A New Year
Well, 1st January 2016 arrived cold but dry so we decided a cycle ride was the order of the day. We checked the weather forecast and saw the wind was blowing from the south east , so decided, as we prefer to ride into the wind early in the day to head for Redcar and Saltburn.
We headed down to the river and then at the Transporter bridge, followed Sustrans route 1 along to the Trunk Road. The cycle path goes through South Bank and I am very sad to say that there was so much rubbish by the path. Years ago, a police man I knew said that if Teesside needed an enema, South Bank is where the catheter would be inserted!! It needs a really good clean up but Sustrans doesn’t seem to do clean ups along here,
Grangetown , I am happy to report is much better now. The cycle track from here has been renewed and is to much easier to ride than on the broken surface that it has replaced.
Once in Redcar , we were very surprised to see so many people on the beach, well wrapped up for walking in the breeze, along the promenade . Once in Marske we decided to go just follow the route along St Germaines Lane. Saltburn itself was similarly crowded with many people walking on the beach but I didn’t see any hardy surfers today
We happened to meet some old neighbours from the early years of our marriage who live in Saltburn now. It is so good to see that they are also still together having been married 44 years as we have.
We had a brief stop for a drink and Christmas cake (nearly all gone) in the community garden near the wild flower meadow, Then it was on to Marske calling to see Uncle R who has gad to give up cycling at age 85 due to a deteriorating medical condition. We just caught him before he went off on his mobility scooter to see our mutual friend Pip. Then it was off for home along our usual route. The wind was increasing a bit and wasn’t always on our backs as we had hoped. A great start to the new year at 33.5 miles.
cyclinginthesixthdecade 