gavroche
Getting old but not past it
- Location
- North Wales
I am permanently on holiday, that's what retirement is all about.Just realised - I've got to wait 2 more weeks before my next holiday.
The Retirement Thread
- Thread starter Dirk
- Start date
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Leeds and Liverpool canal,there is a treatment works along it,it pongs sometimes well always in hot weather,the fish at that stretch are like submarines.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
The good news is that the weather was pleasant here today and I decided to do a longer, harder ride than I have been doing for the past 6 months or so. The bad news is that I found it harder than expected and decided to be kind to myself late in the ride, miss out the last hill and come back along the valley bottom instead!
Something very odd happened, and I don't have a logical explanation for it (other than it being a pure coincidence)...
My stepdaughter drove up at lunchtime today to spend the coming week with her mum (my ex). That is in Hebden Bridge, 2.5 km (1.5 miles) along the Calder Valley from Mytholmroyd. My planned route would have taken me home via Littleborough, but my last minute change of plan meant that I had descended into Mytholmroyd instead, well away from where I should have been. The normal way back from 'royd for me is on the A646 along the valley but it was rush hour so I decided to take the quieter alternative which is to ride down Caldene Avenue, a quiet backstreet parallel to the A646. It leads to the Calder Valley Cycleway, a scenic path to Hebden Bridge. From there, I could ride through the park, and check out the recently upgraded Rochdale canal towpath.
Now the thing is... as I came hurtling down the lane into Mytholmroyd, the thought suddenly popped into my mind that I would bump into stepsprog and her ma on Caldene Ave! As I turned onto that road I spotted 2 women walking along the pavement ahead of me. They looked suspiciously like the ones I was looking out for. The clincher would be if I spotted, er, step-grand-dog with them. And there he was!!! Weird, or what!
I cycled up behind them in stealth mode and in my deepest, boomiest voice shouted out something along the lines of "I KNOW YOU!!!" They all jumped. They actually seemed pleased to see me, and the dog was VERY pleased - I had to make a big fuss of him to calm him down!
For all of this to happen, they had to decide to walk to Mytholmroyd at that time. Normally, they might go home along the Rochdale canal towpath but they had opted for Caldene Ave instead. I had unexpectedly opted for Mytholmroyd AND Caldene Ave AND got there 1 minute after them. If I had got there even 2 minutes earlier, I would have been gone and out of sight before they arrived. All of that is just a nice coincidence, but why on earth did I have that premonition about seeing them?!
Eventually, I said my goodbyes and went on my way. I got on the canal towpath in Hebden Bridge and set off towards Todmorden. I soon spotted 4 youths ahead of me, who looked a bit the worse for wear - all were swigging from bottles of beer. I made plenty of noise as I approached so they heard me. All 4 staggered to one side and I went to carry on past, when one of them decided to leap back out in front of me. He blocked the towpath and spread his arms wide, swinging his beer bottle about. "WHERE THE F*CK DO YER THINK YER GOIN'?'" Oh, absolutely super - being accosted by drunken oafs is what I have missed so much during the pandemic... how could I have forgotten the joy of these encounters?!
I did a quick assessment... Would he try to hit me with the bottle, and if he did, could I dodge it when standing astride my bike? Could I shove him in the canal and make my getaway before his mates sprang into action? Would the idiot end up drowning if I did?
I decided to be friendly and try to defuse the situation... "I'm going home on my bike, if you wouldn't mind just standing to one side for me please." "STAND T' ONE SIDE? STAND T' ONE SIDE! HUH... OK, I'LL STAND T' ONE SIDE FOR YER." And he did!
Give me strength...
Anyway, I wanted to comment on the Rochdale canal towpath. @PaulSB mentioned walking along it from Sowerby Bridge last week. That stretch was upgraded a few years ago, but it was only during the pandemic that they finished the section from Hebden Bridge to Todmorden. I hadn't been on it for about 18 months until last Saturday, when I walked a short section of it with my fellow forum walkers. Well, the resurfacers have made a good job of it. I rode it on my best bike and was never worried about my relatively skinny 25C slick tyres.
This is typical of what the surface looks like now. Some isn't quite as good as that, but it is a huge improvement on what it used to be like.
That's the good towpath news. The bad towpath news is that they haven't done the cobbled spillways or the footbridges over them. There are 4 spillways with narrow footbridges (planks!). You would be daft to try cycling over them, and tough luck if you are in a wheelchair or have young kids in a buggy. The spillways themselves have dodgy, slimy cobbles with wheel-catching gaps between them. Not too bad on a mountain bike with BIG knobbly tyres, but potentially lethal on slick 25C tyres. In fact, I once managed to get my cyclocross bike 35C front tyre trapped in one of those gaps and nearly fell into the canal. I don't ride the spillways now! When dry, the spillways aren't too bad to walk over, but how about this...?
The last spillway as you get into Todmorden has a small bridge which is wide enough to cycle over. I'm not sure if it is quite wide enough for a wheelchair or buggy though - maybe, maybe not?
Which is a long-winded way of me saying PUT PROPER CROSSINGS ON THE DAMN SPILLWAYS!
Instead of 50 km (31 miles) with 1,000 m (3,300 ft) of ascent, I ended up doing 46 km (28 miles) with only 740 m (2,400 ft) of ascent. That was enough for today, but I need to get stuck in over the next 4 weeks or cycling in Devon will finish me off!
Something very odd happened, and I don't have a logical explanation for it (other than it being a pure coincidence)...
My stepdaughter drove up at lunchtime today to spend the coming week with her mum (my ex). That is in Hebden Bridge, 2.5 km (1.5 miles) along the Calder Valley from Mytholmroyd. My planned route would have taken me home via Littleborough, but my last minute change of plan meant that I had descended into Mytholmroyd instead, well away from where I should have been. The normal way back from 'royd for me is on the A646 along the valley but it was rush hour so I decided to take the quieter alternative which is to ride down Caldene Avenue, a quiet backstreet parallel to the A646. It leads to the Calder Valley Cycleway, a scenic path to Hebden Bridge. From there, I could ride through the park, and check out the recently upgraded Rochdale canal towpath.
Now the thing is... as I came hurtling down the lane into Mytholmroyd, the thought suddenly popped into my mind that I would bump into stepsprog and her ma on Caldene Ave! As I turned onto that road I spotted 2 women walking along the pavement ahead of me. They looked suspiciously like the ones I was looking out for. The clincher would be if I spotted, er, step-grand-dog with them. And there he was!!! Weird, or what!
I cycled up behind them in stealth mode and in my deepest, boomiest voice shouted out something along the lines of "I KNOW YOU!!!" They all jumped. They actually seemed pleased to see me, and the dog was VERY pleased - I had to make a big fuss of him to calm him down!
For all of this to happen, they had to decide to walk to Mytholmroyd at that time. Normally, they might go home along the Rochdale canal towpath but they had opted for Caldene Ave instead. I had unexpectedly opted for Mytholmroyd AND Caldene Ave AND got there 1 minute after them. If I had got there even 2 minutes earlier, I would have been gone and out of sight before they arrived. All of that is just a nice coincidence, but why on earth did I have that premonition about seeing them?!
Eventually, I said my goodbyes and went on my way. I got on the canal towpath in Hebden Bridge and set off towards Todmorden. I soon spotted 4 youths ahead of me, who looked a bit the worse for wear - all were swigging from bottles of beer. I made plenty of noise as I approached so they heard me. All 4 staggered to one side and I went to carry on past, when one of them decided to leap back out in front of me. He blocked the towpath and spread his arms wide, swinging his beer bottle about. "WHERE THE F*CK DO YER THINK YER GOIN'?'" Oh, absolutely super - being accosted by drunken oafs is what I have missed so much during the pandemic... how could I have forgotten the joy of these encounters?!
I did a quick assessment... Would he try to hit me with the bottle, and if he did, could I dodge it when standing astride my bike? Could I shove him in the canal and make my getaway before his mates sprang into action? Would the idiot end up drowning if I did?
I decided to be friendly and try to defuse the situation... "I'm going home on my bike, if you wouldn't mind just standing to one side for me please." "STAND T' ONE SIDE? STAND T' ONE SIDE! HUH... OK, I'LL STAND T' ONE SIDE FOR YER." And he did!
Give me strength...
Anyway, I wanted to comment on the Rochdale canal towpath. @PaulSB mentioned walking along it from Sowerby Bridge last week. That stretch was upgraded a few years ago, but it was only during the pandemic that they finished the section from Hebden Bridge to Todmorden. I hadn't been on it for about 18 months until last Saturday, when I walked a short section of it with my fellow forum walkers. Well, the resurfacers have made a good job of it. I rode it on my best bike and was never worried about my relatively skinny 25C slick tyres.
This is typical of what the surface looks like now. Some isn't quite as good as that, but it is a huge improvement on what it used to be like.
That's the good towpath news. The bad towpath news is that they haven't done the cobbled spillways or the footbridges over them. There are 4 spillways with narrow footbridges (planks!). You would be daft to try cycling over them, and tough luck if you are in a wheelchair or have young kids in a buggy. The spillways themselves have dodgy, slimy cobbles with wheel-catching gaps between them. Not too bad on a mountain bike with BIG knobbly tyres, but potentially lethal on slick 25C tyres. In fact, I once managed to get my cyclocross bike 35C front tyre trapped in one of those gaps and nearly fell into the canal. I don't ride the spillways now! When dry, the spillways aren't too bad to walk over, but how about this...?
The last spillway as you get into Todmorden has a small bridge which is wide enough to cycle over. I'm not sure if it is quite wide enough for a wheelchair or buggy though - maybe, maybe not?
Which is a long-winded way of me saying PUT PROPER CROSSINGS ON THE DAMN SPILLWAYS!
Instead of 50 km (31 miles) with 1,000 m (3,300 ft) of ascent, I ended up doing 46 km (28 miles) with only 740 m (2,400 ft) of ascent. That was enough for today, but I need to get stuck in over the next 4 weeks or cycling in Devon will finish me off!
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
I have risen!
Teacher training day, so Mini D is at home today. Its click and collect day, so she can tag along.
Teacher training day, so Mini D is at home today. Its click and collect day, so she can tag along.
Which canal was that ?
I was chatting to a fisherman on the Sankey canal who told me he was from Stafford and that people travel from all over to country to fish there. Apparently its particularly well known for Pike.
Which canal was that ?
I was chatting to a fisherman on the Sankey canal who told me he was from Stafford and that people travel from all over to country to fish there. Apparently its particularly well known for Pike.
Which canal was that ?
I was chatting to a fisherman on the Sankey canal who told me he was from Stafford and that people travel from all over to country to fish there. Apparently its particularly well known for Pike.
Mo1959
Legendary Member
- Location
- Perthshire,Scotland
Ahhh........we are back! Funny how I miss it when I can't get in.
I had an early spin and enjoyed a lovely sunny morning. Long since finished breakfast and a few cuppas. Not sure what the rest of the day holds. I need someone to tell me it's Fish Friday as I keep thinking it's Saturday for some reason!
Oh, and after a short experiment thinking I would like to go back to flat pedals, I've changed my mind again. At first I thought I enjoyed the freedom of being able to move my feet around, but then it started to annoy me as they occasionally seemed to end up moving when I didn't want them to even with spiky pedals so stuck the SPD's back on for the morning ride. I will stick with them on all the bikes apart from the mountain bike I think.
I had an early spin and enjoyed a lovely sunny morning. Long since finished breakfast and a few cuppas. Not sure what the rest of the day holds. I need someone to tell me it's Fish Friday as I keep thinking it's Saturday for some reason!
Oh, and after a short experiment thinking I would like to go back to flat pedals, I've changed my mind again. At first I thought I enjoyed the freedom of being able to move my feet around, but then it started to annoy me as they occasionally seemed to end up moving when I didn't want them to even with spiky pedals so stuck the SPD's back on for the morning ride. I will stick with them on all the bikes apart from the mountain bike I think.
D
Deleted member 1258
Guest
Good morning folks, wot appened? no CC first thing, strange!
welsh dragon
Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
Ok. Time to fess up. Who broke it?
Cooper. It's Friday and it's raining.
Stay safe peeps
Cooper. It's Friday and it's raining.
Stay safe peeps
numbnuts
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gone over the hill and far away
Morning all, got to stay in as they said they are going to pick this hire car up, I wish they would hurry up
Sterlo
Early Retirement Planning
- Location
- East Riding of Yorkshire
It was Dave7 putting the same post on 3 times!!!Ok. Time to fess up. Who broke it?
Cooper. It's Friday and it's raining.
Stay safe peeps
Mo1959
Legendary Member
- Location
- Perthshire,Scotland
Nah.......I cycled and actually got over 13mph for the first time in weeks........shock to the system!
Welcome back everyone.
It does seem odd when you can't get in this place, did someone lock up last night and not leave the keys in a safe place?
A nice warmish day here in Barnet. A meeting of the escape committee will take place in the Mitre this afternoon. Now we can go inside, it is nice enough to sit outside
Fish and chips for tea tonight
That's my day in a nutshell.
It does seem odd when you can't get in this place, did someone lock up last night and not leave the keys in a safe place?
A nice warmish day here in Barnet. A meeting of the escape committee will take place in the Mitre this afternoon. Now we can go inside, it is nice enough to sit outside
Fish and chips for tea tonight
That's my day in a nutshell.
