Duncan and I went out on the bikes this morning but I made sure he didn't take me on any silly routes this time and that we stayed relatively gentle so that I could practice my new found skills.
We rode along to the school then to Liverpool Castle and then followed the reservoir along to the prep school. From there, we rode to the bowling club and turned down the track towards Yarrow Reservoir.
We then continued on into Lead Mines Clough and I had to face that big climb up towards Jepsons Gate. I did better this time than I had last time (last time I accidentally changed into a harder gear rather than an easier one and ended up stopping dead and not being able to get moving again) but I still didn't quite make it to the gate. I was less than ten metres away from it though so was really mad at myself for not making it. If at first you don't succeed, try try try again!
On the other side of the gate, it is still quite a climb but, legs now incredibly tired, I managed to make it to the top of that one.
We came out at Jepsons Gate and rode down the road to Watermans Cottage. We then headed into White Coppice and, just before arriving at the cricket club, bumped into Adrian H and Echo out for a run so we stopped for a natter before continuing on our way through the cricket club and up the road. At the top of the hill we turned left along the road and then right into the bridleway along Healey Nab. I'm not ready yet to go onto the mountain bike single track trails there so we just continued along the bridleway coming out onto Back Lane.
We rode along to the Yew Tree and then up the 'cascade' back towards Yarrow. It was tough climbing the cascade but I managed it OK.
We then rode back to the bowling club and along past the side of the prep school, turning left after it and heading up to the road. We crossed the road and then went up the track onto the path which comes out behind the high school and then we just went home via dog poo alley.
Whilst I was much faster on the descents today, due to my increase in confidence, I was pretty tired and finding the climbs particularly difficult. They felt harder than they had done when I did practically the same route a few weeks ago. I have been doing a lot in the past few days though, including my longest run in five months yesterday so I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I'm just going to concentrate on the positives - I wasn't squeezing my brakes for dear life all the time and felt much more in control on the descents.
Total distance 12.3 miles
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