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Married to Night Train
- Location
- Salford, UK
We did 15 miles today, exploring local cycle routes. We set off to follow route 55, a disused railway path. Spectacularly, we went wrong within a yard of the point we came off the road in Monton, and ended up at the Bridgewater Canal, where the towpath fizzled out. Retracing, we found the actual railway path, but we may go back and explore the green space on foot sometime, it was very pretty.
Anyway, once on the railway path we pootled along, even spotting some station remains on the way:
Not long after this the path was blocked by construction work for a new sewer, which we'd been forewarned about, so we followed the detour - which wasn't the most bike friendly access point:
Never mind, on we go. The surface was a bit chewed up by the construction traffic, and I'm spoilt by the long tarmac path to Selby, but I coped on my skinny wheels. Although there was the odd obstacle:
We carried on past Little Hulton station remains:
and then diverged from the bike path to have a look at Peel Park, where we thought there might be a cafe according to Google Maps. There wasn't, but there was an amusing bench:
From there we retraced our tracks along the bike path as far as Walkden, where we found a cafe for a coffee, and then back as far as the East Lancs Road, where we took the roadside bike path back to Salford, in order to pick up a ceramic piece NT had made at the arts project, and which had finally been fired. Then it was a quick hop back along the Eccles Road to home.
A very nice morning out. The path has its drawbacks - the surface is a bit rough in places, and there were a few spots where we had to come up to a road, dismount, cross and remount, thanks to narrow gates, in a way I suspect the trains never did. Also most of the access points were steps only, which would be a problem for a heavily laden rider, or anyone with trouble lifting their bike. But it's a nice way to escape the Manchester traffic I still find a little intimidating. Next time, we'll explore a bit further along!
(Having said that, on the East Lancs, three separate drivers slowed and waited for us to cross sideroads before they turned in, despite them really having priority, and us being fully prepared to stop for them!)
Anyway, once on the railway path we pootled along, even spotting some station remains on the way:
Not long after this the path was blocked by construction work for a new sewer, which we'd been forewarned about, so we followed the detour - which wasn't the most bike friendly access point:
Never mind, on we go. The surface was a bit chewed up by the construction traffic, and I'm spoilt by the long tarmac path to Selby, but I coped on my skinny wheels. Although there was the odd obstacle:
We carried on past Little Hulton station remains:
and then diverged from the bike path to have a look at Peel Park, where we thought there might be a cafe according to Google Maps. There wasn't, but there was an amusing bench:
From there we retraced our tracks along the bike path as far as Walkden, where we found a cafe for a coffee, and then back as far as the East Lancs Road, where we took the roadside bike path back to Salford, in order to pick up a ceramic piece NT had made at the arts project, and which had finally been fired. Then it was a quick hop back along the Eccles Road to home.
A very nice morning out. The path has its drawbacks - the surface is a bit rough in places, and there were a few spots where we had to come up to a road, dismount, cross and remount, thanks to narrow gates, in a way I suspect the trains never did. Also most of the access points were steps only, which would be a problem for a heavily laden rider, or anyone with trouble lifting their bike. But it's a nice way to escape the Manchester traffic I still find a little intimidating. Next time, we'll explore a bit further along!
(Having said that, on the East Lancs, three separate drivers slowed and waited for us to cross sideroads before they turned in, despite them really having priority, and us being fully prepared to stop for them!)
) came by with a few others and invited me to tag on which for the next 15-20miles I was able to do so then I started to fade and fell off that group but their consistent 24mph ave had got my average speed up and despite me fading my average stayed not too bad, even after 30miles on my own when multiple cramps hit, done my best to spin them off but had to drop to a more sustainable pace. The sportive finishes on the same mountain as which it started, needless to say I wasn't going the same 45mph up it 
strangely enough despite leaving the night club at 2am I felt not too bad on Sunday. About 5 hours after I got back the lack of sleep/ events finally hit and when I got a FBook message asking me to go for a ride I thought I'd pass up. A moment later however, he also sent a text promising it'd be an easy recovery ride, so I went out. It was kind of a recovery ride compared to the Saturday but 21miles at 16.6mph and a 1,000 ft of climbing but strangely I felt good. I knew it couldn't last felt knackered yesterday but it was worth it 
