Reading articles about the danger of UK roads and people getting knocked off their bikes probably isn't the best thing to be doing at this stage but that's indeed what I was reading this morning.
I guess I've sometimes not fully considered how lucky I am with the facilities for commuting into Stoke. Say what you will about the place, but the cycling facilities are pretty awesome, with off-road NCN routes approaching the city from the north and south, and going across the length of the city.
It's obviously still not perfect, but the council/SUSTRANS/whoever have clearly put a lot of effort into improving the paths over the last couple of years, with new surfaces, a new bridge over one of the busy roads, and a nice cycle-friendly ramp replacing a set of stairs that had to be climbed. I think we all give the authorities a pretty tough time over everything in general, so can I just give a thumbs up to whoever's responsible for these!
It's only 3 and a bit weeks now until I set off, and it would be pretty foolish of me to set off on an 800 mile trip without doing some practise runs that are longer than 30 miles, so I've decided to do a bit of a dress rehearsal the weekend after next down to Bala Lake on the edge of Snowdonia, panniers and all, and camp there for the night.
It's roughly the same distance I'll be covering each day on the main trip, so I should be able to see if if there's anything I've not considered.
It's a beautiful part of the world so all being well that should be something else to look forward to!
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