’s only on this occasion I was joined by Chris and Ian. Chris met me near Seaton Sluice and we cycled up to Seghill to rendezvous with Ian near The Spoon.

Eat For England Spoon

Ian was having his first ride with new clipless pedals so we set off at a steady pace to complete the route. In contrast to yesterday the weather was cloudy and cool with a brisk South Easterly wind.

On reaching Blyth Quayside we called in at the River Cafe for coffee and a scone. When we left, just after 3 pm the light was fading fast and rain was threatening so a brisk ride through the dunes got us home just before the weather broke.

Ride Stats

• Time 02:37:04
• Elapsed Time 03:23:46
• Avg Temp 50°F
• Max Speed 27.5mi/h
• Avg Speed 9.2mi/h

In contrast to yesterday, which was cold, cloudy with heavy overnight rain, today was fine and sunny with temperatures reaching 15 °C. I decided to do the Seghill, Cramlington, Bedlington, Blyth route I’d done a fortnight previously. I’d recorded the route on my Garwin 800 so my first task was to convert it into a course which would give me turn by turn directions. This was important for finding my way through Cramlington which is a maze of pathways. I downloaded the .tcx file from ridewithGPS.com and installed it on the Garmin. This proved successful and I only strayed off course twice and was able to quickly find the right direction without getting hopelessly lost.

Thursday’s Route

The route is a mixture of cycle paths, bridleways and waggonways. Parts of it were quite wet and muddy which was hardly surprising given the amount of rain we’ve had over the last few days.

Since I was riding on my own I took the opportunity to take my camera and record some of the more interesting features of the route. the results can be seen in Gallery 2. In particular I wanted photographs of the Wildspace Network Art Trail.

Eat For England Spoon

By the time I reached Blyth Quayside the sun was beating down and suspecting (correctly as it turned out) that my usual coffee stop would be closed, I chanced upon a new venue for cappuccino and cake before I headed for home.