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Juliano's World Frenzy/Tech's Trip Reports

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Techniquest

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Congrats on getting your foe 170420 :)

Hopefully that 153 comes out of hiding sooner rather than later for you

Thanks! Yes I hope so too, it would be nice to get it done and out of the way. I've had it as 309, so it's not a total requirement but it still counts.

Final part of the epic trip report below:

15/01/2022 - Tech's Cycling Tours Return, Day 7

OK this really would be the final day of touring! Having got up around half 6, it was a casual start to the morning before I got bored of sitting around watching TV, the coffee had combined happily with my multi-vitamins and minerals tablet (and yes, their contents are all of benefit and my only good source of some minerals) and a bit of food to get me all fired up and ready to get moving. So after a few little jobs got done, the epic bike clean was up next and that was no easy task. Both for the amount of mud to remove, and the Dirt Juice I had bought is not very good at removing dirt as even now there's still dried-on mud on the bike, and for doing the task in cold weather. Oh I was missing the warm weather I'd had in Scotland!

Eventually the job got done to a sort-of satisfactory level of completion, and I went back upstairs to check on my hitlist of trains. Imagine, then, my shock to find the other EMR 170/5 I wanted was now allocated. As it had only been 531 allocated, I had made no plans to go up that way despite most of my 222 wants also being out. Now I had to make a plan, and book tickets. With that all done, and yes as I was taking my bike I was having to be fussy, I finally got changed into clothing more suitable for outdoor exercise and got on the move.

As per the day before, the 1139 to Birmingham New Street was in the hands of 172102 and 172007, so I took a seat in the former Chiltern Railways 172/1 for the novelty. 172007 seems to like me, as I've now had around 200 miles on it! My credit card bill this month was going to be horrific, however the way I looked at it was that I would never have to chase after 170s again, and I'd have spent more if I'd done an ALR like I had considered briefly before the week began! The journey to Birmingham passed by quite quickly, and I marched my way up to Greggs just up the road. With a doughnut, vegan sausage roll and a vegan festive bake, washed down with sugary black coffee, I felt human again!

I now had an issue. The 1349 to Nottingham, which would be a dreaded 170, had a +2 onto the 1433 to Matlock which would benefit me hugely and make it easier to connect back to the other 170 I wanted. However, I had a cycle space booked on the 1403 to Glasgow Central, which would miss the Matlock by 4 minutes. No bother, I could ride to Duffield and pick up 170531 there and do 170530 later on. Well yes, but that was a +3 at Derby and not worth the risk. I wanted to clear the 170s once and for all today, and leaving one for another day just did not sit right with me! If I hadn't been taking my bike with me, I'd have made the 1312 and all this would have been a non-issue.

However, that was not going to be the case. Not only did I want the 170s but I wanted more coverage on my map. The only way left to do it was to cycle to Long Eaton, and I knew it was manageable in the 50 or so minutes I had, then pick up 170530 to Derby with a +47 or so onto the 1633 to Matlock with 170531, alighting at Belper to pick up supplies in the nearby town centre for the journey south and back to Derby for the Voyager I was booked on back to Birmingham. It wouldn't be the new coverage I had wanted, but it wasn't worth risking the +2 at Derby and getting rejected from the undesired 170 on the 1349. A pair of Voyagers sounded much more fun!

As I went to get my overshoes out, I had a brainwave, which was to check the return of 170530. "1516 Nottingham to Crewe, arrives 1703, turns into 1709 Crewe to Newark Castle, into Derby...1820. When's my Voyager back?" and upon checking my bike reservation "1828, so a +8, that'll do fine!" was the thought process. Amazingly happy I was at that, as I had wanted to do the ride to Duffield as part of a cycling coverage mission. The route I'd chosen to Long Eaton would have avoided the mud this time, but it wouldn't have added the coverage out of Derby I wanted. So it was all good!

Eventually the Lichfield Trent Valley 323s got out of platform 9 to allow the 1403 to Glasgow Central to arrive, and I had 221122 and 221140 for my trip to Derby. I always remember the first time I had 221140 many years ago on a leap from Bristol Temple Meads to Bristol Parkway, primarily because I somehow have the memory of removing the reservation label at the time, not realising until later it had other journeys on it! Every time I see 221140, I have that memory kick in! Back to the current day, at least 15 years later if not 17, and it is a real effort to put a bike onto a Voyager. That space is just not big enough, I mean come on, putting a bike up on IET hooks is easier and that is widely regarded in the cycling community as a challenge!

Thankfully, the space on the other side of 221140, the other marked up as only big enough for one bike, I had no problem using that one but the one supposedly for two bikes, well I couldn't make my bike fit in it with no other bike in there, so I pity the poor souls who have to try and share that when trains are busier! Eventually it was away a couple of minutes late, and even though I had a reservation in coach I, seat 38, it didn't exist on the screen. What is it with XC seat reservations? Like my one the night before, technically I was booked in coach A for my seat, but previous experience was that labels aren't put out and no-one can tell if a seat is reserved or not on an XC 170!

Talking of quickly, I must mention the shoddy condition of 170420 on Day 6. I thought the ones we (the collective 'we' in the Midlands that is) were sending EMR 170s in poor condition but the ex-ScotRail one I had in the form of 170420, well that was just appalling. In comparison, the 170s going over from WMR will be in much better condition and that's shocking, considering how bad I thought some of them were!

I took an available seat in coach I anyway, and after updating my notes and putting some tunes on it was time to put the overshoes on. I wasn't willing to risk my feet getting cold on the ride, it was still January after all and I had got them cold enough on Day 6! After arrival at Derby, I left by habit via the main entrance, forgetting the more sensible choice was from the Pride Park side. Oh well! After a minor diversion due to taking a wrong turn, I found my way to the Riverside path and thus National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 54 to Little Eaton.

The route is actually quite nice out of Derby, a good one to walk too. Next to Derby RFC, there's a junction with Regional Route 66 heading left, National Route 54 to the right. At the end of this little road, the route runs on the road and it can be busy so I'd recommend that bit on Alfreton Road only to those confident in road cycling. At the junction with the very busy A61, the route thankfully joins a shared-use path to Little Eaton. On the roundabout, where the A38 joins the fun and yes neither the A38 or A61 would be recommended, there's a Starbucks. I can't begin to tell you how tempting it was to pop in! The need to carry on kept the resistance up, I would get a hot drink later I assured myself!

The village of Little Eaton, not to be confused with Long Eaton, is a nice little village. It once had a station, given there was a Station Road although where the line would have gone to I don't know, and I continued up Eaton Bank towards Duffield. At the fork in the road a short way before Eaton Bank, Route 54 finishes and I enjoyed my first ride on that route. It comes up from the Birmingham area from memory, and the bit from Lichfield Trent Valley is on my list to do. Trust me, that list never gets shorter for long!

Also, if you too could not help yourself and said out loud (or in your head!) "Duffield! Oh yeah, ooh!" in the voice of Duffman from The Simpsons, then I grant you an epic thumbs-up. I just had to do it! Not the hip thrusting though, that was too much and a bit challenging to do when it came to mind on the bike!

Eaton Bank, on the way to Duffield (oh yeah, ooh! Sorry, I'll stop. Or will I?) the gradients aren't too challenging, but going down Eaton Bank, on the way to the river, there's a 13% downhill gradient with a sharp-ish curve at the bottom and a big junction too. Pro Tip, go down that one carefully as I did! I took the wrong turn in Duffield, which looked quite a nice little place, and ended up on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway's side of Duffield. I soon turned around and found the right way, arriving with 20 minutes to spare. E-ticket bought for £8.60, I had my Anytime Day Return to Tutbury & Hatton.

Eventually time passed and winner 170531 rolled in slightly late with the 1513 Matlock to Derby! It was very strange getting on a 170 in ex-London Midland condition, so much so a selfie felt necessary! The short journey to Derby was soon over, and it arrived at platform 4b. I could see the 170 of my final desires on the Crewe service on platform 3a, and I had 2 minutes or less to dash over the bridge. Challenge accepted, thankfully my bike is not that heavy and I made it in time. That dispatcher at Derby was very forceful in getting me to cram in with my bike in the dedicated wheelchair/bike space, even though it had a significant amount of covidiots in there. One of those times where I was glad to be fully vaccinated, quite honestly. Especially glad to have anti-bac gel with me, given the large lavatory at least did not have soap in it. At Tutbury & Hatton, there was cause for the Air Horns of Victory!

There were finally, at long last, no more Class 170s to travel on! Yes, really, 170530 was the final member of the class to mark off in my NREA and remove from my wants list! Sound the Air Horns of Victory!

I could have done 170503 back to Derby, but I purposefully let it go without me. The 1706 to Newark Castle was due to call at Peartree, and that was the only station between Sheffield and Plymouth that I hadn't been on or off a train at. This was changing at long last! So to fill an hour I went to Co-Op as I had vouchers in the app to use. 20% off the Co-Op own-brand vegan stuff was also too good to pass up, so imagine my disappointment when the lady on the kiosk till couldn't scan the QR code in the app. I therefore overpaid significantly, and just as bad, the points were not achieved. Worse still, the few pence from my transaction that would be donated by Co-Op to a local good cause would not happen either!

Annoyed by this, I went for a ride to add a bit more colour to my map. Weather conditions were turning fast, so by the time I got to Scropton it wasn't terribly safe to be out cycling for long. So at the triangular junction I turned around and returned to Hatton, which is the area north of Tutbury & Hatton railway station, Tutbury is the other side. By now, the chippy was open and I could not resist. The food in my bag would be fine until later, I surmised, I needed something hot and I didn't fancy the Costa Express machine in Co-Op. Which had been my original idea before the little ride, but a portion of chips and 6 onion rings for £3.10 (minimum card spend of £3, compares favourably when the one in Malvern Link is minimum £10, the one I use in Winsford charges £1 fee no matter how much you spend!) was just the ticket.

With that devoured in the shelter on the eastbound platform, 170515 eventually turned up and it was around 10 minutes late by now. It was only 4 minutes late when I got my food! It finally pulled into Peartree, a 'nice to do one day' item off the long list of such things. Quite the steep ramp leading to the gate, one I was glad was not icy, and with a button press the gate was unlocked. Out I went and some signs pointed me towards Derby.

After a while these signs all stopped and I was left to figure it out! Eventually my senses directed me to the centre and I knew roughly where I was from a Derbyshire Wayfarer trip ages ago. It must have been in summer 2021, I can't remember now! With the football crowds slowly returning, my mission was simply to return to the station and retire in a waiting room before the 1828 to Bristol Temple Meads, as far as Birmingham New Street. It rolled in eventually, with 220031 and 221141, and I got my bike on board, securing an available table seat in coach J surprisingly! So the map update just had to get done, a full size table with no other passengers at it on Saturday evening would have been rude to not be used. The journey to Birmingham, well that just flew by, I'd have been happy to stay on all the way to Bristol!

Sure enough, on a Saturday there must be no 1920 to Hereford, but the train for the 1950 was already in and available to board. I had considered doing the 1933 to Bromsgrove for some 323 action, but I decided against that as there had been football in Birmingham. The expectation was there'd be football fans and drunks filling the train, so I'd be better off jumping on 30 minutes early and making sure I had space for me and my bike. So I joined 172334 and settled in. I was in the front coach, which got rather busy with drunks who were still drinking and vaping, so I dread to think what the two coaches behind me were like!

Until Droitwich Spa, I talked to a 63 year old gentleman as we shared the common interest of exploring by cycling, thankfully the drunks mostly stayed further down the train so it wasn't too bad. There was no chance of focusing on reading though!

So, the adventure was winding down to a close, I had things to do on the Sunday that couldn't be postponed. If the weather behaved in the afternoon, there would be an opportunity to do a local ride, but otherwise there was important stuff to do. As the train got close to Hereford, I started to reflect on the week. What a week it had been, wow! I had to continue the review in the morning, granted, but I could not complain at the huge variety of trains and cycling I'd done! If I was to choose a highlight, I have to be honest I can't pin it to just one thing. Likewise with the downsides, there weren't any real bad points!

39 scores on the railway over the week, which I was very pleased with, the majority of those were of course in Scotland. My wants up there have come down dramatically! 188.7 miles of cycling were done over the 7 days, which is not as much as I was really aiming for but then I did a lot more on the railway than originally planned. I got a lot of new coverage by cycle, met some really nice people, had some amazing food and apart from the silly people on the trains (like that vaping woman who got on at Carlisle and the drunks on my last train of the week) then even the train journeys were good too. There really wasn't much to complain about!

So overall, I'd say it was an excellent week. The 320s being cleared was an early highlight, followed of course the day after by clearing the Scottish 156s and making really good progress on the 385s. My NREA doesn't look quite so embarrassing with the 385s now! Of course, the week ending with clearing the 170s was excellent, I'll never have to go chasing a 170 again and I hope it stays that way with no more reforms! I'd also discovered a new destination for my next cycling touring trip, although it's worth noting those weeks off usually end up in an area where I have significant wants on the railway too, in case of rubbish weather. Still, it looked very likely I'd be back in the East Midlands for some more touring when the opportunity presented itself.

Finally to round off this week, I include YouTube links:



Thanks for reading!
 

Techniquest

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Congrats on clearing the 170s, including the renumbered ones :)

Thanks! I've now got 168325 on my hitlist to finally clear that class once and for all too, and the Northern 769s are just behind the GWR 387s on my list too. 153909, well I'm awaiting its return but if it gets renumbered back to 309 I will be happy :lol:
 

Techniquest

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18/01/2022 - Let The Sound of Air Horns Be Heard!

Hello and welcome to an unexpected trip report! Before the day had begun, I had originally expected this to be a day of cycling. I was pretty close to clearing 5,000 miles on my bike after all, alas the weather forecast was not great. I ended up requesting information on my last Class 168. I had a meeting at 10am on Zoom first, and it appeared the powers that be were on my side as it was perfectly doable in a reasonable amount of time. It meant busting out the magic plastic yet again, but to clear the last of the 168s it felt worth it.

So after the meeting, which had to end early to ensure I had time to finish getting ready to go, I was soon enough on the way to the station. Due to the less than great conditions, I walked which was unusual as I haven't done much in the way of walking recently. Having got an e-ticket to Bicester Village, I had plenty of time to spare as it turned out to board 172102 and 172217 for the journey to Worcester Foregate Street. This was to be a day of no real exercise, bar some gentle (by my standard!) walking where required, so for a change I was in jeans and not fitness gear. That felt strange, I won't lie, almost every day sees me get the running or cycling gear on!

So it was a bit unexpected when impulse took over and I went for a pre-Greggs-lunch run in Worcester! A vegan sausage roll and a glazed doughnut, following the 0.8 mile run, was most welcome, and as I had time to fill I continued the run shortly after eating to get myself to Shrub Hill station. I had not planned to run all the way, and that uphill section really took it out of me. 1.5 miles of running complete, and my legs were not amused! Surprisingly, the recovery period was not quite as long as expected, and I was soon on 800031 for the journey to Oxford. That journey passed really fast, with a lot of reading and stopping for a coffee and Oreos break from the trolley filling the majority of the time.

At Oxford, I ended up chatting to a young rail enthusiast (if he's reading this, I hope the afternoon went well!) who is also studying A-levels. Good luck to him I say, I couldn't manage both studying and the railway at his age! Much to my surprise, 37800 came racing through, dragging 455736, 455704 and 456003 northwards to Long Marston. I hadn't been aware of that happening so only just got a quick video clip of it. My first 37 of the year and I loved it! I had also got my first GWR 769s confirmed for sight (I can't remember which one I saw in 2021 in Crewe) on Oxford Up Sidings, happy days!

The inward working of the 1513 Oxford to London Marylebone arrived, and I was initially gutted as in rolled 168111. Thankfully, on the back was the train of my desires, the reason for the long journey from Hereford and why I had to cut an important meeting short. Winner 168325 was on that service as I had been informed, happy days and I prepared the metaphorical Air Horns of Victory. A little after 3pm, I got nervous about mis-reading the time and left the young enthusiast to join the train. 1513, and it was time to sound those horns. Let them be heard all over Oxfordshire!

Yes, the 168s were finally cleared once and for all, at long last! Much credit to 03_179 on RailUK Forums for the gen on the 168, I owe you a tea or coffee! The journey to Bicester Village was mostly spent planning my moves for the 387s with GWR that I wanted, and the tickets required. The service from London to Didcot that 387173 was on, it was suggested on RTT that it would not work beyond Reading. So that meant a bit of a change of plan to get it and 387143, and I would need to add a journey to Twyford to make it all work. Another £4.20 fare, but if it meant getting down to just 1 more 387 with GWR it felt worth it. Plus there was the opportunity to potentially score a 345, so it had to be done!

Of course, a photo and video clip of the 168s occurred first, and a mandatory PNB before I had a quick mask break. Before too long, I needed to be back over the other side to join 168108 back to Oxford. Another journey that was over quickly, and where I had barely noticed any droning from the 168, as I was absorbed in finalising tickets for the afternoon. I was also fully committed to planning my time off in March, but more on that another time. Or later in this trip report!

I had a +8 or so to go grab a hot drink, and sadly AMT had no Earl Grey so a small coffee and a vegan mince pie ended up being chosen. As you do! All the sugar, all of the carbs...I had no issues with going through the barriers surprisingly, usually at Oxford I do, and I was onto 800013 for the non-stop journey to Reading. There I was due a +13 onto 387143, and after a walkabout to check some ECS movements I ended up joining winner 387143 and dud 387165 for the leap to Theale.

Once there I discovered I could alight there for access nearby to the National Cycle Network, which I must say had escaped my notice before. The same had happened at Bicester Village, I hadn't realised Route 51 actually ran quite close by. Duly noted for a future trip on both routes! Before I'd left Theale, I also got a photo of 165123 on a Bedwyn service, that could get cosy on parts of the route! After that, I still had around 20 minutes to fill, and I went for a run. As you do!

That actually went quite well, although I had failed to note on my quick look at the map on Strava that my intended route would take me alongside an incredibly busy road with no pavement! A short stop to look at Maps determined there was no other option but to return via the route I'd already done. Two 1+ mile runs in one day, albeit with a lot of rest in between runs, is unheard of for me and the good news was that my recovery rate seemed to be improving!

After cooling off, once the coat had come off, it was time to decide on my next move. I could have waited for 387301 on the stopper to Reading, and perhaps I should have for the novelty of a c2c 387/3 on the GWR network, but I chose to do 802017 instead. At Reading, I had to choose between taking a required 345 (017) to Twyford to pick up 387173 or using the time to source food. I ended calling time on play until I had been and got food, which after much deliberation was Subway. It feels criminal to go to a burger place and get a vegan friendly food item, and I will only do it if absolutely necessary! There were only 2 meat-free meatballs left, so I went with their TLC footlong (TLC is Tastes Like Chicken) and he gave me the meatballs anyway. They would have only gone into the bin otherwise!

With some vegan cheese and BBQ sauce, I can only begin to tell you how well that was received. The best way I can put it is that it was delicious and I am glad I went for the more expensive option, and not settled for a 6" sub. The tiger bread, absolutely awesome! £6.89 well spent, and I decided before then that as 387173 was showing as on the front of its service as dividing at Reading, it would be bonkers to send that one off elsewhere and leave me with the dud one. No ECS movements were showing either, so I had figured it was not worth the £4.20 fare to Twyford. Yes I'd have connected (in theory at least!) to the Hereford train I'd booked a seat on, and I would now get to Hereford at 2204, but quite frankly I felt the £4.20 fare would be better spent on food. After that sub, which had me wanting to praise a higher power for its amazing taste, I think I made the right call.

Upstairs I had also determined that if I had time I would pop into Hotel Chocolat for a small gift for a friend at work, and as I had that time I did just that. As well as a couple of other bits, it just had to be done, this month was costing me a fortune! Eventually the 387s arrived, and the platform announcements insisted the rear would get detached, so I made sure to dash to the front of 387173 which made it much easier to be as physically distant as possible! Let's not go into my views on distancing etc, apart from to say I am looking forward to the day when face masks are no longer required. In fairness, it's helped my respiratory system to get as efficient as possible!

The journey to Didcot Parkway was over in no time, I had a lot of typing to do and yes I really could have waxed lyrically even more than I did about that sub! I was still trying to focus on cutting down my junk food, but it is really not easy. Nor is cutting the coffee down again and switching to tea more often. It's all getting there though, and I have a lot of different projects all on the go. Clearly the junk food and coffee have not yet taken priority, but they will soon enough. It's been done before and it can be done again!

165120 was ready to welcome me after I grabbed a photo of my penultimate GWR 387 (387174 will be my last one), and before I knew it I was in Oxford. There wasn't much to do or see at the station, so I went for a stroll around the city. Clearly my memory of the city was not terribly clear, although it had been affected by a heavy amount of beer at the time, as I enjoyed my stroll and I must come back here with my bike at some point. Indeed, I had been going to take my bike on this trip but I couldn't get reservations with it on the journeys I wanted, so I left it behind, although conditions in Hereford seemed to suggest that was a good idea anyway.

Back at the station, after a farce at self-scan in Sainsburys, I was soon aboard 802014 all the way through to Hereford and I got a seat in coach A. Once the posh women had got off in Charlbury, it was nice and peaceful. A bit further on, the punnet of black grapes came out and that was thoroughly enjoyed. By Worcestershire Parkway, I was ready to get up and get off the train, but I still had an hour and a bit to go. Which is how I ended up posting the trip report before I got to Hereford, I needed something to do and I wasn't in the mood for reading!

Overall then, a very productive afternoon and evening out. Just one more GWR 387 to go, and another class completed. I was left wondering what my next major aim was going to be on the railway, although that was a consideration for another time. As for that trip in March, I was still thinking about it and I'll cover that another day!

YouTube link for the 37 at Oxford:

 

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LowLevel

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It's not the famed XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger of old (RIP, grotty New Street Burger King!) but as a firmly meat loving individual I do actually enjoy the Subway vegan subs as a meat free option, the meatballs are delicious in their own right.

Not a bad spontaneous bash really.
 

Techniquest

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It's not the famed XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger of old (RIP, grotty New Street Burger King!) but as a firmly meat loving individual I do actually enjoy the Subway vegan subs as a meat free option, the meatballs are delicious in their own right.

Not a bad spontaneous bash really.

Oh yes I have memories of that BK too!

Agreed that the meatless meatballs were actually really good, if you haven't had the TLC I highly recommend it. I don't do Subway too often, I am trying to cut down on processed food but it is nigh on impossible to do on adventures like this!
 

adrock1976

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What's it called? It's called Cumbernauld
Having read the Scotland trip post, you ended up not that far away from me at Croy. I am willing to bring you some tea and/or other provisions if you are ever up that way again.

Also, a cycling (or walking) route I would recommend from Croy station is to the Roman altar by the water tower at Carrickstone, although it is uphill in that direction. Next to the Roman altar is the Carrick Stone, which is where Robert the Bruce (who was the Earl of Carrick in Ayrshire) raised his standard when on the way to Bannockburn. Also, near the water tower, there is a fingerpost pointing to Croy with the number of miles, and also a sign pointing to Rome with a four figure mileage.

Regarding the reference to cycling along the A803 from the Royal Infirmary, there is a route that cuts out the motorised traffic heading towards Springburn. From Buchanan Bus Station/Caledonian Uni (former Glasgow Polytechnic), uphill to the junction, straight ahead past the car showroom, there are student flats called Victoria Halls where the road curves. At this point, diverge towards the footbridge over the M8 (currently being replaced), another footbridge over Pinkston Road, then the path that brings you out at the Tesco St Rollox store.
 

Techniquest

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Having read the Scotland trip post, you ended up not that far away from me at Croy. I am willing to bring you some tea and/or other provisions if you are ever up that way again.

Also, a cycling (or walking) route I would recommend from Croy station is to the Roman altar by the water tower at Carrickstone, although it is uphill in that direction. Next to the Roman altar is the Carrick Stone, which is where Robert the Bruce (who was the Earl of Carrick in Ayrshire) raised his standard when on the way to Bannockburn. Also, near the water tower, there is a fingerpost pointing to Croy with the number of miles, and also a sign pointing to Rome with a four figure mileage.

Regarding the reference to cycling along the A803 from the Royal Infirmary, there is a route that cuts out the motorised traffic heading towards Springburn. From Buchanan Bus Station/Caledonian Uni (former Glasgow Polytechnic), uphill to the junction, straight ahead past the car showroom, there are student flats called Victoria Halls where the road curves. At this point, diverge towards the footbridge over the M8 (currently being replaced), another footbridge over Pinkston Road, then the path that brings you out at the Tesco St Rollox store.

I must confess I forgot you lived in the Croy area! I hadn't planned to spend much time there until the day itself, otherwise I would no doubt have made plans for a quick social.

Thanks for the tip on the points of interest, I will try to remember those for when I return to the area. On my wishlist for that part of Scotland, and there are numerous items apart from 385s, I have the desire to do the ride between Croy and Cumbernauld, just because it will eventually clear a gap on my map. I also have a desire to explore Stirling properly, both on foot and by cycle, then there's the ride from Alloa to Dunfermline which appeals, not to mention the ride from Falkirk Wheel over to Edinburgh. Plenty more no doubt will pop to mind if I was to look at the map right now!

I did the ride from Croy to Falkirk Wheel and The Kelpies (before ending up at Larbert eventually) in October 2020, which was all part of my first ever cycling holiday. I may have to actually create some notes and make a trip report for that. It was the same week I cleared the 380s, and I also did Manchester to Runcorn (and onto Acton Bridge) via the Transpennine Trail that week.

I hope all is well up in Scotland :)
 

Kite159

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Good news on your last 168 falling plus 2 more of the green 387s.

Hopefully 174 will pop up working a Didcot stopper when you next have a London trip
 

Techniquest

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Good news on your last 168 falling plus 2 more of the green 387s.

Hopefully 174 will pop up working a Didcot stopper when you next have a London trip

Here's hoping :) It hasn't been allocated lately from what I've seen, so that could be a good sign.

I'm taking a few days away from the railway now, to have a break from the trains but also to give the finances a break. It's going to take a while to clear the magic plastic again as it is, and in any case I need to get back to focusing on studying and exercise more than trains. So next week I'll not be due a trip report, but the week after I'll no doubt be back out.

I was having an idea this afternoon as it was, although I've yet to think clearly on it. As for the resumption of my World Frenzy series, the studying of my many cycling maps today hints that I will be better off looking at that for my time off in March.
 

Techniquest

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Morning all, time for a quick update! I'm a bit busy this week, plenty to do on my days off and the railway is not forming much in the way of any part of it, much to my surprise.

26th January 2022 saw me continue my quest for conquering the TfW fleet, until the new stuff starts in passenger service of course. Yes, at long last the elusive 153909 was mine, and it was had on a journey from Hereford to Ludlow. It would have been more convenient to wait for the return working, but I've been burnt by that too many times to count in the past. Until it actually turned up in front of me, I did not believe it was actually working, expecting it to be an allocation error. So imagine my disbelief when it actually turned up, and how grateful I was to get let through the barriers when the GWR app had a moment and wouldn't let me finish the transaction! I only just made it on in the end, as the booked 3 minute dwell in Hereford didn't happen.

So finally I had my last in-service 153 in the book, as I have a good few Northern ones in store I didn't get. A few East Midlands ones escaped me too, and 153385 having gone to Network Rail means I'd not get the lot anyway! If those I want in store come out to play again, and that seems very unlikely, then I'll go after them. Otherwise, it's Class 153 all done!


I also forgot to link to the Class 168 video from the other week when I finished that class:


Since I got the 153, I've had a bit of a lack of desire to really go anywhere for now on the railway. There's plenty of places I want to visit, but I can't find the enthusiasm to go to them right now. I was going to go for an afternoon out today, for example, after an important meeting this morning, but the wind forecast isn't the best and I just can't justify going to, say, Birmingham for a tram and 165 hunt just for that only. If I was going to Birmingham, I'd want to take my bike with me and I don't do cycling in strong gusty wind. 17mph-22mph gusts I can just about manage at a push, after some unpleasant experience in such winds on rural roads when they also acted as crosswinds, yeah it's not worth it. It's not fun trying to ride into such wind either, and if it's not a fun ride then it's just not worth doing.

So for the time being I'm not really going anywhere! I do keep an eye out for 387174, in case it actually ever comes out, but I've not seen it allocated on RTT for quite a while. If it had been allocated this morning, I'd have gone to Oxfordshire for it and found something else to add to the trip!

In other news, last week I finally finished my Road To 5,000 mission! :D I had wanted to celebrate such an occasion with a ride on new coverage, but it just wasn't to be. It won't surprise anyone that I'm now on a new mission to go for 10,000! I'm considering a new goal to do 500 miles of leisure walking this year, so not counting work or commuting mileage. I'm hoping to make this decision later today, and given wind gusts are scheduled to be 27mph and stronger today then walking is not the worst idea. Running, yes for now it is not off the table long-term but in the short term, sadly it has to wait. I'm not even close to physically fit enough for that yet, and there are other projects to complete first. Soon, maybe, but not this week.

Today also sees the re-launch of 7 day challenges, and to begin said launch it's 7 days of no chocolate. I'm also going back to cutting down my coffee and increasing my tea consumption, which is not going to be easy!

In more exciting news, next month sees the long awaited return to my World Frenzy series! :D When I got the news that testing on the return to the UK was soon to be abolished, this really lit a fire inside and I spent hours deciding where I would go. I had been going to do a cycling tour in the South East, but this was to change, my first opportunity to leave the UK in more than 2 years was not going to get passed up!

Where am I going? Zagreb, Croatia! :D It looks an incredible city, and while I am only going for 2 nights thus not long to explore, it will be the perfect amount of time to have a good look around. Ooh my first city break since Kraków in January 2020 has me all excited, so much so the trip report has already been started!
 

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There was an item on the news last week about a chap who cycles 5000 miles every year...

...He was celebrating his 100th birthday!
 

Kite159

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Just think you will soon have a lot more new units to go after locally, both the 196s on Birmingham trains & 197s on the Welsh trains.
 

Techniquest

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01/02/2022 - And So The Red Ink Flows Again

Well, what had I been saying about not having the enthusiasm for going out on the railway? That clearly changed with a huge dose of impulse at 1306! I have to confess, a week had passed since this trip, so the detail will be less than normal but that may not be a bad thing depending on your point of view! I hadn't had the drive to type and type on the train back, partly caused by a user of an illegal substance getting on the train not far from me. However, I'm jumping ahead of myself here, let's revisit that point later.

I had been busy for a couple of hours with an important meeting on Zoom in the morning, and as is often the case after said meetings (the topic of the weekly meetings is very off-topic. Family friendly, don't worry, but not one I'm willing to currently discuss. Maybe one day!) my head was spinning a bit after taking on a lot of interesting content. I had a sudden dose of impulse kick in around 1pm, and I looked up the 3 Northern 769s I wanted. 2 out of 3 out, and I had been recently telling myself I'd only make a short notice trip up if all 3 were out.

Clearly this changed a few minutes later, when I found some £19 last minute Advances each way departing less than an hour later. At 1306, I was booked and hurriedly packing stuff for the journey, I was due to leave Hereford at 1352 after all. I wasn't taking my beast this time, the wind was too strong for cycling. I put my speed walking feet on tomorrow for this adventure, and to my incredible surprise I arrived at the station at an average speed of 5.1mph. Unsurprisingly, I was pretty pleased with that, I don't often manage such incredible speed. Well, it was an average speed that got thrashed in Manchester, but again I'm jumping the gun!

I need not have rushed though, the train was 15 minutes late due to a signalling issue in South Wales. By the time 175109 turned up and departed, it was 21 late and I was getting ready to warm up the Delay Repay form-filling thumbs!

The journey passed by quite quickly, with some reading and a lot of staring out of the window at the scenery. Thankfully by Crewe, the delay had come down to around 18 minutes and I knew there was a good bit of recovery time built into the Stockport to Manchester end of the route. The final part of the journey was spent getting as ready as possible for a fast walk, as I had identified some options that while not terribly exciting would get both 769s in, and allow me to officially launch my newest fitness challenge.

This was #IWillWalk500, and anyone following the action on Strava will have already seen I don't often use the hashtag yet on my walks but for the more exciting ones I plan to use it. An average march around Hereford doesn't seem worth using it to be honest! Inspired of course by the smash hit for The Proclaimers, I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), the challenge is simply 500 miles of leisure walking. No purely commuting walks, and initially I was going to count January's walking too but it felt too much like cheating. So I was starting afresh, and yes this challenge was to be done ASAP.

Anyway, I arrived at Manchester Piccadilly, which has to be one of my most favourite stations in the North of England, at 1623. No need for the Delay Repay claim thumbs, which got packed away fast as I had around 25 minutes to do a walk that Maps suggested would take 25 minutes. I didn't know the route off by heart, so this would be a challenge. I took that challenge and conquered it so much I could have probably sung a round of karaoke while marching away! How fast did I go then? Well despite going the wrong way in Salford, I hit 5.4mph which I was very pleased with, a new speed record! My previous record was 1 hour of walking at 5.1mph, which was a challenge but I think I could even manage to do the same time at the higher speed now. I might have to put that theory to the test soon! I arrived at Salford Central at 1642, which I was quite pleased with. The march through Manchester did seem to raise a few comments, one of which I recall went along the lines of I was really on a mission. Well yes, I wanted to shout back to her, I was!

After buying a £2.80 single, I was on the platform and soon joined winner 769431 for the short leap to Manchester Victoria. I wanted to do it to Stalybridge, for a TPX back to Piccadilly, but the connection into the other 769 was a +1 which was never going to be made. I could have then gone chasing the 769 on its way back from Alderley Edge, but the +14 at Piccadilly did not feel worth the risk. So despite the objections of the ears, which wanted more noise from the 769, I had planned such a short leap.

This led to a big plus for me of course, as I now had around 50 minutes before the other 769 would be leaving Piccadilly. Manchester is one of my favourite UK cities, you can keep Birmingham it's all about Manchester. I'd even vote it way above Liverpool, which is nice enough but it's just not Manchester! I should have a good few city scenes tagged onto the trip report to help highlight my point, but let's just say for now I remembered just how much I love Manchester and it's on the list of places to consider moving to. Glasgow is also on that list, for the record, but that's a whole other story. Let me just say for now that there is change in the air, I strongly believe my time in Hereford is done and there's a need to go elsewhere.

Anyway, soon enough I was back at Piccadilly and I had also noticed there's a lot of places popping up with city bikes for hire now in Manchester. I didn't know this was happening, but I am glad to see it. When did this happen? I am definitely keen to sign up for them and give them a spin some time! If the GWR app had not had a moment, I'd have had some cheap Advances to and from Stockport for the next 769, but it was not having it so I settled for buying a day return to Levenshulme from the ticket machine instead. A shorter than desired journey, but it would have to do. After filling my now empty water bottle, it was onto winner 769442 for the short journey to Levenshulme. Just one more 769 to go with Northern now, that honour falling to 769448 which seems to have a habit similar to 387174 of never being allocated to a service. Same as 769421 with TfW, but that's another story!

A short wait at Levenshulme eventually got me onto 150136+150115 back to Manchester Piccadilly, and I now had around 90 minutes to fill before the train back to Hereford at 1931. Obviously, I was off on a walking mission to soak up more of Manchester's sights! Along the way, I noted 2 of the newer trams with Metrolink, which if they had been going the right way I'd have got in the book. Sadly, both were observed too late to get to and were heading out of the city. It just means I will have more to hunt when I do a Metrolink session later in the year!

If I had loved Manchester earlier, by now I was really in love with it and I wanted to find out more about those new apartments near Salford Central. Something-Wharf the building was called, I can only imagine the rental cost alone would be huge! Eventually I arrived back at Piccadilly and it was time to board 175106 back to Hereford. For whatever reason, it had been put on platform 9 beyond a pair of 185s, so it was quite the walk to the front coach!

I settled into a table seat and got to work on eating some much needed food, I was quite hungry by now. Don't ask how the incredibly difficult to achieve challenge to fix my diet was going, it's a long term goal and I'm basically doing what I can to keep it going until the day it all falls into place. Along with many other health improvements I've made in the past, it will click into place when the time is right. At least in the meantime my patience was improving, which is a big challenge sometimes and there's other schemes being sorted out too. Again, all off-topic!

Eventually the stomach was satisfied enough to shut up for the evening, and while I had wanted to do so many things with my journey south I couldn't find the energy for much apart from chilling out and playing music. So what about that illegal substance user I mentioned? Well he got on not too far into the journey, and you could smell the marajana (I don't know how to spell it) from a few rows away. He eventually got off at Shrewsbury, and the immediate improvement to the smell of the carriage was huge. Each to their own and all that, yes, but when it comes to things like drug abuse then I draw the line. If I could have, I'd have had him ejected from the train into the hands of police officers way before then!

The rest of the journey went by without issue, and I was by now really tired so getting back to base and fast was the key task ahead. It didn't take too long to get to sleep afterwards, it must be said!
 

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Techniquest

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I forgot to mention in my rushed effort to finish that trip report, that I managed to score my first 730 for sight when it was on a test run at Crewe :D

Some more photos too from Manchester :D
 

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Techniquest

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08/02/2022 - The Curse of 421 Strikes Again!

Another day of impulse (and another trip report typed up a week later!) and having noted 769421 seemed to be having a good few days after waiting so very long for it to be repaired, I took the opportunity to head to South Wales on a short notice trip. I had not long finished the weekly Zoom meeting, and I was out of the door as fast as possible with my beast.

I made it with a couple of minutes to spare, and I was soon on a busy 175007 for the journey to Cardiff Central. As is often the case, the bike space was occupied throughout by luggage and a passenger. Which meant my beast was sticking out a bit into the aisle, not that I could do much about it. I have to confess, the details of the journey are not great as I don't recall anything of particular interest when typing this up!

Upon final approach to Cardiff Central, where we arrived slightly late which had led to panic, I'd miss the 769, which got me the sight of a pair of 153s. Oh for crying out loud I was thinking, or words to that effect, but made my way over to platform 6 and 7 anyway. Checking RTT, I discovered the 153s would go to Bargoed and 769421 would now depart platform 7 to Ystrad Mynach.

ARGH! It wasn't 769421 after all! 769445 was on that service, and hours later I discovered 769421 had finished working after the 0630 from Rhymney to Cardiff Central. If RTT had told me that much, and I had checked not long before leaving the house around 1220, I'd have not bothered. The Curse Of 421 struck again, just last time this happened it was 769452 instead!

So I ended up replanning, and I was booked to Cardiff Queen Street anyway so I decided to go for it. I flagged the 769 during the replan, and went for the 153s instead. Having recently gone for it on a relatively expensive last minute journey to Ludlow, I went up the ramp to Cardiff Queen Street on 153909+153329. If only I'd known that I'd get 909 on this visit, I would have saved a fair bit of money!

I had planned to begin a ride from Queen Street station anyway, and it was decided to ride to Rhoose. The reasoning for that was to continue my quest for a line of coverage from the west coast of Wales to the east coast of England. Regular readers will know I've been doing this for a long time, and I've been a lot more flexible with how direct this line is. I've also got flexibility with where the line will start and end, the western point has not been started yet. I was going to make it from the Aberystwyth area to Great Yarmouth, via some sort of route through the Cambrian and an undecided route through the Midlands to reach the Cambridge area then as direct as possible to Great Yarmouth. Said idea then got altered to make the most easterly bit go around the North Norfolk coast.

I have since looked to make the western end run from somewhere west of Swansea, ideally in Pembrokeshire, having done Cardiff to Bath via Newport, the Gwent Flatlands, Chepstow and Bristol. Anyway! We will be here all day talking about my cycling plans, so let's get back to the day itself before I have to type the current trip report up, as I am already on the (first of more than one going north, but let's leave that for another time) train for that adventure!

Once I had worked my way around the city centre, I found myself diving around some civil engineering works near the Millenium Stadium (whatever it is ever be called now and in the future, it will always be that name to me!) and onto National Cycle Network Route 8. Somewhere just before Cardiff Bay, signage stopped and I found myself in Mermaid's Quay. Once through the pedestrian area, it was back to battling the wind around Penarth Marina. It's actually quite nice, although I must say the hills of Penarth are less so! After the town centre, I was soon on familiar territory once again, having been in this area by car with my mother several months earlier. Somewhere along the main road, I saw a sign pointing me onto Route 88 to Sully and as that was on a shared-use path that made more sense. Trying to get over onto it was another matter, the traffic was most frustrating in creating a gap!

Once I got to Sully, it was back onto the road all the way to Barry, and near Barry Docks there was a shared-use path which would have been nice to use, but by the time I saw it after leaving the roundabout there was no way to access it. Which was really annoying, as that would have allowed me a chance to get photos of the long-disused semaphore gantry on the Docks branch as well as of the impressive station building at Barry Docks.

No matter, as this led to me discovering the location of a Starbucks and Morrisons nearby, and as my ride would almost certainly have to end soon at that point I made a note to either visit later on or at least note it was near Barry Docks for future reference. I didn't feel I'd get close enough to Rhoose in time for a train back to meet my booked train out of Cardiff, so elected to visit Barry Island instead.

13.7 miles of cycling later, I had arrived and I was rather hungry. I was also in need of a hot drink, and lunch had been virtually non-existent on the way to Cardiff after all. I was going to visit a local establishment, but ended up in Greggs. As you do! With some much required food had, and a sugary tea enjoyed, I decided to get some photos of Barry Island station and the railway infrastructure around it.

What a lot of urban decay there is in the area these days! Admittedly, it had been many years since I was last on the railway in Barry, and I have no idea what happened to the heritage railway there, but all I saw in the area was a megaton of Freightliner Heavy Haul coal wagons (waiting to be scrapped I'm guessing) and a huge lot of buildings, platforms etc that look like they're going to be left forever to collapse inwards on themselves or just rust away. You would honestly think you had stumbled across an entire abandoned network, were it not for the regular trains to/from Cardiff and the Valleys!

150208 took me away from the Island, possibly my first ever 150 out of there as last time I was around there on a train it was mostly 142s and 143s. It's rather telling how much I didn't really enjoy the Pacers, as I don't miss them! The journey was really slow and boring, and I must return to the Island one day. The reason being that the only track onto the branch now is the loop platform bit at Barry, which I haven't done yet. I will connect it to a ride some day!

After eventually reaching Cardiff Central, I didn't fancy any cycling as it was peak time and I expected some busy roads. Plus there was of course my 500 miles walking challenge to progress, so that's exactly what I did. My route took me along the side of the Millenium Stadium and into Sophia Gardens. That was nice and pretty, but then I found myself in Bute Park. Wow that was nice, I must go there again for a proper explore some time, my introduction to the area was definitely enough to convince me this would soon be mandatory!

Soon enough, as time was flying away from me after all, I had to be back at Central for the 1716 to Holyhead, obviously only to Hereford for me. I had expected this to be a 67 when I chose my Advance back, but this was not to be. 175108 was my chariot, and to my surprise I had no issue getting my beast on board. Quite, the front coach was pretty quiet all the way!

Soon enough, I was back in Hereford and on the short ride back to base. At that time, I was wondering how many times I would be returning to said place as a base, however a week later I was looking fairly certainly at maintaining a base in Hereford for a considerable time. It may not be the same part of Hereford, but we will see what happens there. It's a story I'm not yet convinced will ever get told, or if it does then the middle and end will probably be very different to how it is right now! Let's just say for now that there are exciting times potentially ahead!
 

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Techniquest

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More photos from last week are attached to this post, with today's trip report and its two photos.

15/02/2022 - I'm on the Edge, of Alderley!

The day before, I had been on a shopping and walking adventure in Gloucester and Cheltenham after work. I told myself that was the week's adventure, the following two days would focus on other important things. Well this was not to be!

All morning I had gone back and forth with the plan for the day. The wind had finally calmed down enough to go cycling again, but I had two trains on my wishlist. 387174 I had recently discovered was at Ilford, following a fatality, so I stopped checking for that. Apart from this day, for some reason. 769421 was not showing as out, which was good as I was not in the mood for chasing that thing again. 769448, however, was out and I spent all day deciding whether or not to use valuable funds chasing it.

This did not help my weekly Zoom meeting, and eventually at 1240 I decided I would cook some vegetables for lunch, then go for a ride. Well that changed during the meal, and after much consulting my brain, I settled on some last minute Advances to/from Wilmslow. So with everything eaten quickly, and a bag packed fast, I was at the station at 1342 ready for the 1352 to Manchester. Or, that was the plan at least!

Onto 175008 then to Wilmslow, and I didn't have a cycle space full of luggage for a change! It was still a very busy train, until Ludlow I was sat next to someone for the first time in many months. After that, I moved and at Church Stretton we stopped for a considerable time. This was discovered to be due to the engine in coach C having stopped working, and despite the best efforts of train crew they just could not get it to work again. So TfW Control cancelled the train at Shrewsbury, which was a real shame, but what can you do? I had been fancying a return to Shrewsbury for some time, so it is as the saying goes 'when God shuts a door, He opens a window'.

After a badly needed PNB, I went for a little ride around Shrewsbury, taking in part of National Cycle Network's Route 81 around a park and river. After a while, said route was blocked off by a fence, so I turned around and went up the other way. Once I reached some suburbs, the urge to explore was very real but I needed to get back to the railway station. It was just as well, as traffic in Shrewsbury was already getting silly. Thankfully I had allowed enough to get back and easily visit Starbucks.

£3.25 for a medium black americano now! The cup was only two-thirds full as well, that will be me going elsewhere next time. I appear to have been charged 5p for sugar as well, as the board declared the coffee to be £3.20. I can't say I was impressed, although the coffee was good.

175112 arrived and picked up a large crowd of us all waiting for it, and it was of course nice and busy all the way to Crewe. There, enough space was created to put the bike in its correct place, although still partially blocking the aisle. It did at least mean I could finally visit the little room before getting to Wilmslow! Arrival there was at about 1645, so I would get a reasonable amount back on my Delay Repay claim. It meant of course I lost a lot of coverage opportunities, but it is what it is. I ended up, first of all, cycling to Styal after checking my train times and fares.

The GWR app had suggested Wilmslow to Alderley Edge was £3.10 return (it hadn't shown me the Anytime fare) and from Styal it was £3.20 so as I had never visited Styal before (in the peak of my station visiting days, it was difficult to do) and it gave me some new cycling coverage, so why not! I had 22 minutes to get there before the 1711 to Crewe, and Maps suggested it would take 14 minutes. Challenge, accepted!

It wasn't too bad a ride to be fair, nice and easy to navigate. Which is unusual for me when it comes to signage, as regular readers will know! The hill into Styal was tougher than expected, I was not in the right gear for it and I was going too slowly to successfully change it by the halfway point. For some reason, the signage for the railway station is missing at the junction onto Station Road (I had rode via Manchester Road and Styal Road, going past HMP Styal, maybe the other way it's marked?) so I had to double-back a little further up. The golf club, that was signposted though, priorities in Styal clearly!

I arrived at 1700, so around 3 minutes ahead of the estimate on Maps which did please me. Signal coverage in Cheshire is not good on Three, thankfully it worked at the right time to buy my ticket before 323233 arrived about 6 minutes early. The signal was then not worth having until Wilmslow, where I decided enough was enough, I would explore Wilmslow a bit. I did a bit of it years ago, in September 2019 if I recall correctly, when I visited the Runway Aviation Park near Manchester Airport. However, once outside I also deemed it just light enough to cycle to Alderley Edge. Which is precisely what I did, dropping the hammer whenever possible.

Having arrived only shortly after the Starship would have done, by maybe 7 minutes, I had to decide whether to wait for the 1750 to Southport or getting the slightly delayed 1738 that was coming from Crewe. I have to confess, I am relying on RTT being correct with this move as it said it was 319368. I had been in such a rush at Wilmslow that I hadn't confirmed, with my own eyes, the 175 either! So it was onto my first 319 of the year, sadly not in the motor coach but never mind. Back at Wilmslow, I locked the bike up and went to the waiting room on platform 4. As the 319 was going via Manchester Airport, the keen observers amongst you all will notice that I was about to now use the last platform at Wilmslow that I had not already done today! Not that I hadn't done all the usual routes through the station in the past, my micro-gricing days went out of the window years ago, I want to say June 2018 which is when my memory tells me I got rid of my atlases, Trackmaps, moves book and so on. Good grief that was a long time ago!

So, was I to get the 769 I had been waiting all day to get? Yes! I finally had the Northern 769s cleared, much to my relief as it had had all day to go wrong and be replaced! The motor coach was very much my choice of venue for the short journey to Alderley Edge, and to my surprise I arrived at the northbound platform. An unexpected micro-grice, it was all happening today!

Now I could have gone to the small Tesco for supplies, bearing in mind by now it was around 1810 and my lunch had been devoured almost 5 hours earlier. Somehow, for a change, I had not been munching earlier in the afternoon, which is extremely unusual for me when on a lengthy journey. I was by now really hungry, so food was Priority Alpha!

Think of it what you will, but I just had to go to Waitrose. Why, I hear you ask? Well, whenever I've been past it on a southbound train I've weirdly had it on my list of things to do in Alderley Edge. I don't know why myself, so your question will go unanswered! After sourcing some tasty food, I still had around 20 minutes before my train so I got a 0.8 mile walkabout done. I didn't see much in Alderley Edge worth coming back for, truth be told, although I would use it to begin or end a cycle ride some time to link up with the new coverage on this trip.

Soon enough the stomach demanded an end to play for a while, so I made a double-deck Violife cheese slices sandwich with some Bürgen oat and quinoa bread. Yes it wasn't the healthiest option, that cheese has a lot of saturated fat in it thanks to the coconut oil used to make it, but to be honest I didn't mind too much at that point. The bread is highly recommended, although I have to say I didn't realise each slice had 1.7 grams of fat in it before buying it. Regardless, it's really good and while expensive (in Waitrose, it's normally £1.50 and I'd got it to try when Yellow Stickered for £1.25) I will have it again.

769448 took me back to Wilmslow, where I would begin my southbound journey a bit around 50 minutes later. I had time for a good walkabout, and that sandwich clearly did some good as not only did the stomach stop complaining, I seemed to have the buzz to fire away at a rather reasonable pace for the walk. By the time I returned to the station, I was on 2.3 miles, and before I'd left the house I was on 47.45 miles for my 500 miles walking challenge. Yes I had done that 0.8 mile walk earlier too, so I would be cleared for 50 miles anyway, but it just seemed appropriate to make the 2.55 miles required on this walk. Start the next section of the challenge as I mean to go on I guess!

2.75 miles completed, and I was suitably pleased with Wilmslow. As noted on Strava, I could see myself living there, now that had me thinking! After picking my bike up, it was off to platform 4 again and a bag repack had everything organised again before 175001 turned up to take me back to The Ford. I do wonder how many more times I will need to go there, a change is in the air but who knows? This is a different change to the one hinted at the end of the previous trip report, another change is already underway and I've received enough hints that 2022 is the year of change. So much good stuff has happened already in 2022, and we are less than 2 months into it. What else am I looking at or already doing? Well, that would just ruin the surprise wouldn't it? All I know is that I am pleased with the year so far, and whatever actually happens I'm excited to see what it will be!

2 weeks ago, the 1931 from Manchester had been a very quiet service throughout, perhaps it helped it had been a 175/1? Either way, I was standing in the vestibule until Crewe, where the train tipped out quite a lot. On the way there, I'd come across Nightcore Keegan's mix of Abba's Dancing Queen while playing a different Nightcore mix, that one had been Voulez Vous. I liked this one I had on, it wasn't just a case of 'speed it up and call it Nightcore', this was a nice bit of a slightly extended remix in places. I've linked to it below, I'm tempted to put it on my Anthems of 2022 playlist, and for a nice change the picture used in the video isn't borderline pornographic. The majority of Nightcore videos on YouTube do, yes they are anime/manga/whatever, the point here being that it's nice to see a video that's family friendly!


While waiting for the late running 2009 from Crewe to Glasgow to get out of our way, Network Rail's 73952 and 73951 went past on a top and tail test train. To my surprise, I didn't have them ticked off in my NREA, so that was changed. Eventually it was off, and by the time I finished typing I was most of the way to Whitchurch! By then, the second double deck sandwich got started with a punnet of red and green grapes also devoured to finish the main part of the feed. To think a couple of years ago, I'd have used the time in Wilmslow and Alderley Edge to get on the beer, ticking off as many as I could. Same with the pubs, that time in Shrewsbury would have been in Brewdog! Also hard to believe now is that I would have been demolishing a big burger, fries and a high-sugar drink for the evening meal, with beer on the journey and a whole ton of junk food!

By the time all the eating was done, and I had finished musing for the duration, I was at Church Stretton. No engine troubles this time, and I was beginning to look forward to getting back to base. Oh, I forgot to mention, the original title for this trip report was 'Northern 769s, tick!' but on the 769 back to Wilmslow I realised a better one would be 'I'm on the Edge, of Alderley' in reference to Lady Gaga's Edge of Glory. It just felt like a much better trip report title!

Eventually I was back in Hereford, and it was raining. Not heavily, but it did make me wonder if it would have been wet all afternoon. I had considered trying for my Gran Fondo, just around Herefordshire instead of going away for it, but I think perhaps I made the right decision!
 

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Techniquest

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Well done clearing the Northern 769s.

Thanks! I thought of you when I saw Brewdog yesterday, I was meant to message you and check-in with how things are going. Hopefully you're all well!

I have a long list of people to check-in with, it must be said, sadly I don't know when I will actually get around to making better social contact with all these people!
 

Techniquest

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22/02/2022 - I finally got to do my February Gran Fondo!

I was going to do a trip report especially for this forum, but given it took me around 25 minutes to type up the following for the activity description on Strava I was not feeling the love for doing a full write-up! However, sharing that on here made a lot of sense so for those of you (probably almost if not entirely all of you) who don't follow me on Strava, you too can see what the day was like. I didn't mention it on Strava, but the recovery meal was a large portion of chips, 10 onion rings and 2 pineapple fritters. £5-something well spent, considering how close to collapsing I was at the end of the ride. Put it this way, it took me nearly 3 hours to put my beast away after getting back, and even then the legs were not best pleased!

So, grab yourself a jagodowa herbata (blueberry tea) and some ciasteczka (cookies), and see what I spent a windy but sunny day doing! Oh, and it is worth mentioning I'd done a 5.2 mile power walk over an hour in the morning, so I've had a busy day!

Having now recovered (I was seriously close to my legs giving way on me, I was so hungry! Lucozade only goes so far!) with an enormous feed, here's today's tale:


With the weekly Tuesday Zoom meeting having to be cut short, and the weather really nice for February, I started getting ready for a ride. I was in the mood for a Gran Fondo, and with the month nearly over it was the best chance I had to do it. I had originally planned to factor in the wind, so aiming to take advantage of it being behind me whenever possible. Well, as you can see, that didn't happen!


The good news is there was new coverage for my local map on this Fondo! I was going to Ledbury to begin with, but turned off at Trumpet. Only to Dymock originally, but that got pushed to Newent where I ended up stopping off at Co-Op for a big bottle of water, cookies and a 4 pack of fizzy Lucozade Orange. 21.1 miles at that point, which I was pleased with and by now the Fondo HAD to happen!


I'd forgot how many hills there are to conquer on the way to Newent, and the same for the ride to Highnam! I knew there I could turn off for a signposted cycle-friendly route to Gloucester, so I found myself on National Cycle Network Route 42. A nice sector that to Over Bridge, which I will one day take a photo of! From there, I had planned to go into Gloucester then north to Worcester.


However, I knew full well that I could not turn down the chance to do that shared-use path alongside the A40! At the roundabout with the A48, sadly said path finishes and so began proper the battle with the wind. On a calmer day, I'd have had issues in places of course but I'd have struggled much less. That climb through Birdwood was tougher than I thought (the bus makes it look easy!) and eventually I arrived in Huntley, glad to see the back of the A40 and hoped the Murco garage would sell coffee. I was very keen on a BIG dose of caffeine, the Lucozade and 2 of the 4 cookies were helping a bit but I needed coffee to warm up with.


Frustratingly, the garage while still decked out with the signs etc is not open as a fuelling station. Really?! So after a break, which confirmed the A40 onwards to Ross had a nasty hill on it almost straight away, I kept to the plan to charge along the A4136 to Mitcheldean. I knew the rollercoaster hills would be tough, they look nasty on the bus, but for some reason I felt compelled to do them today. Facing the wind, yes I'm sure some high-level genius logic was in place there...


With an issue on my usual choice of gear for such a climb, I had to struggle up them in a gear too fast really. Imagine my joy when I reached the top and arrived in Mitcheldean! 4 miles from Huntley but it felt like so much more than that! Another visit to Co-Op got made, having now reached 40 miles and knowing a gentleman's facility should be available nearby. Thankfully, it was and before I went into Co-Op I also signed up with The Wildlife Trust, which I wasn't expecting to do today!


Eventually, after a bottle of Lucozade Sport Orange (oh my yes, that went down well) but still no coffee, I knew I had to hurry up and get back to Hereford before it got too dark to cycle. Upon crossing the border with Herefordshire, all of a sudden Belinda Carlisle's Leave A Light On For Me came to mind. I don't know why! I was happy to be back in my home county though, but I was sick of the wind. Back onto the A40 soon enough, and usually I can sail along some sections of the road between Lea and Ross-on-Wye but today it was more challenging. Tiredness and the wind being causes, and I was starting to wonder if I should instead head to Ledbury and get a train to Hereford.


Knowing that they might be disrupted, I soon decided to stick with it and kept plodding on to Ross-on-Wye. With the flooding, it looked more like Ross-under-Wye! 46.9 miles at that car park, and I knew the A49 would be a challenge. It is on a good day, but today it would be so much worse. With only two coffees before the morning power walk, and an Earl Grey before the ride, I was completely drained of caffeine and my mood suffered badly. I had planned to be back in Hereford by 5pm, to ensure I got back before sunset, but by now it was 16:23 so no chance!


Knowing this would be the final major hurdle, I carried on as best as I could, taking a couple of breaks to try and give the legs a chance, they were struggling a lot. Eventually I got to Harewood End, well away from Ross and Hereford suddenly did not feel so far away. Those roadworks were causing much in the way of tailbacks, but the slow trek helped my poor calves. When I finally got to Much Birch (I always forget how much uphill Ross to Hereford it is!) and after another break for the last of the Lucozade, it was by now around 17:24 and the need to get back to Hereford very real. I was also sick of the A49, and while the downhill section from Callow was tempting I had an escape plan.


Yes, going to Wormelow made sense here, especially with the long steep hill down from The 49, which was seriously welcome speed! Over to Kivernoll I went, and I was now on National Cycle Network Route 46, which made me smile too as I knew I was finally close to food and a hot drink and I was on my favourite bit of Route 46. Once I reached Portway Hill, I had got a song from Five pop into my head. As I type this, another one comes to mind, I don't like their stuff (it's not my cup of tea!) but the brain works in weird ways sometimes! Charging down said hill was absolutely wonderful, as was the wind calming down a bit and actually helping me a touch.


Soon enough, I was going down Great Western Way and I checked Strava for the distance. I was over the minimum for the Fondo, oh good news, I could soon get to the chippy! That gave me the incentive to keep going for the final stage, especially as the temperature was going down fast. Quite, I was shivering on the way back with my food, which did not take long to devour!


Overall, despite complaints aplenty in places on the route from Gloucester (not my brightest choice, but it is done and never needs doing again), I did enjoy the challenge and the opportunity to get out on my beast was welcome. It certainly put the body through its paces, and of course tomorrow is a rest day before going back to work!

What didn't get mentioned on Strava was my exclaiming out loud 'Hello train!' as I saw a 175/0 head south out of Hereford on my way into the city. Nor did I mention the sheer excitement at being near the end of the mission, and making a loud sound in place of my bell on the way through the underpass near Aldi. Said sound resembling a Tube whistle! :lol:

I took only 3 photos on this ride, but I often don't take photos on my cycle rides. Point of order, one reason for using 'cycle' instead of 'bike' is that most people seem to associate 'bike' with 'motorbike' so I try to use 'cycle' instead to make it clearer what I mean.

Attached are the 3 photos I took, the first being a 'bike-selfie' at the north end of National Cycle Network's Route 42 in Highnam, Gloucestershire. Secondly is not far down that path, near Over Farm, facing towards Gloucester. The third is a short distance west of the village of Longhope, Gloucestershire. I also include a screenshot from Strava, just because I can!
 

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Techniquest

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Good wheeling Tech

Thanks! Already looking at options for the March Gran Fondo, I might try for it on Tuesday and get it done as soon as the month begins. Pending the weather of course, this time there may be a couple of positioning moves by rail too!

If the weather is not too good, I'll go back to plan A and do a train day!
 

Techniquest

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Have you done the loop of Richmond Park yet? It would probably work as a loop from Reading / Slough.

Funnily enough, I was looking at Richmond Park last night. One of my many, many, many ideas to do on 21st March when I'm due to take my beast with me to London is to have a farewell ride on a 455 to Caterham (assuming there's one going there at the time, of course) and basically ride back to an unspecified part of London (I will need to end my day in Hayes & Harlington) via all sorts of options.

Too many ideas, too little time!
 

Techniquest

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Thanks Box :)

No big fancy trip report for today, but it is worth mentioning it is 2 years ago today since I went on my first Beryl bike ride and when I fell in love with cycling. So as I did last year, I went for a celebratory ride on a Beryl. Got there not too long before 66432 left southbound with a Tesco train. I've not seen that before in Hereford, so that made for a nice surprise! I only got a little under 3 miles on the Beryl ride today, weather conditions were not good. So I intend to continue the celebration with my own beast this weekend, assuming the weather behaves itself!
 

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