Extended Manchester-Blackpool ride 2004
Intro
There isn't as much detail in this ride report as there is in most of my write-ups. That's because I was too tired to do it when I got home, and I'd forgotten a lot of detail by the time that I got round to it.
It was one of those funny ideas that pop into your head from time to time -
"Let's do the Manchester-Blackpool charity ride this year". Bill and I had considered doing it before, but we'd always been put off by the logistics of it. We'd have to drive to the start, do the ride, then pay for transporting ourselves and our bikes back to Manchester, then drive home again. The hassle-to-riding ratio just wasn't good enough. Then I had a bright idea... How about riding to Manchester to do 'The Ride', do 'The Ride', then ride back from the finish at Blackpool? A quick calculation revealed that it would be around 130-140 miles total. No sooner had I thought of it, than I dismissed it as being a little unwise. I had never ridden further than 100 miles before, and not more than 50 miles for months. This would be too much of an increase in mileage for one ride.
So of course, we decided to go for it...!
On the day, we awoke to ideal cycling weather - warm enough for shorts, but not baking; cooling breezes but not enough to cause major problems; nice blue skies.
I got up at 6:00 am and wolfed down my usual pre-ride mega-breakfast. I loaded up with carbo-drinks and cycled round to Bill's for our 7:30 start.
Hebden Bridge to Manchester [25 miles] 7:30 - 9:00
We set off before the Sunday traffic had built up so the roads were still quiet. Nothing much to mention until we'd passed through Littleborough, then we got into the outskirts of the charming , sprawling built-up area that is Greater Manchester. I'd read a woman's profile on an online dating agency recently. In it she asked the plaintive question "Could you show me that there is life beyond Rochdale?" Well, what can I say? After seeing the place en route today my answer would be "Yes, but you will have to find your own way out - I'm not coming in to get you!" ... Apologies to the inmates, sorry, inhabitants of Rochdale!
Manchester to Blackpool [60 miles] 9:00 - 1:00ish
There were literally thousands of riders taking part. We started towards the tail end of the event and were going much quicker than most, many of whom were riding cheap mountain bikes with heavy knobbly tyres and suspension. Those bikes must have been REALLY hard work. Most people never do any serious off-road riding. They would be much better off with decent hybrid bikes. It's a bit like all the mums (and dads) who buy 4*4s to drive the kids to school or do the shopping. Even less practical, were the unicycles... I saw a group of riders on 'short' unicycles - wow, 50+ miles on those - respect! To the people on the 'tall' unicycles riding about 5 feet up in the air -
I Am Not Worthy.
And now for some important comments on Charity Ride 'Dress-Code'... To the group of slim young women riding along wearing no more than skimpy thongs and 'crop' tops - I'm sure that it is a good way of getting all-over tans, but I do think that it creates certain road-safety issues. It is - how might I put it - '
somewhat distracting'! If you would like to discuss this matter with me in depth, I can be reached on 0796...
At least half of the route was through built-up areas. The traffic was quite heavy and long tailbacks of cars and cyclists were forming. I saw many examples of crazy driving AND crazy riding. I'm amazed that I didn't see any accidents. Too many traffic lights too. For me this part of the ride was like interval training. Stuck at lights. They change to green so I sprint away to get ahead of the gathered slower riders. Accelerate up to 20-25 mph then have to brake back to a stop for another jam or red light. Tiring and frustrating. Bill got away from me when I got held up at roadworks and I didn't see him again until I arrived in Blackpool. After that, I soloed in getter more tired by the mile. I'd been told that the ride distance was 56 miles and I was keeping a close eye on my bike computer. When it showed that I had covered 54 miles from Manchester I decided to make a big effort for the last couple of miles and went flat out. Somehow though, the end never seemed to come and I felt the tell-tale signs of the dreaded 'bonk' approaching. I wolfed down one of my banana butties as I rode. I eventually limped into Stanley Park at about 12 mph having covered an extra 4 miles not mentioned in the ride guide. I think that they had altered the route without updating the paperwork.
Stanley Park looks like a really nice place for a family visit. There was a PA system whipping up support from the huge crowd. Even though it's only a bit of fun it does gee you up as you approach the finish banner. I spotted Bill after about 5 minutes of scanning the sea of knackered cyclists. I saw his bald head shining in the sunlight! We lay around in the sun for about 45 minutes eating/drinking/chatting. Bill raised one of life's most important questions. Why was it that no matter how many times he moved his bike people still tried to walk over his expensive Mavic Ksyrium wheels? Answers on a postcard please to the usual address.
Eventually we searched out the toilet block to empty ourselves and refill our bottles. Each cubicle door bore the notice "After many complaints from the public, these toilets are regularly inspected by the police - IS YOUR BEHAVIOUR APPROPRIATE!" I felt very apprehensive after reading that. I had visions of a headline in The Blackpool Evening News -
"Fat salt-encrusted man arrested for inappropriately wearing Lycra in public!" (Fortunately I got away with it.
)
Blackpool to Hebden Bridge [53 miles] 2:00ish to 6:05
Off we set for the final leg of our journey. I told Bill that I was still feeling tired and a bit hungry. Could we do the last leg at a maximum of say 15-16 mph? He agreed and we tootled along for a while, but his competitive instincts were aroused when we were overtaken by a guy about our age on a nice Colnago bike. Bill shot off in pursuit. I had to join in because I wasn't sure where we were going and might have got lost if we were got separated. We whizzed along for about 3 miles and then I realised that I was cracking and had to let them get away. Eventually Bill slowed down to wait for me. We had now done 100 miles and my body was packing up. We limped along to Longridge and my strength ebbed completely climbing the little hill into the town. We got off our bikes and sat on a bench for some much needed R & R. I realised that I was not going to be able to ride at Bill's pace and sent him on his way - I know my way back from Longridge. Funnily enough, the rest had helped and I actually managed to stay with Bill for another couple of miles but then I had to slow down and limp home alone. Bill got back at 5:30 but I took until 6:05, however that did include a rare treat for me - a stop at Spring Wood picnic centre, Whalley to buy an ice cream.
Summary
It was by far the longest road ride either of us has done. We will not be doing Manchester-Blackpool again because we didn't like the traffic, the crowds, or the built-up nature of a lot of the route, but it was good to have done it once. I did 138m at 15.1 mph average speed and was pretty pleased with that in the circumstances.
