I'd not been out on my bike for a while so I went out on my bike with Sean on a rather chilly and damp Saturday. It seemed like a good idea beforehand, and we thought we might've gone further, but the forecast was fairly grotty so although when we went out it wasn't actually raining, it was definitely scattered showers weather. Indeed, when we got to Heaton Park (or more precisely, the Sainsbury's over the road) it was drizzling - nevertheless, we reckoned that since we were there we might as well get on with it!
I knew Heaton Park was hilly - I'd been there on my bike before, and we of course 'lived' there for a week for Festival Manchester in 2003. However, I'd forgotten just how hilly it was. (Look at the altitude plot on the google map linked to above!). First off we had to gain height up the hill and, although I did a lot better going uphill in one go than I think I've ever done before, it nearly killed me and I was exhausted by the end of the first incline! Still, once we were up it wasn't too bad. We pootled around Heaton Park (visiting the farm in the rain) and looking at the various sites we'd used for Festival Manchester - pointing out the telegraph pole in the Papal field (where we got ADSL!) and other such exciting features as the bench which marked the centre of the backstage area for the main stage!
We'd got as far as pootling downhill towards the tram museum when I had possibly the most exciting incident of the day. I fell off my bike. OK, it sounds fairly dull, and I'm just after sympathy, but basically my bike wheel got caught in one of the tram lines (I thought I was crossing it at an oblique enough angle - I was wrong) and I fell on my right hand side, grazing/scoring my right arm and elbow reasonably heavily and bruising my leg. (It's only because I've only started cycling recently that I've begun falling off it - everyone else did this at the age of 10... so make sympathetic noises, please!) Anyway, I survived (as did my phone, which was in my right hand pocket - I landed on it and cracked the battery cover) but am glad I was wearing jeans which acted as a bit of a protective layer, otherwise I'd have taken the skin off my leg too I think.
The rest of the ride was reasonably uneventful. After the shock of falling off, I took it reasonably easy - uphill (again) slightly and then it was a long hill back down to the car park, hurrah! At this point I went at, I think, the fastest I've ever been on my bike. According to the computer it was 29.7mph - a tantilising 0.3mph off 30mph! I wanted to break 30 but couldn't - I was in the top gear and just couldn't get any more speed out of the hill. Ah well, perhaps next time...
As we put our bikes back on the car it began to hail... so we popped into Sainsbury's, bought some food, ate it, and drove back via Worsley for a damp look round.
All in all, an enjoyable day and a good ride - it may have been 'only' just over 5 miles but considering the hills I think I did quite well. Thanks Sean for joining me for it, too!