The Black Country Loop

The Black Country Loop

Sep 15, 2022

Last Sunday I rode out with our local cycle club on a Monument ride. Riding 78 miles on the canal network. The ride started in Rugeley and passed through Stafford, Penkridege, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Birmingham and Tamworth before heading back to Rugeley.

The day started of very misty but this soon lifted to reveal a lovely sunny day. We had a number of mechanicals, or should I say Gary did. I think he fell off twice and had a total of six punctures. Martin had an issue early on but the rest of us had no problems at all.

Personally I thought I was going to suffer on this ride as I haven't done a lot recently, but to my surprise I felt strong all day and found the ride very easy.

The actual riding time was 6 hours 16 minutes. Then we stopped in Wolverhampton for breakfast, Birmingham for lunch and then refreshment stops in Tamworth and finally at Fradley Junction. Plus the mechanicals added in our total time was just under 11 hours. So we had nearly 5 hours of faff time, but 11 hours of absolute fun overall.

Stopping at Fradley Junction I had a shot of Rum as a reward. Quickly followed by a phone call from Anne telling me to get home ASAP as we had some old friends drop by. So I hurtled back to Rugeley forgetting to video along the way.

Anyway it was great to catch up with them and I hit my top speed for the day of 33mph in the final few miles.

Enjoy the video :-)

https://youtu.be/bpLQ44SJU9Q

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