Bootneck, I don't know how old you are, it doesn't matter.
On an earlier thread I asked if anyone could remember the wooden cobbles on the hill going up the Bull Ring, no one replied.
Now I'm 63 and I can remember riding up the Bull Ring on my bike, over the very worn wooden cobbles in the pouring rain, with the water running down the little Grand Canyons, capped with remnants of tar, worn out by years of horses with their carts and rain. It was a real struggle for me on my old bike, one with those rod brakes, that never stopped you, and a three-speed Sturmy Archer hub that was stuck in top gear. When I reached the top I felt like Hillary must have felt when he first conquered Everest.
Later in life I conquered many mountains and obstacles, but that one remains most vivid.