According to gps: trip odo 9.16 moving time 1h29m odo 9.16m max speed 22.4 moving avg 6.2
"Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads." - Doc Brown, Back To The Future
So. Lieu day. Richard keen to go on bike. January. Mud. Hills. Overcast.
The weather was a bit different from yesterday; it was overcast and a bit chilly, although at least it wasn't raining. We followed another of the routes in my Haynes book (do I get commission for the constant plugging of this route guide?!), around Tandle hill near Shaw/Royton/Oldham and near where Richard happens to live. It followed farm tracks, (allegedly) public roads, a bit of the Rochdale canal and some offroad area near a college. It was all quite nice; a bit chilly, but - well, to be honest, it was a bit too hilly and 'too' offroad to be totally enjoyable. On reflection I enjoyed the ride, but... let me try to explain.
The road surface of some of the 'roads' were... well, I'd more describe them as a string of potholes held together loosely by small rivers. When going downhill, I couldn't go more than about 10mph since any faster you'd hit a rut or a pothole and go flying. OK, some of the route were farm tracks; some of the route was entirely waterlogged though - not in and of itself a problem, and cycling through 3 inches of water is kinda fun from time to time - but overall, it's just more things to have to contend with. Throw into the mix a few climbs that were a bit of a slog and - well, overall it was a bit much at times. I found myself concentrating so much on where I was going and putting so much effort into some of the climbs that I didn't enjoy it quite so much as I could have done.
Does this just mean that I don't like offroad routes? This was possibly one of the 'most offroad' routes I've done, if you see what I mean, but I don't think it does; reasonable offroad routes where there's generally only one thing to contend with at once (eg a hill, or a few bumps, or some mud) I quite enjoy - it's just the combination of them that makes them energy-sapping and less fun. I have no doubt that if I was more fit and experienced I might have enjoyed it more (certain friends would have relished the challenge of some of today!). If I did this route in the summer, in warm weather, when it's a lot drier and consequently the main challenge was just the hills (and the reward of being able to see the views!) then I think it'd be OK. Still, one can't expect all rides to be rosy, and I suspect to be fair I've probably painted a worse picture of today than it actually was!
Oh, and I'm also slightly grumpy since my camera started playing up (again) out on the ride. Seems to be working again now, but I have no pics. It's a shame really; we saw Winter Hill, the Delph retransmitter, (we think) the Peel tower in Ramsbottom, the Tandle Hill monument and the Heaton Park communications tower...
One must bear in mind that I've done two rides on two consecutive days, though. In January. Which is good for me...!