On subject of road surfaces, shortly after passing Flash the highest village in England, I climbed up to the Cat + Fiddle pub near Buxton last week, which is the second highest pub in England. With a long [and long anticipated] descent down to the Cheshire Plain.
Unfortunately, it was a brand new road surface. By brand new, I mean they were laying it earlier that day. So both sticky and loose chippings.
It was a very cautious descent which felt no easier than the last part of climb up to Cat + Fiddle.
I also just discovered this bit of info re this road...
"The inn gives its name to the Cat and Fiddle Road: a stretch of the A537 road, linking Macclesfield to the west with Buxton to the east, which features many sharp corners. This road became notorious for the high number of accidents, particularly among motorcyclists for whom the road is often regarded as an exhilarating technical challenge; an AA survey in 2003 named it as the most dangerous stretch of road in the United Kingdom.[13]
A 2016 report indicates that between 2007 and 2011, there were 44 serious or fatal crashes on the 7.5-mile (12 km) stretch. Between 2002 and 2006, there were 35. The report states that the safety issue is caused by "severe bends, steep falls from the carriageway and edged by dry-stone walls for almost the entirety of the road"
Thankfully it was fairly quiet traffic when I was riding on it. Not the only danger though. I have come around a blind corner on that road and a sheep jumped down onto road right in front of car. But I was going a sensible speed, so stopped no problem. If I had been going at the speed limit, that could have ended very badly, particularly as a 38 tonne lorry was coming down the hill on other side. Had a dippy sheep jump in road in front of bike when tiling around there too last week.
