I checked I had a spare tube in my pack and then set off on my MX3 cheapo mountainbike. The weather was dry but it had clearly been raining and the sky looked very dodgy. It was 8.30am which meant there weren't too many walkers etc so I made good time. I pushed hard at each of the rises at each lock, of which there are quite a few, especially ascending the flight of Hatton Locks.
I reached the cafe at Hatton and saw a runner with a number pinned to his shirt. The surface is less refined after the cafe and I was enjoying handling the bumps. It is amazing how being fitter increases your enjoyment of the ride. I seemed to be skipping over the bumps.
A few more runners came past me, running back the way I'd come. I noticed that they had GUCR 145 on their numbers and wrote this down so I could check it out when I got home. I've since looked and this is the Grand Union Canal Race, which is 145 miles from Birmingham to London. They have to get through 70 miles by 19 hours and the 145 miles by 45 hours or they are disqualified. Also, if they stop for more than 40 minutes at a time, they are deemed to have retired! That is some race!
I reached the Kingswood Junction and stopped to take a couple of pics. I wanted to take one of some runners but they were only passing in singles by then. I read that a max of 90 competitors were allowed.
I did 25.7 miles in the end and thoroughly enjoyed it.