'Born to be Mild' cycle ride around my local town

The weather forecast for today looked good, so I decided to go for a cycle ride with my brother. We settled on a shorter urban ride around the outskirts of our local town. I'm still getting over a cold, so don't have the strength in my legs at the moment for a longer ride.

We didn't have a good start. I always pump my tyres up before I set off but couldn't get any air into one of them. We called at the local petrol station to use their stronger air pump. This time we got enough air into the tyre to carry on.

We parked up and started our ride at a local park.

We then made our way to the edge of town. Chesterfield (UK) is known for its crooked spire. There are a few variations as to why it is twisted, but its commonly thought that when it was built, they used untreated wood. The weight of the lead warped causing the spire to twist.

There are a few folklore stories - some say the devil was flying by and took a rest on the spire causing it to twist. My favourite is, a non-virgin got married so the spire twisted in shock. If that's the case I'm surprised it's not fallen off by now! 😊

This sculpture to the right is designed by Melanie Jackson and named 'Growth'. It is the centrepiece on one of the main roundabouts in Chesterfield.

We carried on through Queen's Park where we all used to play as children.
The leaves on the floor are a lovely carpet of autumn colours.

We then went around the local dam. Sometimes I've been magnet fishing at this lake. We mostly found children's scooters and umbrellas! Why do people throw things like that into the lake? Anyway, we always take our finds home with us. Got to keep the environment clean!

We then double backed along the cycle lane and called in for a welcome hot chocolate at Costa.

My brother swapped my inner tube to take the blocked one home to see if he could salvage it. He messaged me later to tell me he'd found a rubber grommet stuck in the valve. It had fallen off the cheap skull dust caps I'd bought. The moral of the story is not to buy cheap. I do love a skull though!

Photos by @ellenripley - Julie Smitham. All rights reserved.