The past few weeks have been very wet/cold/windy/generally a bit eurgh, weather wise. In addition, I've been busy and, last week, ill (just a cold but it knocked me out for the best part of the week).
At the weekend I'm supposed to be doing the Isle of Wight Randonee, basically a cycle round (in my case, part of) the Isle of Wight. I know it's manageable but I've not been out recently for the reasons above so I thought I probably ought to make an effort on a day off today to try to get out to warn my body that there's a bit of exercise in the pipeline.
I just went out because it wasn't tipping it down, really; nowhere to go in mind, but I followed the TransPennine Trail from Stretford out towards Altrincham in the end. First thing to notice was that the kissing gates (very difficult to traverse with a bike) have been replaced with pinch points, which is good; also, a bit of the TPT has been re-rerouted just south of J8 of the motorway. This is all well and good but the signage leaves a lot to be desired - at one point I found a sign pointing the wrong way entirely with a contradictory arrow next to it - but still. I got down to Altrincham and, after pausing at the retail park (although I'd forgotten my wallet) for a rest, headed back.
The trip back up the A56 was... interesting. It's a busy, pitted road but I survived; it's got the advantage of being straight and, generally, fairly fast moving. As I say though, there can be quite a few obstructions - sunken drains, potholes etc. Ah well.
All in all it was an OK pootle to nowhere in particular; 11 miles isn't too bad and it was nice to escape the house!