Friday: Rugeley to Stafford

Time: 4 hours, 21 minutes
Distance: 22.9 km (14.23 mi)
Average speed: 5.26 km/h (3.27 mph)
Soundtrack: Insurgentes, Lightbulb Sun, The Wall

Friday was either the last day of winter or the 20th day of spring depending on who you believe. It felt more spring-like than winter-like.

Rather than the easy route along the canals I went for the scenic route heading up to Stile Cop and across the Chase to Brocton. By the time I reached the trig point overlooking Rugeley I was warm enough to pack away the waterproof and continue in short sleeves.

Descending for Stile Cop you have to keep a lookout as it's one of the main mountain bike routes, with jumps and everything. There was a half-dozen guys there but we saw each other well in advance.

A fairly normal trip across the chase. There was a group of about 8 deer near Anson's Bank including some stags, one with a good set of antlers.

From Brocton it was across the fields (via footpath) to Walton-on-the-Hill, then down to the canal, joining between Baswich Bridge and Walton Bridge. From there it's the same route as a few weeks back.

It waited until I left the canal before the spots of rain started. I paused under the railway line to get the waterproof out again, but it really didn't rain properly until after I reached home.