According to gps: odo 19.77 mov time 2h27m max 26.8 moving avg 8.0 tot time 3h18m
I met up with Sean and Richard to do a bike ride today; Sean and I took our time getting over there, and a bit of faffing with punctures, spare inner tubes and oiling chains later, we decided to set off from Richard's house (rather than driving somewhere, as we'd originally planned).
We headed up the hill near his house (Tandle Hill), and headed out to the Rochdale canal where we followed the towpath up to Smithybridge and Littleborough. From there we skirted the edge of Hollingworth Lake, climbed once again (well, I walked half of it) and then descended through Milnrow and back past Northern Stage who we've used a couple of times in the past in Shaw, and back to his house.
I enjoyed the ride, in spite of the more hilly conditions; I struggled up a couple of inclines, but was pleased to have managed a few others (particularly the ascent from Smithybridge, which I know I didn't do in one go last time - which I did this time!). I tend to find that if I attack a hill 'fresh' having stopped to get my breath back at the bottom, I'm far more likely to reach the top successfully. Looking down some of the slopes I managed today really encouraged me.
As an aside, it was nice to see that British Waterways have been working on the towpath. There was a freshly surfaced towpath that I recall being a bit of a quagmire last time we cycled down it. Hurrah for BW!
Another encouragement was just that I managed another over-20 mile ride today - and this one wasn't as flat as the one I did last Wednesday. Perhaps my body is beginning to get used to this cycling lark a bit!