on the tow path

Another asaren. Another 5am start. Strong winds this morning so I skipped the hills and headed for Rochdale Canal. A bit of shelter and some nice easy riding.

As kids we’d ride the towpaths on our Grifters. Oh how excited we’d be to enter Mexico (a.k.a. Yorkshire). These would be day trips to see how far we could get. Kind of like a “Stand by me” adventure.

Today I cover similar ground in a couple of hours. The towpaths are in excellent condition. Open to bikes as part of the national cycle network. Riding fast on the flats and a little dig to get over the rise at each lock is good fun.

Over the “summit”, the highest lock in England, and downhill to Hebden Bridge.

Back home on the roads with a quick loop of Hollingworth lake.

Friday’s asaren: MTB off road / on road (2h 10 mins, 350 m climbing)