Yesterday's ride, but it was too late and I was too tired to post it last night.
The weather yesterday was dry and bright, even if it was a bit cold and breezy. I decided it was the perfect chance to put into action an EPIC mtb ride plan I have had on the back burner for a little while.
50+ miles with loads of climbing and at least half the ride done off-road (not sure how to work this out accurately but it was a lot) -
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29192878
The route included lots and lots of virgin ground for me. I know the tracks as far as the top of the climb from the Castleshaw reservoirs above Delph well, but then as far as Milnrow I only have vague experience from cycling and driving some parts, possibly more than a decade ago
. Once into Milnrow and Rochdale it was unknown until I was back on the canal at Castleton, Rochdale. I have walked parts of the canal but really only felt like I was truly back on home ground once I could see the bright store lights of Tescos at Failsworth.
Starting back at the beginning, no ride from my house towards the Saddleworth moors could possibly start any other way than taking in a climb to Hartshead Pike, the first real lump of the Pennines when heading east from Manchester. Just check out that sky!
The downside to that clear sky was the temperatures. Ice Ice Baby! While climbing Lily Lane towards the Pike I did have to dismount at one point due to the ice coverage across the width of the road. Ice remained an issue for most of the ride and meant I had to be very cautious (by my standards) when whizzing down the back lanes as you could never be sure when you might come around a corner to be confronted with ice or hard frost in the road and I certainly didn't want to cut this ride short with an injury. Another problem occurred after I got wet a couple of times early in the ride. Not really a problem for me, I kept warm as long as I kept moving (more on that later), but the water must have got around the cassette/freehub which started to intermittently jam and try to draw the chain round. This cleared up after a while but the issue did return towards the end of the ride as darkness fell and the temperatures began to plummet.
View of Castleshaw reservoirs before crossing the valley and climbing the other side to join the Pennine Bridleway, taken from outside the Saddleworth Hotel. Here I munched a couple of slices of my home-made flapjack, YUM
My route took me right through the town centre of Rochdale where I found myself playing chicken with a tram. No problem, I hopped the tracks and onto the pavement to allow him to pass, accompanied by much toot-tooting to warn me to get out of the bl**dy way!
As I rode out of Rochdale and headed towards Rooley Moor the back end of my bike started to feel a bit soggy and after another mile or so I decided it was definitely not as firm as when I started the ride. I was running lower pressures than normal, didn't want battering on such a long ride and also wanted to maximise grip in the icy conditions so decided to pull over at the edge of civilisation and top it up before continuing. Fortunately I decided to spin the wheel and check for anything obvious before pumping in a bit more air and continuing….
Nailed it!
New tube quickly fitted and inflated then last slice of flapjack munched before the journey was resumed. I was flippin freezing by the time I set off again and glad my gloves were still dry and warmish as doing the quick repair had left my fingers numb.
Rooley Moor just went on and on, it seemed to climb forever, but eventually levelled off, just when I was most exposed to the biting northern wind fighting to push me back the way I had come. Despite the cold I risked whipping off the gloves for a quick selfie while near the top. Also had a pee, which was no fun considering my cold digits fumbling with the drawstrings and other things being similarly cold!
Time was ticking now and as I came down from Rooley Moor I knew I was likely to be finishing this ride in darkness. Luckily I had thought this might be the case so had thrown my emergency lights in the bag when packing for the trip. Better get a move on....
...but best laid plans. etc. My planning conspired against me here and the slightly contrived route I had plotted for the return towards Rochdale, always trying to minimise time spent on tarmac, didn't actually turn out quite as good as it had looked on the aerial view. From Nangreave and along Cheesden Brook past Birtle turned out to include a bit of a no-go farm yard and track (which I did anyway as I didn't have an back-up option) and a path along the brook that was little more than a muddy cattle trampled path (including cattle!) ending in a steep climb out of the valley to rejoin a semi-decent trail at Scotland Lane. As I carried my bike up the steep path I was beginning to feel the effects of the last 35 hilly miles and freezing temperatures. Not really finished, but knees, feet and hands were hurting due to the length of time spent in the saddle and the low temperatures. Luckily this was the final significant climb of the ride (exactly 200ft from the brook to the top of the climb according to RWGPS) and from here on in, barring some gentle rises, it was downhill all the way home. This was a good job really because even though I still had energy left, if I tried anything more than mild effort on the shallow climbs that followed my grumbling knees soon talked me out of it.
As I rolled down towards the canal at Castleton I passed a small country pub called the Pack Horse and was really tempted to stop off for a well earned pint and a snack, but deep down I knew that if I passed through those doors in my current condition I wouldn't be coming back out until a car arrived to collect me.
It was just dusk as I got onto the canal and with another 10 or 11 miles largely off-road miles still to go it was a case of head down and get on with it. I had one moment of concern when passing under a long dark bridge near Chadderton. As I approached the exit from the underpass I could see a group of youths all wearing black tracksuits and spread across the towpath in the gloom. Not really scared, but did wonder what their intentions might be as I rode right through the middle of them and not really feeling in great condition for a fight if anything started! I needn't have worried, as I rode past I saw one of them was doing leg stretches on a low wall at the side of the path. I think it might have been the youth section of a running club getting ready for a training run
It was a relief to finally reach the Tescos supermarket at Failsworth (never thought I would find myself typing that phrase!!!
). Nearly home, but I had to make one last stop and dig out my lights as I had a stretch of road riding ahead. Once on the tarmac I had my only appalling car interaction of the day. A very careless woman in a hatchbackpulled out of a side road on my right then proceeded to drive on the wrong side of the road for 20-30 yards, as she knew I was there, but then turned left anyway, and if I hadn't worked out what she was doing and hit the brakes would have wiped me out
I just don't know what goes through the heads of these people, really!
Final thing of note worth mentioning was a short interaction with nature as I rode along the old abandoned canal from Crime Lake towards Daisy Nook. Something small and furry (rat?) unexpectedly ran out from the side into the dim pool of light cast by my be-seen light. I think my presence must have been a shock for it because it panicked and raced along the canal edge to my left for a good 20ft before darting back across the path and into the undergrowth.
After carefully crossing the busy rush-hour traffic of Oldham Road at Bardlsey Brew I then joined the old railway cycle path for the final mile of off-road cycling before arriving back at the roads of my home town Ashton.
I got home a little over 7hrs after setting out, cold, battered and worn out, but triumphant! I'm pretty sure that is the longest off-road ride I have ever done, by a long way. I have ridden further on the mtb (a couple of 100 milers) but never anything as hilly and challenging as this. Final count on the clock was 53.3 miles (a couple of short missed turns etc) and a low average moving speed of 9mph. I'll forgive my low speed as I always intended to take it easy for a number of reasons. First, I knew it was going to be a long day so didn't want to start too hard and run out of steam far from home. Second, because of the rough terrain and ice I ran lower tyre pressures so took it easy to avoid pinch punctures. Lastly, it was freakin cold so I paced my self to prevent getting too sweaty, having my core clothing dripping wet could have been a disaster when I had to stop.
Anyway, I did it. It was hard and I was just about beat by the time I rolled back onto the drive, but I'm glad I did it.
I slept well last night.....
Hope it's only a bruised ego and nothing more serious xxx
