So, yesterday I made it out on a “proper” bike ride, for the first time in ages. I was a bit worried, as what with my erratic sleep pattern and some general faffing about, I only left the house just after 1pm – about two hours before sundown.

The map above shows my route – although you’ll have to zoom in a lot! It might have been a mistake for me to go along the Gateshead side, as I’m not very familar with the route on that bank of the river. Plus, it seems that the Gateshead side of the river (the Keelmans way?) is not as well cared for as the Newcastle side, with some sections out-of-bounds owing to industrial pollution. Eek. There is, however, an amazing section of park opposite Wallsend which you can just whizz through, provided you avoid the dog-walkers.

Seeing as I didn’t know the route so well, I came back through the pedestrian tunnel.

This tunnel’s pretty scary in some ways – for instance, do they really need to have a permanent sign to warn them when there is a fire in the tunnel? Surely that should be a rare, dangerous event? But the style of the tunnel is quite interesting, and reminds me of that 1950′s style architecture you see used for municipal buildings.

Yesterday was really a test for my new tires, but it also showed me how slack I’ve been in not riding recently. I’ve had a calf injury, that kept me off my bike just as the weather turned from okay to rubbish, and the forecast for this weekend is awful. Whilst I found the tires to be quite good, if a little slower than my slicks, I could really tell that I’d not been exercising enough recently.

Despite my lack of fitness, and the freezing cold, and getting back late, riding always has the effect of letting you see something you wouldn’t normally see. With the damp conditions, I was lucky that I didn’t get soaked, but some of the views across the Tyne where quite breathtaking.

This post was delayed by 24 hours, as I sorted out the pictures – apologies! No riding this weekend, as my girlfriend has passed her PGCE so we’ll be doing some celebrating.