I had a day off work yesterday so rode the cyclocross bike over to Oldham, climbed up to Delph and joined the Pennine Bridleway. Headed south, got a bit lost where some of the signs have been removed and ended up in the middle of Glossop. After climbing the Chunal hell-climb I rejoined the bridleway and called in on Rich who served me a pint mug of tea. After a good natter and a brew I set off again, following the bridleway towards Buxton. It gets very steep and rocky after Hayfield and I was either straining up the climbs in my lowest 34:27 gear or plummeting downhill over rocks, giving myself impressively large, pumped-up forearms. Like Popeye.

I didn’t really have a rear brake for the whole ride, I tried to improve things a couple of times but I think the pad’s contaminated. It started to bite a bit after I dragged it all the way down a big hill but then my BB started creaking (again).

Eventually, the bridleway peters out and the route becomes predominantly tarmac, then joins a dismantled railway. I followed this for a bit then got bored and headed over to Macclesfield, all covered in dust! Ace. It’s always sunny and dry when I ride down here

68 miles, 2240 metres ascent, just a drop of milk, no sugar. Cheers.