Chester To Telford
Thursday 5 September 2013
To be continued.
Thursday, 5 September 2013
Friday, 23 August 2013
Way Of The Roses - Day 4
Way Of The Roses - Day 4
Friday 23 August 2013
Huggate > Bridlington.
Entry to follow.
Friday 23 August 2013
Huggate > Bridlington.
Entry to follow.
 |
| Celebrating completion on Bridlington promenade. |
 |
| Cheers! Job done. |
Thursday, 22 August 2013
Way Of The Roses - Day 3
Way Of The Roses - Day 3
Thursday 22 August 2013
Ripon > Huggate.
Entry to follow.
Thursday 22 August 2013
Ripon > Huggate.
Entry to follow.
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Way Of The Roses - Day 2
Way Of The Roses - Day 2
Wednesday 21 August 2013
Settle > Ripon.
Entry to follow.
Wednesday 21 August 2013
Settle > Ripon.
Entry to follow.
 |
| On the road to Pateley Bridge. |
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Way Of The Roses - Day 1
Way Of The Roses - Day 1
Tuesday 20 August 2013
Morecambe > Settle.
Entry to follow.
Tuesday 20 August 2013
Morecambe > Settle.
Entry to follow.
 |
| Setting off from sunny Morecambe. |
Sunday, 28 July 2013
Hebden Bridge To Home
Cycling Back From Hebden Bridge
Sunday 28th July 2013
Having spent the weekend in the company of Bryn with a day out at the Indietracks festival, I decided to cycle back home from Hebden Bridge on Sunday afternoon.
I set off at 12:45.
I decided to take the road out of Hebden to Heptonstall and then go over the tops via Blackshaw Head (past the wind farm) to Burnley. The worst bit was the immediate climb off the A646 up to Heptonstall. What a killer! I was in first gear for ages, grinding upward at little more than walking pace with sweat pouring down my face. The climbs after that were easy in comparison. When I got close to the wind turbines, I stopped to put my yellow jacket on because it was grey, felt like rain and I was getting a bit chilly. A minute later it started drizzling, then rained quite steadily for 10 or 15 minutes. I was soon descending on the Burnley side so this wasn't so bad.
2 pm I reached Townley Park in Burnley. It was drizzling a bit.
I navigated out of the park (following NCN 68 signs) and amazingly found the canal towpath with no problem. The sign for Finsley Gate was clearly there. Why did I sail past this on Friday? It's a mystery.
I began retracing my steps from Friday, reaching the bit where the canal goes into a tunnel so I had to climb up some steps, go through a few underpasses and then get back to the canal on the other side. Easy.
Once back on the canal tow path, I was soon making good progress. I had to slow down for a group of friendly walkers just outside the town and had a chat with some woman who was interested in buying a new bike.
At this point I made a slight diversion, having inevitably missed / not spotted a sign telling me to leave the canal and get on the Padiham Greenway (ie the old railway line). You'd expect that with me really. It became obvious when I came to a bit of the canal path that was blocked off with wire fencing for some building work and I had to take a diversion around it.
"Hmm, this wasn't here on Friday." I thought to myself.
I stopped just after this when a sign pointed to an exit from the canal for Hapton. Looking at my map, I'd come about a mile further than needed. No big trauma though, I just left the canal, cycled up the road a bit and spotted another sign for "Padiham Greenway". I actually joined this with only about half of the mile of it to go.
Soon I was on the A671 Whalley Road. I decided to just go for it down the main road to Whalley for a couple of miles, rather than faff about up and down those hilly lanes again.
3:20 arrived in Whalley. I'd been looking forward to visiting the deli / restaurant that's just by the railway station. I'd previously bought a sandwich there and with lunch on my mind, had been salivating at the prospect of a tasty tuna and cucumber butty for a good half an hour. Alas! It was closed! Oh, the disappointment. The newsagent on the main road was closed as well (this was Sunday afternoon after all) so I made do with flapjack instead. It just wasn't the same.
3:35 set off again after a bit of a rest. It started to drizzle a bit as I plodded on to Ribchester.
4:05 Arrived in Ribchester. I had a manic craving for chocolate milk so went to the Spar shop and bought a bottle. Took my jacket off because it was getting warm.
4:35 reached Longridge after the tortuous slow grind of Preston Road.
4:55 Inglewhite. It was drizzling on and off.
5:10 crossed over the A6. Hooray! Maybe the flat terrain made a difference, but I put in a burst of speed for 30 minutes and was cruising along nicely after the grind from Whalley to Longridge.
5:20 reached St Michaels. It started raining quite heavily. The jacket went back on. It was only a short shower, but the roads going forward were very wet so it must have put down a fair bit of rain before I arrived.
5:55 arrived in Hambleton. Back home! Get the kettle on.
Stats: exactly 55 miles from Heben Bridge. 117 for the round trip. 185.6 for the week.
Next time I'm getting the bloomin' train.
Sunday 28th July 2013
Having spent the weekend in the company of Bryn with a day out at the Indietracks festival, I decided to cycle back home from Hebden Bridge on Sunday afternoon.
I set off at 12:45.
I decided to take the road out of Hebden to Heptonstall and then go over the tops via Blackshaw Head (past the wind farm) to Burnley. The worst bit was the immediate climb off the A646 up to Heptonstall. What a killer! I was in first gear for ages, grinding upward at little more than walking pace with sweat pouring down my face. The climbs after that were easy in comparison. When I got close to the wind turbines, I stopped to put my yellow jacket on because it was grey, felt like rain and I was getting a bit chilly. A minute later it started drizzling, then rained quite steadily for 10 or 15 minutes. I was soon descending on the Burnley side so this wasn't so bad.
2 pm I reached Townley Park in Burnley. It was drizzling a bit.
I navigated out of the park (following NCN 68 signs) and amazingly found the canal towpath with no problem. The sign for Finsley Gate was clearly there. Why did I sail past this on Friday? It's a mystery.
I began retracing my steps from Friday, reaching the bit where the canal goes into a tunnel so I had to climb up some steps, go through a few underpasses and then get back to the canal on the other side. Easy.
Once back on the canal tow path, I was soon making good progress. I had to slow down for a group of friendly walkers just outside the town and had a chat with some woman who was interested in buying a new bike.
At this point I made a slight diversion, having inevitably missed / not spotted a sign telling me to leave the canal and get on the Padiham Greenway (ie the old railway line). You'd expect that with me really. It became obvious when I came to a bit of the canal path that was blocked off with wire fencing for some building work and I had to take a diversion around it.
"Hmm, this wasn't here on Friday." I thought to myself.
I stopped just after this when a sign pointed to an exit from the canal for Hapton. Looking at my map, I'd come about a mile further than needed. No big trauma though, I just left the canal, cycled up the road a bit and spotted another sign for "Padiham Greenway". I actually joined this with only about half of the mile of it to go.
Soon I was on the A671 Whalley Road. I decided to just go for it down the main road to Whalley for a couple of miles, rather than faff about up and down those hilly lanes again.
3:20 arrived in Whalley. I'd been looking forward to visiting the deli / restaurant that's just by the railway station. I'd previously bought a sandwich there and with lunch on my mind, had been salivating at the prospect of a tasty tuna and cucumber butty for a good half an hour. Alas! It was closed! Oh, the disappointment. The newsagent on the main road was closed as well (this was Sunday afternoon after all) so I made do with flapjack instead. It just wasn't the same.
3:35 set off again after a bit of a rest. It started to drizzle a bit as I plodded on to Ribchester.
4:05 Arrived in Ribchester. I had a manic craving for chocolate milk so went to the Spar shop and bought a bottle. Took my jacket off because it was getting warm.
4:35 reached Longridge after the tortuous slow grind of Preston Road.
4:55 Inglewhite. It was drizzling on and off.
5:10 crossed over the A6. Hooray! Maybe the flat terrain made a difference, but I put in a burst of speed for 30 minutes and was cruising along nicely after the grind from Whalley to Longridge.
5:20 reached St Michaels. It started raining quite heavily. The jacket went back on. It was only a short shower, but the roads going forward were very wet so it must have put down a fair bit of rain before I arrived.
5:55 arrived in Hambleton. Back home! Get the kettle on.
Stats: exactly 55 miles from Heben Bridge. 117 for the round trip. 185.6 for the week.
Next time I'm getting the bloomin' train.
Friday, 26 July 2013
Cycling To Hebden Bridge
Cycling To Hebden Bridge
Friday 26 July 2013
For a number of years I harboured the idea of cycling over from the Fylde Coast to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. It's a part of the country that I know quite well. My mate and occasional cycling partner Bryn lives there so I've driven there or taken the train over plenty of times. Cycling there was a slightly trickier prospect due to uncertainty over the route, but at a distance of around 55 miles it would make a decent afternoon's ride and be enough of a challenge to make it worthwhile doing. The extra miles would give my weekly total a boost, of course.
To be continued.
Friday 26 July 2013
For a number of years I harboured the idea of cycling over from the Fylde Coast to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. It's a part of the country that I know quite well. My mate and occasional cycling partner Bryn lives there so I've driven there or taken the train over plenty of times. Cycling there was a slightly trickier prospect due to uncertainty over the route, but at a distance of around 55 miles it would make a decent afternoon's ride and be enough of a challenge to make it worthwhile doing. The extra miles would give my weekly total a boost, of course.
To be continued.
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