Leeds to Manchester

[nammynake]

Well I was coaxed into riding this by two work colleagues. I dusted down my bike, which has only been ridden twice this year, and set off on this intrepid journey. Started in Morley then headed to Batley, Dewsbury and Hudderfield, followed by the canal route to Marsden. Hit the enevitable 'shower' predicted by the BBC, which was more like a torrential fking downpour. It was pretty windy however, so I dried quickly. Although the wind seemed to be in our faces the whole way, which was pretty sapping.

Had a cafe stop for coffee and cake then ascended the inevitable climb over the tops. Painfull is not even close. I committed sacrilege and had to push for 100m or so on the steepest section. The lactic acid in my quads was just too much. I do go running to keep fit, so my lungs were fine, and I wasn't really breathing that hard, but by god did my legs take a hammering!

Descent pretty much from then on, with a nice little off-road descent from the top followed by canal all the way into Manchester centre. Finished in Piccadilly where we caught the train home.

Now I know for most of you guys 44 miles is probably a mid-week training ride, but I felt a great sense of achievement at the end and really glad I did it. A nice ride, with some stunning scenery along the canal. In fact I like most of the ride except for that fk off big hill coming out of Marsden (up past the golf course for those that know the area).

Hopefully wont be another 3 months before I take the bike out again!

[blackburn]

Good effort that man - well done! There's no way I'd ride that far on the road.

[nammynake]

blackburn said:

Good effort that man - well done! There's no way I'd ride that far on the road.

Thanks man. I'd guess maybe 10 miles max were road, with the other 34 being canal paths/offroad. I was on my Hardtail mountain bike so it suited the terrain quite well, although I did envy the other guy's skinny tyres at times!