Sunday walk into Durham and around the river banks

The plan was to go out on the Pilgrims for a road ride but I had tired legs when I got out of bed and snow showers combined with a heavy over night frost put paid to that idea so went to Morrisons for shop at Chester Le Street instead.
Once back the weather cleared up and sun was trying to come through so Jane was planning on going down to Durham so me and Angus had a walk down via the back way over the red brick bridge and through Foresters Way woods. Once into Durham we had a walk around the river banks and ended up meeting Jane & Arran in the Prince Bishops for some shopping and a lift home as time was getting on. The weather was fantastic but still a cool wind in the shaded sections. The paths / river banks were busy but it was Sunday but the market place shops were pretty quiet.
I popped into Cotswolds some thinner / less hot socks for my new walking boots and also ended up buying a new thinner Berghaus gilet as well that was in the sale! so that was an expensive walk down to Durham for me. Below are a few snaps, enjoy and more soon including some riding hopefully.

coming out of the estate and heading for the bridge over the railway line

then into the woods

and down the singletrack

still muddy in places but mainly dry

Cathedral in the distance through the bushes

duck you big bu**er

the pond was lovely & peaceful

no sign of any fish

bottom of the old dual 4x tracks

cork crew was working for a change

plenty of rowing boats out

plenty of steps for training

more works on the main tower

 

palace green

more new socks to try out

report back after a couple of test walks

Fresh Goods Sunday - LifeLine 16g CO2 Inflator Cartridges Extra Value 24 Pack

When I was checking my Co2 cartridges on my Beargrease's and van I only had a few spare left in the garage so time for some new ones. I bought the last ones from Ebay so looked on there and found plenty of reasonable priced 16g threaded ones. I was also looking on Wiggle for something at the same time and comes across these by accident and they worked out cheaper than anything on ebay so ordered them and they were here within a couple of days. 

Not much to say really as they do what it says on the tin, screw them onto an inflator head and it blasts Co2 into your inner tube. They work spot on with Innovations heads and not had any problems so far.

As for the chart on the back of the box I would say that some of the psi ratings are a little optimistic. I tend to inflate the inner tube with the pump then fit the tube into the tyre/trim then use the Co2 and top up with pump if required. The 20g + ones are way better on the fat tubes but are very expensive, works out cheaper to use two 16g ones if I am feeling lazy and cannot be arsed to use the pump a lot.

RRP £22 in the sale for £16 inc p&p = 67p each. Website LINK

 

Manufacturers blurb -

Four packs of six for the price of three! Fast, convenient tyre inflation. LifeLine 16g CO2 cartridges are indispensable for puncture repair and pressure adjustments out on the roads and trails. This 24 Pack offers the best value of all our multipacks.

Top Features of the LifeLine 16g CO2 Inflator Cartridges Extra Value 24 Pack

FOUR PACKS OF SIX FOR THE PRICE OF THREE!

24x 16g CO2 cartridges supplied

Fast, convenient tyre inflation

Compatible with all brands of CO2 Inflator

Fits conveniently in a saddle bag

Essential for quick and easy puncture repair on the move

Inflator not included

Product Data

MTB:	Yes
Road:	Yes
Commuter:	Yes

LifeLine 16g CO2 Cartridges are ideal for inflating road, hybrid and MTB tyres. Each cartridge can inflate a single 700c x 25c tyre from completely flat to over 100psi.
LifeLine CO2 are compatible with all brands of threaded inflator.

 

Stomp around Stanhope quarry, crawleyside & moor area

No riding my bike this week but went out for a 3.5 run on Wednesday, 2hr walk on Thursday and a shorter walk on Friday night which was a similar route to Monday night covering 4.2 miles. Today the forecast was looking dry and no wind so we decided to head up to to Stanhope to park up at the Dales Centre for a walk out. I was planning on walking up Crawleyside and over the first cattle grid then turning right and over the moors but could not remember if there was a path all the way up so googled walks / Crawlyside and found a proper off road footpath which takes you up through a quarry then skirts the moor edge taking you out at the cattle grid - spot on. As you can imagine this was nearly all up hill just like the road but not so steep. Once onto the moor there was a real cold wind blowing so didn't hang around long and took the track over the moor which has nearly all been resurfaced since I last rode it a few years ago. This takes you out on a singletrack road which is a downhill. At this point we were planning on dropping straight back down in to Stanhope but the mileage was less than I thought so found a path which crossed a couple of small fields before dropping down a steep valley and over a bridge / stream, turned right and there was a lovely muddy single track all down through the woods taking us out at the bungalows opposite the filling station. From there we went to the railway station to see if the train was running but not today, then we took the path alongside the river to the ford at the other end of village. The water was well down so crossed over and back on the slippery stones before heading back to the Dales centre via the open air swimming pool. 5.2 miles - moving time 1hr 46mins
Quick change of foot wear, walk around the village and into the chippy just off the market place for a fry up dinner - lovely!
Here are some snaps from the walk -