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Travel StoriesA Successful Winter's Break
She Made Me Walk
Walk and Ride Date 8 March 2025
By Ren Withnell
A walk? She's gonna make me walk?!? I'm a roughty toughty biker I ain't no walker! Pfffft.
Yes, well, errrrrm. OK I won't admit this in public but it is the sensible choice if I'm honest. It's not without its problems though. I am averagely fit for a 53 year old bloke but I'm not a great walker as my feet always get sore long before I run out of energy. Plus I have recently been diagnosed with arthritis in my hip - I *must* keep it moving but don't overdo it.
In spite of my excuses and protestations - walking is the best way to look around. Say what? Motorcycles are the best way to look around surely? Even when you ride as slowly as I do walking is slower and therefore gives more opportunity to see the things you're passing through. There is another option - bicycles - the ideal balance between walking that is too slow and motorcycling that is too fast. We're near The Tissington Trail which is a well known cycling (and walking) route. We could hire a couple of bicycles and ride up and down. That might be good fun.
There's a long tunnel at the start of The Tissington Trail. Long and echoey. I embarrass Sharon by clapping loudly and making whoop-whoop noises like a 5 year old who's never experienced an echo before. That'll teach her to make me walk.
There is light at the end of the tunnel.
We stumble on a bicycle hire place. £20 for one bike seems steep then I notice the tandem. I believe tandems are quite difficult to get used to so this could be hilarious! Plus me being me I'm thinking £40 for 2 bikes, but say £25 for a tandem we could share? No, the tandem is £40, robbing swines! We continue our walk.
The air is cool even though the sun is shining which makes for perfect walking weather. There's a campsite just off the trail which we walk up to and through, with a mind to see if it might suit our needs for camping. Callow Top Holiday Park does indeed do camping and appears perfectly pleasant, the website tells us it ain't exactly cheap though. Hmmmm. Natch.
Quite lovely on a bright sunny day, but at what cost?
I'm making a bid for freedom!
By the time we'd reached Callow Top and come back we'd been walking for 2 hours, and that's enough for my feet. Now we're sat around in the hotel pondering what to do. There is something I want to do - but it's not very exciting and the route to where I want to go will not be filled with wonderful views or majestic mountains.
Vertu Honda in Nottingham - that's where I want to go. Why? I want to have a first look at the GB350, that's all. The problem is to get to Nottingham from Ashbourne means 28 miles of... well... mostly passing through Derby and part of Nottingham. I warn Sharon not to expect too much, she wisely chooses to sit on the back of my bike and let me do the hard work.
Derby and Nottingham do not disappoint. They are both suitably ordinary, bland, and dull, they are much the same as you'd find in any other town or small city. The new estate, the council estate, the posh bit, the shopping centre, the industrial estate, the golf club and the half empty precinct. Vertu Honda is equally as ordinary, just another modern mainstream dealership as you could ever hope to find.
To add to the blandness there's a dose of deflation. The GB350 is larger than I expected. Now you know I'm not a big bloke but at 5'8" I'd expect both feet to touch the floor fully on a 350. Nope, I mean I'm not stretching but I'm not flat-footed with both feet either. My CB500X is lower, noticeably lower. It could be because the suspension is harder than a hardtail I once had the displeasure of riding? I hope, I prey that the suspension is just tight because the bike is brand new.
Feeling underwhelmed we make our way back through the underwhelming urban drudgery of Nottingham once more. Rather than pass through Derby we detour to Belper where I find a cafe next to the Morrisons. What a beautiful afternoon. It is most unusual to be sat outside in glorious sunshine, jackets off, no wind, and blue skies. The air is cool so this isn't quite shorts and tshirt weather, it's comfortable rather than sweaty.
Brewtime in the late winter sun.
The evening is wasted in a most pleasant way. Another short stroll around the town sees us poking our faces into people's gardens and wondering if we could build a garage there. Parts of the town are on a hillside which makes for some "interesting" if not curious engineering and architectural choices. We watch a little telly then later Sharon shows me a brief flash of her ankle - even in my dotage this gets me all hot under the collar.
This will have to suffice, I'm not showing you Sharon's ankle.
It would be fair to say this day won't go down in history as one of our best days. That's fine, we've still had a good day with good weather and enjoyed a pretty walk, and any day on a bike is better than a day working. Oooh, I tell you what is cheering us both up - we have another day here tomorrow! Excellent, and the weatherfolks advise us it won't be raining or snowing either. Fabulous.
Advertise here - contact ren@bikesandtravels.com
It's A Good Start
After justifying why he's mean to Sharon The Dynamic Muppets take on an arduous and testing journey to deepest darkest Derbyshire. This is a true tale of epic adventure through the harshest conditions... ish.
She Made Me Walk
Poor poor Ren is being made to exercise against his will. After this tragedy there's disappointment too. Still, it could be worse, he could be working.
An Easy Day Out Going Round In Circles
How can you get lost in the days of Satellite Navigation? Turn the Sat-Nav off. Now you can ride around in ever decreasing circles - which oddly enough seems to be just fine with Ren these days.
Reader's Comments
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Oh I do like a good walk, I've probably waxed lyrical before on this here wonderful interwebthingymabob forum of like minded fools about my desire for a good walk.
High level walking is always splendiferous if the weather plays ball but some of the longer walks are entertaining when you leave the mainstream behind for a while. You know, no car, motorsiccle, mobile signal etc. The longest walks I've been on are the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way, which basically means you walk from Glasgee to Inverness via Fort William.
But bad feet wouldn't be good.
Nice piccies Ed and I'm glad you showed restraint on the ankle reveal and you didn't disappoint with your tight arrised ways.
You're a good boy.
Upt.
14/05/2025 17:51:58 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Sorry! I mean careful.....
Pffffffftttttt.
14/05/2025 17:53:27 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
Upt' I recon that walk was over 150 miles. Ren would think twice about riding his bike that distance, let alone walk it.
14/05/2025 21:53:05 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Rod,
It was.
I think with the walk to accommodations etc it would be a total of just around 200 miles. The longest day was 32 miles from memory. It was completed in two legs, Glasgee up to Fort William and at a later time Fort William to Inverness. The West Highland Way can be exceptional if you get the weather, especially from Crianlarich north.
Sweet memories.
Should the Batties do it again, "Batties go Walking", it'd be fun to watch Eds feet explode.
Although we would have to insist that Shazza, our very own Madame Soleil, kept er ankles wrapped in very thick woolly socks.
Upt.
14/05/2025 23:26:16 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I like a nice stroll. I'll take an hour's gentle meander around my locale, enjoy the delights of the new housing estate being built, dodge the doggy doings through the park, and question my life choices through the rough estate. Walking is a most excellent exercise as - oddly - it appears the human body was designed to walk!
I shall not be doing the West Highland Way nor any other great walks though. An hour, possibly 2 is fine, pleasurable even, but a whole day? I could manage it if there was accommodation and a cafe every 5 or 6 miles.
15/05/2025 07:59:49 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ren , what's with the old chipped enamel mug , does the tea taste better or can you save money if you bring your own !
@ Upt, that's some serious walking, on two legs , never mind in two legs...
Nigel
19/05/2025 13:12:25 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
If memory serves nab301 the old chipped enamel mug was an artistic "aged" receptacle for such table items as sugar and teaspoons - as opposed to something I had provided. Nothing more interesting or innocuous than that.
19/05/2025 13:41:10 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Never liked enamel mugs as the metal was always too hot until the tea had cooled down too much!
19/05/2025 17:08:03 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I agree Ian! Thinking I was cool and smart I purchased an enamel mug many years since. Great thinks I, it is so tough I can just hang it from the luggage and it'll be fine. Kettle on, brew up, fill mug. Apply mug to lips - receive 3rd degree burns rendering one unable to eat or talk for the rest of the weekend - let it cool down to find the tea is now cold. At least the cold tea eases the pain of the burned lips.
Plastic cups do impact on the taste a tiny bit but they don't fry your face and retain heat at a rate not too dissimilar to a regular cup. The tupperware kind of plastic ones are better than the "kinda feel and look like ceramic" plastic ones.
19/05/2025 20:07:50 UTC
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Travel StoriesA Successful Winter's Break