It didn't look too promising as we gathered at Barkers Pool on Sun for a run to Old Moor and beyond, but by the time we reached Meadowhall and our first Flapjack moment (thanks Polly!) the damp had dwindled, leaving the 7 of us cold but dry.
Out over the Wentworth vale we went, following the crystal clear Sustrans route signage (thanks Simon) to Elsecar, where both warm toilets and a vast array of antiques were sampled, followed by a burnup with Thomas the Tank engine's badly dressed bird 'Louise'. By gum she was a goer (and a heavy smoker), but Simon had the measure of her!
The mud on the Elsecar greenway was free, so we picked up as much as we could carry and took it to the Old Moor visitor centre, where we sampled the excellent scran, some of us to the point of the full Sunday Monty - highly recommended.
Everyone started Twitching at this point, Simon put it down to our proximity to Barnsley, but really it was in sympathy with Polly and Tony who couldn't pull themselves away and jumped bike at this point, as did Rob, who raced his slow puncture back to Chapeltown for a pint at the Wentworth brewery tap - aka the Commercial .
The remaining Quartet carried on racing Chris's slow puncture on a grand tour of Cudworth and Darfield, as there is not yet an old railway line cycle route option (plenty of old lines to do it with though) and rejoined the TPT at Shaw Bridge so as to catch the delights of the Barnsley canal around Royston, where they do at least change the broken glass on the trail regularly.
We spun on through the Dingly and at times excitingly Spooky woods twixt Royston and Walton (g'night JimBob), through Haw Park, (Canals have never been so stately!) and on to the whole point of the ride, the Kings Arms at Heath, where we ate our butties illegally, the Blond proved v popular with Simon, and Patrese gave Chris a tour of Heath's posh environs.
All that remained was a wobble to Wakefield Westgate, where we forced our way guns blazing on to an unsuspecting Arriva XC, and zipped to Sheffield and a Boll#@%ing from the crew.
And that was that - hope to see you on the tram on Sun - maybe with MTB for a change!
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