A lovely early Sunday morning sunny local ride on Co Durham's old railway lines.

 

Another glorious sunny morning to be out on the bike early doors. It was a nippy start again with the Garmin reading around 8 degrees but there was alot less wind today so felt warmer. I had a rough route planned in my head but gave it a few tweaks when I was out on the bike. It was lovely and quiet first thing with a few dog walkers and other cyclists out enjoying the descent weather. We had some rain showers yesterday but did not come to much really. The lines are still bone dry and dusty with less muddy / damp sections as the days go by. I was out on the Creo 1 gravel again as it was in the back of my van. I will not explain where the loop went as there is a map at the bottom of the blog. All in just over 38 miles in 2hrs 52mins with just under 2000ft of climbing. Enjoy the few snaps below and hopefully more soon - 

A longer and sunnier gravel ride - towards Parkhead n back

 

Finally managed to see a half descent sunrise and the sun kept on shining. It was an out n back route along the old railway lines of Co Durham from Langley Park all the way up to Consett then turned left and headed towards Parkhead. I had a massive headwind all the way and by the time I reached the last carpark area before crossing the last open moor section I turned and headed back down. The descent was fast and I hardly touched the pedals! It was lovely and quiet and I hardly seen a sole early doors. Once back at Langley Park I thought I would make the most of the dry and dusty conditions and continued straight on to Broom Park picnic area then straight on again to the road crossing between Ushaw Moor and New Brancepth. I turned here and headed back to Langley Park from there, again with a headwind. My legs were feeling it by now but I managed just over 42 miles in 3hrs 1min and 1600ft of climbing. Below are a few snaps and a short video clip from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon-