According to gps: odo 22.87 moving time 2h38m max speed 23.3 moving avg 8.7 total: 3h38m
This weekend was forecast to be gloriously sunny weather, a slight breeze and generally made me want to go out on my bike. I emailed round loads of people and asked people individually but noone was available or wanted to join me on my bike, so I went out alone.
In a change to what I normally do, I went north of the city this time, towards Accrington; I'd heard that part of the NCN route 6 went across a lake on a causeway through old bridge supports that used to carry the railway. I found a leaflet I'd picked up somewhere, "Family cycle routes" published by Lancashire county council, which gave reasonable instructions for cycling down the "Hyndburn Greenway" as it's now known, so I tackled that. The leaflet's available from the council though I think my one is an old version.
I started up at Great Harwood, followed an old railway line and joined the Leeds-Liverpool canal; following that for a bit took me through Rishton, Church and into Accrington. I found the lake - which was a little bit of an anticlimax, really, but pleasant - and climbed out of Accrington towards Baxenden. That last couple of miles to the end was a bit of a slog - it was a constant gradient and my legs were definitely whinging by the top. Still, I made it, and began to look round the village to find a shop that would sell me a sandwich. Clearly this bit of Lancashire closes on Saturdays; I eventually found a general stores that was still open, so I sat and ate the sarnie outside.
At this point I shall comment on the weather. Up until this point the predicted sun hadn't really materialised - not really a problem riding in overcast conditions. The sun began to break through at this point - about lunchtime - but also the wind began to get up, too. The wind had been blustery during the morning - noticeable on the Leeds/Liverpool canal section of the ride in particular, as it cuts through the open hillside - but it increased.
Leaving Baxenden and retracing my route back through Accrington was a lot (a LOT) easier than coming; it'd clearly been uphill for most of the ride, and perhaps my body hadn't quite had enough energy beforehand either. I got back to the canal and the turning for Great Harwood again, and debated my options - I was about 14 miles in and I felt alright, and seeing the sign said "Blackburn 4 miles" I just decided to pootle along the towpath to Blackburn and back.
The ride to Blackburn was fairly uneventful; it was a reasonably well tarmacced towpath and soon enough I was in the town centre, though battling the occasional gust of wind - particularly as I came through bridges! The town centre is nothing to write home about (though the cycle routes seem reasonable).
After having a drink and <ahem> a bar of chocolate I headed back - and that was a different story to getting there. Clearly either the wind had got up or was just going against me - it was a headwind all the way back up to Great Harwood, and I really found it tough going. I averaged about 6/7mph for the 4 miles going back - plus it was very warm, which led to the world being treated* to a display of my bare cycle shorts[1] and me overheating a bit. I even used my GPS to check at one point that the towpath /was/ indeed flat (it was, and in fact went down a couple of metres on the way back!). At one point going along the canal I was convinced there was a crow/raven type bird flying along, flapping its heart out, but flying backwards... which made me feel a lot better that it wasn't just me struggling!
Apart from my GPS battery running out a bit later, the last bit of the ride was uneventful and as I made it back to the car my odometer just ticked over the 24 mile mark. Yes, I was a bit weary but I'm really pleased that I wasn't dead - and I enjoyed exploring a new area. It wasn't anything special though (sorry if you're from Blackburn or Accrington!) and I won't hurry back, but it was certainly enjoyable...!
PS I was very proud of the tan-line I got on my wrists where I'd caught
the sun on my arms but not my hands where I'd been wearing gloves! I
have matching lines on my ankles too!
[1] See the bottom of here