Muddy Marvelous.

Flipping fuzzy photos are frustrating and infuriating, but right click and open in a new tab and all will be right and proper.

Either it was a sunny day last Saturday, or Pentecost from Camborne has been beggaring about splitting atoms in his garden shed again...

There's nothing like discovering a new Bridleway to explore, especially when, like me, you think you've pretty much ridden them all in your area. But, as mentioned in my previous post, I'd discovered a Bridleway I'd not seen before, either in the flesh as it were, or noticed on the maps. Further more, checking it out on said maps, showed it promised much of the good stuff - routing well away from roads, woodland, a ford, and at the southern end, the site of a Medieval Settlement, so the distinct possibility this track would be an ancient one.

I had thought of leaving this Bridleway until the Spring, but with Fatso still bleddy hangin' (Cornish for being a little dirty) from the previous week's adventures, and with my curiosity and excitement pricked, I set off last Saturday morning in the sunshine retracing much of the route I'd done the week before.

It was a still morning, just a light breeze blowing, but it was a Northerly one again, and rather cold. Thankfully not cold enough for a frost or for ice to form though, so after plenty of hefty showers of rain, sleet and hail over night, the roads were a tad wet and messy rather than lethally slippery.

Looking back the way I'd come on the lane to Lanner Mill. I had that sun behind me thankfully, as going into it at this time of year is a sure recipe for a headache I find.

Of course the trouble with the lanes is they wander about all over the shop, so in places I didn't have the sun behind me, but had it strobing away in the corner of my eye through the trees at times.

A glimpse of the new build estate going up in Shortlanesend. The shared bike/pedestrian path here is closed in by that huge temporary wall for much of the route into the village, but just here we lucky nosy folk get to peer in at all the chaos and mess going on as new homes are thrown up.

This path follows the track of the main road, and on the other side of that road, another similar estate has just started building work. More green fields, trees, hedgerows and habitat lost, more excessive run off to over power the existing drains when it pelts down. We need thousands of new homes, apparently, but the infrastructure round here is at bursting point as it is. Cornwall is a very, very different place to when I was growing up, and it isn't the better for it.

From Shortlanesend it was a relatively short blast along the main road to where I wanted to be, but after the previous week's close passes by fast moving traffic, I wasn't looking forward to it one bit. 

As it happened, this week there was a lot less traffic and no nasty moments at all, yet it was the same time of day on the same day of the week. Odd how these things happen.

Target reached, the Bridleway past Choon where it meets the main road at Allet Paddocks.

The Bridleway starts off with some very easy riding, as it is a tarmac lane, albeit with grass growing thickly up the middle, down to the farm at the rather oddly named Choon.

This cattle grid was a beauty - not slippery like the matal ones, but properly rough even with Fatso's portly tyres. Double vision time this was.

After about 3/4 of a mile the lane bends left into the farm while the bridleway goes straight ahead down along the line of the trees. 

The first section off road runs down a slight hill to a big left bend where those two trees are, and along here the going was a bit stodgy, but perfectly rideable.

Looking back up the hill to where I'd just come from, with the roof of Choon farmhouse just visible.

And the view looking ahead, with a helpful sign post to point the way, not that you'd need such help really, it is pretty obvious where the Bridleway goes.

But all of a sudden, the riding has gone from a bit stodgy to looking a bit wet and gooey...

Woo this is getting squelchy...

The ground here was saturated, and the mud in places wheel suckingly deep. But running downhill still riding was still possible as long as I kept moving. Coming to a halt in such deep mud made getting going again difficult. Too low a gear and the back wheel spun uselessly, too high a gear and I couldn't push the gear, and the front wheel, through the mud far enough to get my left foot up on the pedal before coming to a halt again. At times the fat front tyre was a bit of a hindrance as it needed quite some effort to push it through the deep and wet mud.

Just a bit gloopy...

At this point the track is running down to the ford where it crosses a stream, and it appears all the ground water is following the track down there as well, as this section was very wet.

Odd how clean the tyres and the bike stayed through all the quagmire though, probably because it was so wet all the mud just ran off rather than clumping up all over the place.

It's always the sign of a good ride when you get bits of plant, tree, walker's bobble hats, small furry creatures and so on stuck to your bike.

View off to the side at the above spot and some rather old looking woodland. Dodgy the going might have been, but I was having fun, and the effort involved in riding to this Bridleway was well worth it.

Another look down the hill towards the stream.

When I saw the magic word - 'Ford' on the maps, I envisaged perhaps something rather more exciting than this I must admit. A rope slung across the raging waters to guide the traveler across and help prevent him/her/yet to make their mind up, from getting swept away perhaps. A bridge off to the side for the less intrepid to avoid getting their boots wet. 

All I got was this bit of a trickle, but still, there it is and jolly nice it was too.

One thing the stream did provide though was a good opportunity for some much needed housekeeping - the chance to wash a couple of pounds of mud off each boot. Bizarrely the bike's tyres stayed free of clingy mud, not so my Beetle Crushers, so I was glad to get them clean again.

Only to go and sink in up to the ankle when pushing the bike through that gate beside the stream... doh! There's never a walker's dog, or a sheep, a young child perhaps, to wipe all the muck off your boots on when you need one. Back to the stream I went...

Emerging from the trees beside the stream the route of the Bridleway isn't so clear. There is a big gap off to the bottom left of this shot, so does it go left and across, left of the hedge and up, or right of the hedge and up. I looked up at the horizon and it looked like keeping the hedge to my left was the way to go, and it proved correct.

Nice to see the farmer not cultivating right up to the very edge of the field/Bridleway, but leaving a good stretch to its own devices. Good for wildlife and all that.

Passing from the open field to tree cover once more, and although the going was muddy again, it was shallow mud and made for easy riding.

Up through this last section of the Bridleway there was a great sense of this being an ancient thoroughfare. I'd enjoyed the ride thus far, but up through here things got even more interesting with old Cornish Hedges up on the high banks either side of the track, and all around was riddled with holes, tunnels and burrows. At night this must be teeming with hairy arsed nightlife.

 Badger Town. One mound in particular was peppered with entrances to Badger Setts.

Given there is the site of a Medieval Settlement about 150 yards up the hill behind me here as I took this, I couldn't help but wonder if this had been a route used way back then. Amazing to think of who may have trudged along here in the past.

Where the rubber meets the road - End of the Bridleway where it meets the lane towards Tregavethan or New Mills.

The Bridleway had been well worth the ride, and even though the mud made for some very heavy going and some spine bothering bike pushing, I really enjoyed being immersed in the surroundings. I must've gone two hours without seeing another soul as I poked about, and that's always good!

In summer of course this may be a tad busier with horse riders and walkers, we shall see, as I am already looking forward to better weather and riding this route again, particularly in Spring when the wild flowers will be putting on a display.

Back on tarmac as I headed along the wet lanes towards New Mills.

Whoop! I do like a good ford to belt through, and after the slight disappointment of the off road one earlier, I was going to enjoy myself with this one alright.

Sppppppllllooooosssshhhh!

Great fun!

Random lane shot.

Heading back I took the handy short cut option through Idless Woods where some Mushrooms/Toadstools/Fungi growing out of the bank caught my eye.

What they are I don't know. I did try and look some Fungus or other up in the past to try and identify it properly and get a species name. Big mistake! My word that is a complicated subject. I'll leave it with Fungusy things then.

 Crappy map of the ride.

And a bit of detail of where the Bridleway lurks.

The full version of the mapping can be found HERE

So another great ride in the bag, and one I'll definitely be repeating in the future.

Fatso was both a help and a hindrance really on this ride. Normally I have no problem with mud in most of the places I ride, it's never too deep and with the Fatbike giving good traction, it's not an issue.

At times on this ride, once again the bike was an ally, just driving forwards through all manner of slop that I know would see my thinner wheeled Voodoo floundering in a blur of wheelspin. But also there were occasions when that big front tyre made it's presence felt, acting more like a plough needing pushing through the clag. The ideal set up for this route would be a fat rear wheel/tyre for traction and a skinny front for cutting through the slop rather than pushing it aside.

Of course, the 27.5 plus Marin, with its three inch tyres might be the correct compromise, but that would mean getting that bike, my 'best' bike all mucky... Oh no no no... that ain't happening any time soon... Maybe I'll take it along there in summer, when I know it isn't so muddy!

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