from Gods Own Country!

And what a few days its been

Lets start at the beginning. So last Thursday, me and Aunty Bev set off north, both of us with separate visits to see relatives and do other stuff but sharing the ride up. Bev dropped me and a bike in Sheffield mid afternoon after a trouble free journey on a lovely sunny day, then headed west to embark on her own itinary, me well it was to be a full few days helping my lil' bro move.

Friday was a bit of a washout initially, we had arranged a charity collection for a bunch of furniture but they were a bit unhelpful in giving us a time window, i mean, between nine and five? really? That meant that despite the glorious day i was stuck waiting for them but eventually, at two forty five they turned up. They were supposed to be taking @ eight or nine pieces but in the end only five were taken, the fate of the remainder now down to the landlords clear up team.

It had always been the intention to have a ride once they'd been but i wasn't going to set off for anything too adventurous gone three o'clock so it looked like a short loop along the River Don to the city centre would be about it, best laid plans and all that. Anyhoo i made my way to the Five Weirs Path which runs along some of the Don although a couple of stretches are currently closed for various reasons, eventually arriving at Lady's Bridge adjacent to the currently being built Castle Park on the site of Sheffield Castle.

Do i make my way back now? Nah, lets check out some of the new cycle lanes towards the University. So from the river i started going up, famously Sheffield is built on seven hills, they ain't pimples either, the main Uni sits on the lower slopes of the Hallam spur, a climb of 65m from the river. Of course it was then tempting to go further, another 120m up over another five or so km and i reached Forge Dam on the Porter Brook, the western edge of the city housing, from here its fields and moorland.

Should i go further? You betcha! i followed Clough Lane alongside the Porter, steadily gaining altitude to the end of the paved section before climbing much more steeply, grades close on 20% on the loose and rocky byway to the top of Porter Clough. Its only a couple of km but it added another 120m of up, taking me over 300m, few! Time and sense suggested i could still fit in a bit more so i turned across the contours towards the Norfolk Arms at Ringinglow, probably the highest pub in the City.

Go straight back down into the western suburbs? Of course not, lets do Houndkirk Moor, one last iconic Sheffield bike route. And so it was off the tarmac again to tackle the old coach road, revisit where i did my degree fieldwork and then start to make my way back to the lower Don. About halfway across the sandy, rocky byway i spotted several red deer does walking about 30m from the road, when i shortly drew level the foremost was just 10m from me and the roadway. They looked at me, i looked at them, no one was moving but after a couple of minutes i won the contest and they turned to move off, the end of a close encounter of the uplifting kind.

On then to the WW2 decoy site and a brief halt at the highest point of the day, at @ 430m ASL with views out across the city far below and westwards across a sizeable chunk of the Peak District. (on a clear day you can see Lincoln 50 miles away!) All this and i was still within the City boundary! Time to start heading back though so a drop back to tarmac but not for long as i headed onto Strawberry Leer Lane and down across Blacka Moor to return to civilisation at Totley, from there i made my way along the higher ground around south and east Sheffield back to my start point.

It was only 43km but with 711m of ascent, double the rate around Brizzle, it was no walk in the park. And i felt invigorated riding on my 'home' patch in the balmy conditions if a little sore from the 'unusual' effort involved. I treated myself to a takeaway pizza for my tea, ahead of a busy few days.

Saturday was the start of moving my bro in but as he was working after lunch it fell to me to make a start on shelf building and getting things ready for the big move on Monday. It wasn't all work, once the shelves were up i headed across to my friends place where we spent the afternoon catching up, i'd not seen them since last autumn.

For me, Sunday was the big day, a day with my kids. My bro acted as chauffeur, finally getting a day off, after collecting the young un's in Leeds we headed up to Pickering and the North York Moors. First stop was at the railway, #1 grandson likes to see the trains but it was a convenient stop for a light lunch and toilets. Then it was up into the hills for the main stop of Wheeldale Moor, a destination i've been going to for some 60 years! We spent some time chilling out by the river, Grandson exploring the rocks in and around the water and managing to not fall in.

But time was getting on, onward through Heart Beat country, we saw a Snipe and her chick by the road side, Pewits wheeling about and a Black Grouse doing its best to hide amongst the rocks and heather. We just caught the ice cream van above Goathland before heading across Fylingdales Moor to start the journey back to Leeds via Helmsley and Thirsk. All too soon we were back, chips for tea then goodbyes aware that in the morning we were in for some hard labour!

It was another sunny, warm day on Monday which was just as well given we were doing the move ourselves. By the time my bro fetched the hire van i'd been to the cafe to get sandwiches for lunch and managed to get most of the furniture out of the house ready to load. By 10.30 we were on our way, by 14.30 everything had been person handled up into the first floor flat. We barely paused though, it was back to the old place for a last check around and collect my bike, return the van before heading to IKEA for a few essentials and our tea. By 18.00 it was job done, the move completed. A bit of furniture juggling, more assembly, putting stuff away, by nine we were both done in, time for the first night in the new place.

Tuesday morning we ended up going for a walk to help wind down a bit before Aunty Bev came to pick me up for the journey back southwards. And that was that, i still ache from all the furniture shifting (who knew washing machines weighed so much?) but i had a great ride, a great catchup and a brilliant day with my remaining family. But even more than that, a weight has been lifted, i've been worrying about my younger sibling since last summer but now he has his 'forever' home and the worry and uncertainty is over.

I'll be going North again in June for the cycle rally, a first camping trip for the GS so that should be fun but in the meantime i get a bit of 'me' time without the Sword of Damacles hovering over everything. Its been an intense few years, my daughters marriage woes, my fathers health and subsequent demise and finally my brothers housing crisis. But the page has been turned, its time to start a new chapter, get my own life back into some sort of order.

Today i'm catching up on the laundry, grocery shopping, gardening - no rest for the wicked!

Sorry for the long diatribe, i did try to keep it brief but i thought you'd enjoy Fridays ride even at this remove. Things should be a bit more ordered for the next month or so, i'll be back with the penultimate chapter of the current Gaby book on Sunday, but for now,
Tschuss,
Madeline Anafrid