According to gps: odo 31.74 mov time 3h01m max 27.4 moving avg 10.5 tot time 5h10m
A friend, Andrew, ordered a new bike from Hewitt Cycles in Leyland a few weeks ago; it was ready for pickup yesterday so we took the train to Leyland (where the shop is located) to get it, and cycled back afterwards - despite the forecast of intermittent showers, sleet and wind. This of course entailed me cycling to Oxford Raod station first - not too bad but the northerly wind was funnelled through the streets against me, which wasn't much fun.
After getting the bike the route we followed was basically the A6 south from Leyland through Chorley, past Horwich and Bolton and down towards Worsley and then through Eccles and past the Trafford Centre. Unusually for me, we stuck to roads all the way - but it made sense as the new bike was a tourer. I struggled with some of the inclines and undulations but only gave up on one hill, fairly early on - I was having a bit of trouble with with my front gears (although the rear mech was behaving as it'd been replaced by a spare set Andrew didn't need) and I didn't want to wear myself out on the hill leaving us stranded somewhere later on.
To be honest - I didn't really enjoy the journey a great deal. Yes, it was good to get out and I didn't get too cold, and although the wind was broadly in the right direction I really didn't like it - it was very blustery at times - and yes, it did snow on us a little at one point. I didn't do terribly well for the first half of the route down from Leyland; it seemed to be largely uphill. Also, I've not been out on my bike much recently because the weather and work haven't really permitted. Nevertheless, I was only a couple of miles off my distance-in-a-day record in the end. As I approached Salford and Worsley I perked up a bit - partly because it was home ground that I was familiar with but also because it was largely flat or downhill!
I was pleased to have survived the journey and I think with hindsight I probably did enjoy it overall, even though some of it was a struggle and my fitness wasn't really up to it. Andrew didn't struggle at all - not entirely surprisingly! - but it allowed him to get used to his new bike at an easy pace. As for me, I was quite pleased to see that my average speed for the day was over 11mph; OK, not exactly world-record breaking but faster than some of my normal rides. I guess this is because it was all on-road and consequently there was less rolling resistance. It didn't stop me being exhausted in the evening though. I'm not used to this!