Macclesfield Forest, Shutlingsloe and Tegg's Nose.

I've done many runs including Shutlingsloe, Tegg's Nose and Macclesfield Forest, none of those routes were compact.  They all used the bridleway down from Tegg's Nose visitor centre, an evil, hard surfaced, knee wrecker and slippery in the wet to boot.  A virtual recce., using aerial photographs and OpenStreetMap, suggested a better descent.  As it happened I found a better route still.  This route is clear on the ground, but not shown on OS maps or, previously, on OpenStreetMap.

Cheshire plains and Tegg's Nose from the permissive path, onto Shutlingsloe, skirting the southern edge of Macc' Forest.

The loose plan was to start from Standing Stone car park, take the permissive path onto Shutlingsloe, go round to the south and take the direct route up, then down the steps into the Forest.  From the Forest, take the Forest Bridleway to the Gritstone Way and the Gritstone Way into Langley and up the Nose.  From the top of the Nose, partly retrace my steps and take a non RoW path west to east across the southern flank to join Forest Road and on to Hacked Lane.  Follow Hacked Lane back to the Forest then take the Forest Chapel path to Charity Lane and the Chapel, then go a short way down the Lane to pick up the paths back to Hanging Stone.

 Shutlingsloe summit looking west, overcast, but with sunny spells, reasonable visibility and a sheep.

I ran up Shutlingsloe according to the plan, I caught another runner on the descent and we had a good chat.  We went our respective ways in the Forest where I explored, looking for a good route to the Gritstone way.  I ended up on some MTB trails that were OK, but I think there are better ways left to be found.  There is a public footpath, west, off the Gritstone Way about 150 metres before the road in Langley.  I couldn't remember seeing this path on OSM, so ran it to its end and back to get a GPS track.

I took the Gritstone Way up the Nose, running on up to the quarry before turning round.  Not far from the top, I could see a path zig zagging south east then turning north east.  This path was not on any map that I had seen and seemed a pleasant and promising way of getting back to the Forest.  This promise was fulfilled, I had a very pleasant descent and, fortuitously, the path ended at the tracks (Crooked Yard Road and Forest Road) that lead to Hacked Way.  I noted later that the RoW running west off Hacked Way to Clough House then south, has not been mapped for OSM, so have another reason for running the route again.

An unusual feature, near the start of the north east descent path.  I'll have to go and add something.

I used to follow Hacked Way Lane to Charity Lane then run east round the top of the Forest.  I was not out to maximise distance this time, so I took the first path back into the Forest and on to Forest Chapel.  As I passed the little ruined building, where the path crosses the bridleway, I spotted something new.  A small 'shrine' with a notice had appeared at the eastern end of the building.  I have included a photograph below, it was a fascinating piece of local history that touched deeply.

The eastern end of the ruined house where the Forest Chapel path crosses the Forest Bridleway, a photo I took a while back.

The memorial that has appeared at the end of the building.  The text should be readable if you click on the image to enlarge.

I have always enjoyed the Forest Chapel path and this time was no exception.  I was soon at the junction with Charity Lane, then at the Chapel.  I took the road back towards the reservoirs for a short way, then picked up the footpath south, this is soon left on a path signposted to Hanging Stone.  This last path is always over shockingly quickly, there is a bit of a clearing and then, bang, one suddenly becomes aware that the car park is in sight.  The thought of beer and sandwiches is some consolation.

I ran 9.37 miles with around 2070' of ascent.  Missing out the tracking detours and with a typical descent in the Forest to the Gritstone Way gives 8.8 miles, 1826' of ascent.  Both unmapped paths are now on OSM.

Evening on Tegg's Nose, and a morning on Chrome and Parkhouse hills

A spontaneous decision to do a run from Langley, including Tegg's Nose, turned out rather well.  This spurred an effort to 'get out more'.  A run over Chrome and Parkhouse hills the next weekend did not go at all as planned, I had a great time even though the route I ran was not the one I intended and could probably be bettered.

Langley and Tegg's Nose

I found myself working, once again, on the first weekend in August.  Tragic, especially as the weather was fine.  To make the best of it I decided to have a good run on the way home.  I had plumped on 'The Cloud' again as I knew the route and it is the most 'on the way home' (that is, not really, rather than not at all) of any real hill.  As I worked my way through my boring tasks, I decided I deserved something a little more special.

Panorama from the Langley side of Tegg's Nose.

I formed the idea of making a five and a half mile loop out of the nearest section of my old 'cooking' 28 miler.  Trouble was, I had no maps.  I did however have my Mio GPS that I had brought for logging and tracking.  I quickly drew up a route, made a .gpx and loaded it onto the Mio.  I have serious reservations about running with a GPS only, mainly because of the lack of geographical features or any route overview.  As I knew the area a little, the route was frequently crossed by roads, and Tegg's Nose was likely to be visible most of the time, I didn't really think that there were any significant risks.  I arrived in the car park by the reservoir in Langley at around half five.

 I ran towards 'Hanging Gate', peeling off south west before I got there.  I met a few walkers, who were looking for the pub, just after I crossed Meg Lane and I was able to point out the route.  I ran on until Hollin Lane and then followed it north west until the next footpath but one.  This was a new path to me and I was pleasantly surprised by an unmapped expanse of water near its end.  I ran through Langley, back through the car park then on up Tegg's Nose for an amazing panorama followed by some good descent practise.

Hidden pool at the end of the path from Ridge Hill to Langley.  Not yet shown on OpenStreetMap.

It all went rather smoothly, I found running with the Mio in my hand less of a pain than I had anticipated.  There were a few easily corrected navigational wobbles.  These were no more than I would expect where there are proximate multiple paths, even if I had been 'thumbing' a printed map.

Reservoir at the foot of Tegg's Nose and the mast at Sutton Common/Croker Hill (this image is centre left of the panorama above)..

A lovely white dog, with a wagging tail and what I can only describe as a big smile on its face, came over to see me as I finished a wash back at the car.  I was charmed by the creature's enthusiastic candour and was soon fussing my new friend.  I chatted for a while with her humans, about the lovely light, before they all went on their way.

I had brought a few sandwiches and had a 'Nanny State' that I had cooled in the fridge at work then wrapped in blankets.  After my dousing and with fresh clothes donned, I sat on a bench by the reservoir and enjoyed the rest of the evening light, my sandwiches and the still chilled 'Nanny State'.  I really can't think of many finer ways to enjoy a summers evening.

 The route (in red) - about 5.5 miles and 1080' of ascent.  Shown over OpenStreetMap, Cycle Map layer.

Parkhouse Hill, Chrome Hill and High Edge from Earl Sterndale

The success of the snatched evening at Langley, furthered my resolve to plan some better routes.  I no longer have an easy way of printing from my mapping software so it would have to be the Mio again.  I was somewhat emboldened by my last experience, so felt happy to venture somewhere new (I know Earl Sterndale well, but know the inside of the 'Quiet Woman' better than the local paths).

I took the path by the 'Quiet Woman', my route turned right almost immediately.  I could see the path straight ahead, but could not work out the route through buildings and gardens to the right.  I gave up on my path as I didn't fancy hopping through gardens without a firm idea of the way.  I knew that the other path wasn't a huge detour and it looked pleasant enough.  I would leave it to my GPS to figure out the detour back onto the route.  I was about to learn a lesson in 'hard' logic.

It all made sense at first, I followed instructions to turn right at the end of the path until I met a road.  My intuition told me to turn right here, but the device told me to carry straight on.  This was a surprise as the first hill was now on my right.  I thought perhaps the ridge was joined from the side so let it go.  After a while and when the device told me to turn left I began to smell a rat.  Then the truth dawned.  GPSs don't care about running the route, it was taking me on the shortest line to join the return leg!!

Very special view, along the ridge, Chrome Hill from Parkhouse Hill.  The ridge looks like it comes to a steep end at the knoll, it does!

I used my common sense and eyes to find my way up Parkhouse Hill, I retraced my steps back to the road so that I started at the end of the ridge.  The route was now obvious for a while.  This was just as well as the bright, but low sun made the Mio display almost invisible*.  The run along the ridge was excellent and the views very special.  The ridge looked as if it came to a steep end at a rocky knoll and indeed it did.  The descent route looked like err, interesting running.  The descent itself was very steep and the drop to the side was not one you would want to fall down.

The insane descent path off Parkhouse Hill.  Yes, those little dark marks, with a big drop to the side, are it!

I reached the road intact, if shaken, crossed it and was soon on my way up Chrome Hill, I passed a little limestone arch with views to north north east and was soon near the end of this ridge.  Again, the views were really rather wonderful.

 Just past the summit of Chrome Hill looking north west, pretty much the direction the route continues.

I descended Chrome Hill and joined a track, following it north west then turning north onto a footpath and High Edge.  I left the footpath when I was due east of the summit and headed directly west across the moor.  I soon found what I was looking for, an enigmatic World War II bunker, I managed to drop the Mio and put a tiny dink in the glass, while climbing inside.  My peace was shattered on this part of the route by loud squealing, the sound of thrashed engines, the smell of burning rubber and a pall of smoke.  It seems there was a practise session at High Edge Raceway.

Inside the bunker on High Edge, not so much a room as a very narrow corridor round a massive central pillar.

I continued in the same direction until I met the path on the western side of High Edge, turned south, recrossed the track and continued south on a footpath then track.  I got into some difficulty with navigation here, the instructions I was getting were nonsensical, I could barely see the display and what I could see was just a line in space.  I took a recommended turn and 'miles remaining' jumped from just over three to four and a half!  Something was clearly amiss so I abandoned the intended route (I had forgotten that I had stuffed the huge OL24 White Peak map in my bum bag) and put the Mio away.

I headed east past Stoop Farm to join the track I had taken to High Edge, then keeping the ridge I had come in on to my right, I ran by track, path and road, back to Earl Sterndale.  I had to reset the Mio to turn it off.  Fortunately the data was saved.  A post mortem on Monday revealed the reason for some of the errors**, but not the freeze.  My reservations concerning devices that don't show elevation and cannot present an overview (a: screen too small. b: footpaths and tracks are not shown at all at wider view zoom levels) are renewed.  I'll just have to fork out another fortune for ink cartridges.

It was a cracking run, notwithstanding the navigational failures.  I ran just under 8.5 miles and 1730' of ascent.  I do think the intended route back, to the south of the ridge would have been better and would have given very nearly 250' per mile.

The ridge run, ascents and descents were absolutely excellent, more like a mountain run than anything else.  Cheese and mustard pickle sandwiches and a chilled Nanny State finished the morning nicely.


* The Mio display is transflective, and very good in quite strong light.  It was the very low angle of the strong light that was the problem.

** Not usually actual errors.  I find that most daft GPS behaviour is caused by hard logic on tiny inaccuracies or discontinuities in the .gpx.  These are often caused by badly drawn nodes in the underlying map ways (see below).

An apparent contradiction between the turn indicator (top left) and the route, marked in green and arrowed, at a T junction.  This particular 'error' is because the T is not properly formed on the map the route was derived from.  The device is simply relaying the first of a set of instructions that say something like;  turn left, after one metre perform a U turn.  N.B. That when creating the route you may, for example, be mapping while viewing an OpenStreetMap layer, but be routed following, e.g., Google Map ways (some online mapping utilities do this).  This gives rise to errors that can be very hard to debug.

Discontinuities in a mapped way also explain the oft seen, 'in 800 metres go straight on', when there is no junction in sight.  There may be a junction in the mapped ways, effectively the device is saying 'at end of Road A part one, go straight on to Road A part two'.

Green, Green, Grass of Home 2017, AS

The 25th saw the end of my fifties.  My colleagues at work clubbed together to get me a substantial quantity of Brew Dog products to mark the occasion.  This touching gesture helped dispel the gloom that I felt despite a very pleasant ride in.  No point in mourning the passing of my fifties, time to move on and start my sixties.  I decided on the 'Green, Green, Grass of Home' at Llangynhafal, 8 km/5 miles, 457m/1499' (AS), on the 26th for my MV60 début.

Day to day

Cheshire Cycle Route closures 

My commute has been interrupted again by major bridge works on the M6.  Two bridges over National Cycle Route Five are affected.  If you are planning to use NCR 5, be aware that the road under the bridge near Hassall Green, Cheshire is closed for eight months.  The 'Salt Line' is closed only between 08:00 and 17:00, but you can't follow/join NCR 5 from the end due to the road closure.  The shortest detour, is to leave the Salt Line at the Roughwood Hollow (incorrectly shown as Betchton Road on Google maps) crossing, and ride up to the alternative (road) NCR 5, joining Roughwood Lane via a hairpin junction (or vice versa if you're coming the other way).  Alternatively, you can use the road option in its entirety, but I'd miss the tranquillity of the Salt Line.

 

 I don't want to worry M6 users, but!!  One of the bridges carrying the M6 (over the 'Salt Line') that are on my commute.  Works have forced me to detour again, only weeks after the previous works ended.  It is estimated that works will last eight months!!  Inset: Detour to Hassall Green (bright green).

My Mio

 I treated myself to a Mio Cyclo 300 GPS last month.  I had been toying with getting a handheld GPS for a while and one came up at an exceptionally good price (£80 new and boxed).  In general I am very pleased with the device  I am Beta testing for the manufacturer right now, but will add a dedicated page when I get back to release software.

Training

I have managed to get some odd extra runs in despite my long commute and weekend work.  The last was an evening run on the 'Cloud' at Bosley.  I was missing 'real' terrain so took the little known direct path up from the north.  There were ferns up to my shoulders near the top and the path was completely invisible, I could just follow it by 'feeling' with my feet.  There were no distant views that day, it was forty minutes snatched between storms.  Always good to be on the Cloud though.  The farmhouses in the valley are also rather fine, and then there are the white peacocks.

 White peacock, not far down the hill from the car park, gorgeous farm buildings and farm machinery too.  These birds are often perched in the barn, but I saw one on the lawn this time.

Green, Green, Grass of Home

My plans were almost thwarted before I started.  My Garmin Nuvi returned no results for either the postcode or Llangynhafal.  Before resorting to using the nearest big town and guessing, I tried pointing at the map.  This is always frustrating as when you zoom in enough for minor roads to appear the screen shows such a small area you lose your place.  This is made even worse by the entropy on the swipe and constant suggestions for things you don't want.  Eventually I did find the place, only to find it clearly named Llangynhafal.  No idea why the search couldn't find it!

I don't travel hopefully and the nearly 50 mile drive there was occupied with worries such as; will there be anywhere to park, will there be any toilets, will I be too knackered to run, will my knees hold out, will I be too knackered at 05:30 tomorrow morning, etc.  I was glad to arrive at the venue, the Golden Lion in Llangynhafal. As for the worries; there was, there were, I wasn't, they did, only a bit.

The Golden Lion in Llangynhafal.  A very welcome sight at the end of a long rush hour drive, or at any other time I should think.

There was a ten minute walk from registration to the race start,  I had plenty of time in hand so ate a few sandwiches and chatted with other runners until 19:00.  The walk was steeply uphill, which stirred car drowsy muscles nicely.  The paths were not shown on Open Street Map, I was carrying the Mio so I tracked as I went so I can add them later.  Clear skies, after the very rainy afternoon, had been promised.  This didn't quite happen, there was a mixture of clear sky and dark cloud which gave some very beautiful light.

 At the start, wonderful lighting from the patchy evening sky.  Sometimes bright enough to make one squint, sometimes dark enough to trigger autoflash.

The view back down the valley, taken at more or less the same time as the previous shot.

Left: Gathering for the briefing and start. Right: We're off, climbing starts straight away and soon steepens.

The climbing starts straight away, following old tracks and steepening quickly until the first highpoint is reached less than a mile into the race.  There is then a short descent before a short 'almost' contouring section before continuing the descent to the lowest point at 1.5 miles.  There were some cracking views here as we now faced the valley from whence we came.

Gorgeous views, looking back down to the valley from a beautiful green path that was as flat as any of this event gets (level distance 0.16 miles out of 5 according to my stats!).

Following the descent came the main lift until we were on the Offa's Dyke Path and on our way to Moel Dywll.  Moel Famau and its Jubilee Tower were clearly visible as we swung south and eventually south west on the ridge.  The highest point at just over 1500' is reached at 4.25 miles, it was then all downhill.  There was a wonderful section of steep descent on heather with little to no path.  I approached with caution, but once I was overtaken I started chasing and began to enjoy it immensely.  The wonderful sense of exhilaration I felt running through the heather and bilberries is one of the high points in my running experience.   I genuinely did not know I could run that fast.

"I say Carruthers, are you sure you saw red and white tape up there"?  Some interesting terrain, we were warned (not as bad as the Cloud last week though).

Though the angle decreased, as we rejoined the outward path at around 4.7 miles, there was only one small hump to break the  descent to the finish.  I never did catch the runner who overtook me in the heather, came darn close though.  I came in at 58 minutes  something or other as far as I can make out.  I was too busy enjoying the glow and congratulating close finishers to worry about checking my watch.  I'm pretty pleased to have come in under the hour, in one piece and with no knee pain on a Category A five miler with 'proper' terrain.

It was a long drive home, fortunately I felt energised by the run so tiredness was not a problem.  I scoffed the rest of my sandwiches as I drove.  I took a 660ml of Punk out of my Brew Dog gift and put it in the freezer while I started preparing tomorrow's lunch.  The beer was still a little too warm when I had finished, I wasn't complaining.  It was about 23:45 by the time I had done everything I had to do.  I kept a mouthful of beer for just before I turned the lights out.  I drank the mouthful, a great tasting end to a great tasting day, I left worrying about the 05:30 start until it came.

I only travelled this far as a treat for my first V60, despite the long journey for a short midweek run I will be back for this event next year.  It was staggeringly good!

Results are now up here.  Predictably, my category position has improved, after all I am now ten years younger!  Hi to John Morris who I especially enjoyed speaking to before and after the race.  John (M70) came in 7 seconds after me at 58:13.  I would also like to express, in the words of our hosts (WFRA) -  "[m]any thanks to the race marshals who ensured the runners found their way around the course, to Colin and Helen at the Golden Lion for accommodating the race HQ and to all the runners who took part in this very enjoyable summer race".

Bosley Fell Race (Peter Brinsley Bosley Fête), BS

Saturday 17/06/2017 brought Bosley Fell Race (aka: Peter Brinsley Bosley Fête), 4.7 miles, 820' (7.5km 250m) BS and heat, heat, cruel, cruel heat.  In the considerable time I have been running, for no other reason than happenstance, I had never taken part in a fell race that was part of a village fête.  A combination of desire to correct this and event accessibility, helped me decide on Bosley for my last race as a V50/55.

Bosley Fête - Music, rides, stalls, blue skies and fell runners.

It was not an auspicious start to June.  A rainy Friday saw me sliding along the tarmac wearing nothing but shorts and a short sleeve top.  I got up with a lot of gravel rash, a hole in my right knee where a pedal had taken a bite, a large bruise on my hip, a sprained wrist and a (re)broken rib.  The only real damage to my bicycle was a mangled front brake noodle.

I cycled to work as usual on Monday,  The ride went well enough at the time, but it aggravated the rib and wrist injury and I woke in a lot of pain on Tuesday.  I drove to work for the rest of the week. I was fit enough to ride (with the wrist strapped up tight) the next week.  Due to the rib, running was right out for all of this time  so when I turned up at Bosley I had done no running at all for three weeks.

The Race
After a cool week, Saturday decided to reinstate the 'flaming' in flaming June.  I am uncomfortable in anything over 20C, particularly so when I haven't had time to get used to it.  It was 30C by the time I got to Bosley.  The tune 'Honeysuckle Rose' hung in the scorching air as I walked to the registration tent.  The race officials told me where the water was, this included a stand pipe which I found immediately and drenched myself, clothing, hair and hat.  I then found some shade behind the band's trailer and lurked there (with a few others) until the start was called.

Early easy going - following the edge of the reservoir on the way out.

We gathered at 15:15, I couldn't hear too well in the throng and, as I was expecting a briefing first, missed 'go' being called.  The field started moving so I assumed I had better move too.  There were no restrictions or bottle necks so we were soon moving quickly.  The first mile was easy going.  When the ascent started, gently at first, I still felt comfortable following my drenching.  As the ascent steepened all evaporative cooling effect wore off and I started feeling unbelievably uncomfortable and tired.  When a break in the ascent came I was completely unable to take advantage of it, moving at all seemed hard work.  Even my feet hurt, they had swollen in the heat causing my toes to rub.

I soldiered on to the highest point in the race.  By now I was feeling so awful that the only reason I carried on was because I had to get back to the start somehow!  The mostly descending return leg didn't seem any easier than running uphill had.  I have never been so glad to see a finish line.  I ran straight through and on to the stand pipe.  I have never felt worse at the end of a race, not at any distance.  Three drenchings later I was starting to feel better, especially as a breath of a breeze could then be felt.  I got a beer from one of the tents and loitered in the shade listening to the band.

The route, basically a dash up the side of Bosley Minn (it doesn't go to the highest point which is another km up Minn End Lane).

While I genuinely felt worse than at the end of my ultras, recovery was somewhat quicker.  I had mostly recovered by the time I had had a few sips of my beer.  I say mostly as I ended up with mild sunburn on my shoulders.  As I finished in just under 50 minutes, that says something about how fierce the sun was for I had stayed in the shade when not running.

All in all ~50 minutes doesn't sound too bad for the distance and ascent, but this is a fast race with easy terrain.  Mind you, while many are better in the heat than I, I noted that no records were broken this year.

The rest
I decided to go for an alternative start to my route to work, even if it does add an extra mile to the distance, this and an earlier addition adds a total of two miles to the minimum.  I have never looked back after the first extra mile and this second is just as worthwhile.  In fact my journey times are shorter, the motivation of a pleasant ride seems to more than offset the distance.  I am temporarily forced to make yet another detour.  This last actually saves nearly a mile, but as I have to negotiate the unsurfaced tow path at walking pace it doesn't save time.  It is pretty enough cycling past cattle coming down to drink, grazing cob's, steep locks and under 'duck or grouse' height bridges.  All the same I'll leave this bumpy path, only a hands breadth wide in places*, to walkers once the six week bridge repair on my usual route is completed.

 Tranquil scene from my ride to work, the stationary traffic in the background is the M6.

* I did check with both Cheshire Council and British Waterways that cycling was permitted here.

The Rainow 5, 751' BS

I enjoyed the Rainow 5 so much last year that I just had to come back and do it again.  I saw a few faces I haven't seen in a while, which was nice.   The weather was not that bright so, unfortunately, photo opportunities were few.  Dark skies couldn't spoil a good race however, they just added a different character and good fun was had, even if tree roots were a bit hard to spot at times.

 White Nancy - Last year's bi-centenary mural is now  completely hidden under a fresh coat of white.

I parked in Bollington as I did last year.  It's too far to drive home first, so I came straight from work and had plenty of time to spare.  I ate half the sandwiches that I had brought with me, oriented my map and set off for Rainow 'Institute'.

The walk to Rainow Institute for the start of the five is about two miles and was a very pleasant way to use some of the time I had to spare.  There are several squeeze stiles of an unusual type made from upright stone slabs, which I found fascinating, on route.

By the time I got halfway there, the patchy sunshine disappeared altogether and the sky became heavily overcast.  There was a slight chill in the air, but it was never actually cold.  Cool enough to keep a lot of the runners in the hall until close to start time though.  I was pleased to see Ian Ankers and Debbie Hill among the runners gathered, it has been some time since I have seen either of them.  Eventually we poured out onto the road and many kept windproofs on until the throng was called to order for the briefing and then start.

A good turnout again.  The start is on the road, though the route goes left onto trail shortly.  Dark enough for the auto flash to fire, hence the 'luminous' legs.

I made a fast start, this was deliberate.  Last year I had found that I was capable of a good speed on the descending trail.  However it is quite difficult to pass and so easy to get held at an uncomfortable pace.  A good start also ensures earlier arrival at the first stile and shorter queues.  However, being deeper in the midst of the pack meant that I encountered slower passage through subsequent stiles than I did last year.

At the first stile.  The fast start cut the queue in front of me to about a third of what it was last year.

Looking down to Bollington before the climb up to White Nancy became steep.  The lighting here gives a pretty good impression of actual conditions.

Someone, somewhere has probably got some good video footage of the ascent up to the monument (ed. it's here).  There was a drone hovering to our right for the whole of the time that I could see.

Whoever was flying seemed to have good control as the craft was almost completely stationary in the gusty breeze.  The falling cost of these things has really changed the way things like fell running can be documented.

Unusually, I had passed both Debbie and Ian very early on and they did not catch me again.    I had looked forward to chasing them, that used to be a good pace for me.  I caught up with a small packet of runners on the ascent to White Nancy.  I lost a few places when I stopped for my photo, the poor light ruled out shooting on the hoof.   As the race continued the packet strung out, we were rarely abreast, but traded places quite frequently all the way to the finish.

The run along the Saddle of Kerridge is a real pleasure.  I know of few ridges of such modest elevation with such lovely aspects.  It was too dark for photos this year I am afraid, last years can be found here (the 'landing' photo in this link is one of my most cherished running images).

Tree roots, rocks and steps all contribute to making the descent 'fun',  the poor light added to the interest.  There were no mishaps to my knowledge.  I remembered to save some energy for the route back this year.  I gained a few more places, but tripped at one point.  I managed to stay upright by running forward faster than I was falling, if you know what I mean (and if you are a fell or trail runner I am sure you do).

I ran hard on the last of the track and sprinted down the road to the finish.  There was someone on my heels and I thought it might be fun to try to hold them off (I managed by seven seconds).  Two other runners, however, passed us both yards from the line so that the three of us finished each only a second apart.

I felt some sharp stabs in my knee on the final ascent, but the pain had no real legacy.  I was more than 2.5 minutes faster than last year, which is heartening, in fact I was third in my category!  Actually this position was just a quirk due to the times of other M55s, if I had run as an M60 I would have been 6th!  Special congrats. to the first M70 who was back in a staggering 44.12!  Links to full results and other stuff on the Macc' Harriers site.

A few of the runners after the finish, Ian Ankers on the right of the group.

Thanks to the organisers and marshals for this excellent event, and to Rainow Guides for the tea, cakes and service. The Rainow five is now an automatic inclusion in my annual event list.

A new bike, training on dodgy knees, and what have you.

The structural failure of 'The Recycle' immediately following the Easter rebuild was a tragedy.  I reluctantly decided that buying a new bike was going to be the best way of getting back on the road fast.  I rely on a bicycle for commuting and for my general fitness, so speed was of the essence.

I ordered a 2016 model 'Kona Dew' from Tredz,  I was pleased that the bike best fitting my needs, cost less than three quarters of the budget I had allowed.  It arrived on Friday and was customised to my specification on Saturday morning.  I swapped the stock tyres for my narrower Schwalbe Marathons, the Schwalbes should be more puncture resistant.  I swapped the bell (though it was a nice touch to include one with the bike) for my sonorous classic Crane.  I anticipated swapping the seat, but the stock one has proved fine for my daily commute.  I added the essential for me, tool/emergency bag, full mudguards, carrier and lights.

There's a lot happening in the countryside at this time of year.  The new bike by a field we will pass each morning if I adopt an alternative start to my commute.

After a few laps of the block while fine tuning I set off for a longer ride.  This ride proved that the bike was going to be comfortable over the distance to work and allowed me to get used to a wildly different geometry.


Staying fit
Keeping fit since my knees started to let me down has been something of a problem.  I walked when I could, but that just didn't have the cardiovascular intensity required.  Also, I was no longer burning the calories that I used to, and found the tiny meals I had to contend with most unsatisfactory.  Cycling suggested itself as a way of reducing impact on the joints while exercising at moderate intensity and I found the time by using the journey to work.  This does mean getting up at five thirty and commensurate early nights.  I continue to walk in my lunch breaks, happily countryside meets the edge of the estate I work on.

Looking across the Dane to the church in Davenham, a view from my green and pleasant lunchtime walk.

The commute
My current route is 20.5 miles.  I am lucky that at least part of the ride (from Church Lawton to Ettiley Heath) is on very pleasant lanes and off road parts of Cycle Route 5.  I can link home and the cycle route via country lanes, however, this does add to the distance.  An earlier modification that added half a mile proved well worth it so I will evaluate a further addition.

Running
 Until recently, I was feeling the arthritis in both knees more keenly than the injury in my left.  The injury dominates again now (I have to unlock the damn thing every morning when I wake), orthoses/certain shoes do seem to help.

While cycling 40 odd miles four times a week keeps my cardiovascular fitness at the required level for physical and mental health, it doesn't maintain running skills or tone.  I let pain levels dictate what running I do, generally 5 - 7 miles, presently averaging less than once a week.  I err on the side of caution as overdoing it, in the past, has led to layoffs lasting several months.

My muscles ached after Mow Cop, this suggests that I am losing condition which isn't really surprising.  I am going to try to up the number of runs I do, keeping the length of additional runs short.  I will also try to increase the ascent in my runs.  The latter means travelling to run.  Combining an afternoon walking/sightseeing with an hour's run will make the drive seem worthwhile.  I am not inclined to cycle to run, security is too big an issue.


What have you

I treated myself to a Mow Cop Runners 'buff' on Sunday.  I have always admired their black and red colours and I get much more use out of 'memento' buffs than I do out of event 'T's.  Wearing event shirts seems a little ostentatious except when I am among other runners, like at an event camp site.  I do have some tops in technical fabrics, so at least I can run in them.  All the same, you won't get my cotton Manx Mountain Marathon 'T' unless you prise it from my cold dead fingers (I have a Manx Fell Runner's buff too).

The Rainow Five seems to be hot on the heels of Mow Cop this year.  Probably something to do with the late Easter.  I am looking forward to Rainow on Wednesday (03/05/17).  I am going to take mountains of food to eat on the way back.  I will not have time to make a meal after the drive if I am going to be up at 05:30 the next day.  I really enjoyed this event last year.  It's a shame I can't hang around a little longer afterwards.

Cycling to maintain fitness has been a life saver for me.  I think that if I were not commuting I would be tempted to ride too slowly (I enjoy the view better that way).  I may even attempt some touring in my holidays.  I do need to work on packing running skills training into the tiny mileage the condition of my knees will allow.

Mow Cop Hill Race 2017, 6.5 miles 1200' (BM)

23rd April - I was pleased to be able to take part in Mow Cop Hill Race for, what I am pretty sure is, the eighth time.  While a few preferred to run round London's streets on this bright April Sunday, many of us more sensible types spent our time out on the hills with excellent views of the Cheshire plains, the Peak District, and of course Mow Cop Folly and the Old Man of Mow.

Mow Cop 'Castle' folly.  I took this during the race so all things considered I don't think it turned out too badly.

In common with every other year I have attended this event, organisation was faultless.  Parking and registration were taken care of without fuss.  The weather was bright and though the breeze was not strong, there was a bitter edge to it.  I felt it would be comfortable enough to run in a vest, but wondered if gloves might be a good idea.

Lining up for the start.  This grey light was only temporary.

I started well back as I expected my time to be very slow this year.  This did mean that the short,  steep climb to the playing fields was especially choked, likewise the bottleneck at the first stile.  After the stile I made my way steadily up the hill, the sun shone, stuff didn't hurt too much, I felt good and enjoyed the scenery as I settled into a comfortable pace.

 A lovely April day, green and bright with cracking views over Cheshire.The bright day meant that photographs taken on the hoof didn't have too much shake.

 We seemed to be through the quarry, past the folly and Old Man, and across the road into the woods in no time at all.   I thought the following bog would be dry this year, and indeed it was until nearly the end.  We were suddenly shocked out of a false sense of security by a short, but exceptionally boggy, dip.

A nice grassy trail with the Peak District in the distance.  You can just make out Shutlingsloe, on the skyline, immediately above the runners.

I was feeling much better than I expected (probably only courtesy of Coop Ibuprofen).  I picked up the pace and caught the group ahead of me.  I passed a few and continued to pass people towards the half way point and beyond.  I felt confident enough to lengthen my stride and 'super cruise' past a few more people on the downhill road section.  This is something I haven't dared do since cartilage injury and arthritis first reared their head.  By the start of the next climb I was starting to feel a little tired and knew I would be slow up to and through the wood.  A few re passed me as I flagged here, but with a couple of exceptions I held my own from there on to the finish.  I accidentally took the curved path of the 'D' by the Old Man which cost me a good few seconds, though at my age and in my condition I don't really bother with seconds.

Every marshal we passed now encouraged us with 'not far now, all down hill then tea and cake'.   As I ran back down the green hill in the third photo, I just felt so glad to be out and lapping up the outdoors.  I finished, tired, but pleased that my knees were giving me very little grief.  I had a feeling that despite slowing on the last long climb my time wasn't too bad.  Nonetheless I was quite shocked to find that I had managed to get round in less than 1:10 (1:09:12)!  That's so much better than anything I have managed since my disintegrating knees first asserted themselves

 The promised tea and cake, or some of it.  This snap is from before the race during the setting up.  Well I wasn't going to get a look in afterwards was I?  

Congrats to all who took part, thanks to the organisers, the marshals and bakers and cup of tea makers and all others responsible for the support that makes this event possible.  As usual results were up before we left the village hall, if you haven't already found them, they are here.  The Mow Cop Runners web site and links to filtered results is here.

After the run, left to right:  Paul Stevenson (M50 1:07:25), ?, Simon Bray (M40 1:01:56), Trevor Hibbert (M40 1:02:34) .

[Re]cycling

The bicycle on which I have been commuting to work has a rather doubtful provenance.  My boss had been buying cheap second hand bikes to ride along the canal in his lunch break.  These bikes were almost certainly thrown together out of odd parts.  After he had broken a few, I scrounged what was left of these 'bitsas' to put together a bike even further removed from any manufacturer's intention.  The result was a rather rusty, but vaguely serviceable steed, the saddle on which was quickly replaced in the name of comfort.  Apart from that, this 'Frankenstein' bike served as it was for a few thousand miles.  With better weather and the opportunity presented by the Easter Bank Holiday, I decided it was time that the bike had a bit of attention.  

A tired old hack. 

It was even more work than I expected, there were a lot of seized parts and an awful lot of rust, dents and scratches to remove.  The bike was finally rebuilt, complete with a new rack and quick release bag/panniers, by about 6:30 pm on Monday.  I circled the block a few times and checked and made final adjustments.  The rear dérailleur was still not perfect, I resigned myself to having to machine some bushes for the very worn jockey wheels before top gear became more certain.  I had booked Tuesday off so looked forward to getting out on my lovely 'new' machine the next day.

The 'Recycle', my lovely, lovely bike, quite the head turner.  The bag side pockets open down and unfold into panniers.

Tuesday was bright if a little chilly, I set off to where I had seen wild garlic greens growing in an accessible place.  The bike looked even more impressive in the sunshine than it had the evening before and I began to think all the effort had been worth it.  Indeed, more than one head turned to look at the fruits of my labour.  I felt very satisfied, pleased and even a little proud.

One of the bounties of spring, Ramsons (wild garlic greens) on the bank of a stream, close to a quiet lane.

I soon filled a plastic bag with enough greens and slipped it under the bungees on top of the bike bag/pannier.  The  bag and rack was expensive, but I felt it was worth it to be relieved from the rucksack sweaty back effect.

As I turned into my street and rode over one of the many imperfections on my local roads, I noted that the bike wallowed a little.  I thought that I might have lost some air from the back tyre so I looked down to check when I stopped outside my house.  The reason for the wallowing was horribly apparent, the rear dropout had cracked right through close to the end of the chainstay!  All that effort wasted.  Speechless?  Well almost, I hope no kids were listening.

The end of a love affair that lasted but a few hours!!

Keep sweeping the cobwebs off the moon

I finally managed to get my knee problem recognised by the NHS, when I changed doctor a while back.  I recently had a second appointment with a consultant, following X-rays and MRI.  The news was not good, the condition is considered degenerative and untreatable.  When I asked about running, the reply contained phrases like "there comes a time...".

While I have no intention of denying what is happening to me and taking up chanting, whacky diets or any other fashionable fringe behaviour, I do intend to run until it becomes impossible.  I will continue to modify my training to minimise impact and maximise what time I have left.  I will also make damn sure that the quality of what running I can manage is exceptionally high.  Not that any of that was of much relevance for a while after the diagnosis.  Surgery for another body malfunction (also misdiagnosed by my old GP) prevented me from doing much after the Rainow Five.  I didn't even manage a walk further than sixteen miles in 2016.  I'll just 'Keep sweeping the cobwebs off the moon'.¹

Glad I wasn't out when this oak broke.  Frightening when I think how many times I have run under this large branch!!

Now I have recovered from that, I commute by bicycle, around forty miles a day, and walk for three miles in my lunch break, to keep fit without stressing the knee unduly.  This also helps with my general mental well being, but leaves me with very little spare time in the week.

Review of stats. suggests that events and routes are what interest people most.  I intend to continue the blog.  Hopefully I will manage a few events though they will have to be short ones.  I will also report on some longer routes, even if they are only walked with a 'runner's eye'.  On average I am managing to run less than once a week.

When I can run, five miles seems as easy and natural as when I was running regularly, so the keep fit strategy must be working.


¹ For non jazzers , 'Keep sweeping the cobwebs off the moon' is a wonderful jazz age 'accent the positive' song.  My favourite version is by Lee Morse.  I have to admit that while the cheer is infectious it is tinged with a sadness that the performances belong to a distant past.  Rather apt in the circumstances.