Leeds Liverpool Canal Bike Ride- Help!!

[Pjays666]

Good luck see my thread 127 mile canal ride for charity training suggestions in the beginners section. I will be doing this over 3 days starting on Tuesday. Doesn't look like the weather will be on my side. Enjoy

 

[matthat]

Gonna be sunny tues just wet till then!!!

 

[Pjays666]

Gonna be sunny tues just wet till then!!!

Okay Matt is that wishful thinking cos you don't want your bike getting wet lol

 

[ColinJ]

Im planning on doing this in one sitting (A few breaks along the way tho, 15mins - 50mins etc) on 02/09/13 Any advice would be great Route, training ETC. Im doing it for charity so thats my reason and am doing it on a hard tail. Will involve some night riding which i aint done before :S

Err!! Follow the water in one direction or the other i guess would be the route!!!

It might sound obvious but when bromptonfb tried to do the L-L canal in one day, he followed the wrong stretch of water somewhere between Burnley and Liverpool and ended up somewhere else (Manchester?)!

 

[JohnClimber]

The route map is here
http://www.moore2life.co.uk/canals/ledsliverp/leeds.gif

Just to give you an idea of the time it will take riding into the wind.
Here's a 19.8mile segment from Strava between the M6 and the M58
http://app.strava.com/segments/3196171

 

[seand]

Im planning on doing this in one sitting (A few breaks along the way tho, 15mins - 50mins etc) on 02/09/13 Any advice would be great Route, training ETC. Im doing it for charity so thats my reason and am doing it on a hard tail. Will involve some night riding which i aint done before :S

I have recently completed the Accrington to Leeds stretch, and will be doing the full Liverpool run this Saturday. Hopefully you have got a fair few canal miles under your belt already Jonathan. I have been doing plenty of mileage between Leeds and Skipton for the past few months and would recommend getting as many miles in as possible..............that said, it's not long until you go is it.
Best of luck to you Jonathan...........you should have the weather on your side at least, as will I hopefully.

 

[aces_up1504]

The route map is here
http://www.moore2life.co.uk/canals/ledsliverp/leeds.gif

Just to give you an idea of the time it will take riding into the wind.
Here's a 19.8mile segment from Strava between the M6 and the M58
http://app.strava.com/segments/3196171

How did a couple of people manage 15mph + down along the canal? The stretch through and maghull and lydiate is full of fisherman and the path can be muddy at the best of times

 

[JohnClimber]

How did a couple of people manage 15mph + down along the canal? The stretch through and maghull and lydiate is full of fisherman and the path can be muddy at the best of times

There is no mud after a few weeks of sun, when I did it there was only 1 fishing competition on and when Chris beat me there was nothing to slow him down, the lucky sod.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

If you want to be a real cheap skate buy a cheap steal pannier rack and get someone ( or yourself) to weld a steel hinge to the front mounting point of the pannier rack then bolt to the bike , It of course depends on the exact design of the bike but I did this with an old recycled bike I used for winter commuting, the bike is still in use (not by me) and is still fitted with the pannier rack so it worked for that one !

 

[clid61]

Im planning on doing this in one sitting (A few breaks along the way tho, 15mins - 50mins etc) on 02/09/13 Any advice would be great Route, training ETC. Im doing it for charity so thats my reason and am doing it on a hard tail. Will involve some night riding which i aint done before :S

Hi Jonathon
Ive ridden the full route a few times im 51 years old and ride a hardtail too so You should have no problem doing it in 1 sitting.
I left bridge 60 in Wigan at 0630 on thursday morning and arrived in Leeds 89 miles and 9 hours later , couple of quick breaks with bananas water and energy bars.If you need to top up on water and food there's an Asda at Blackburn visible from the canal.
The towpath is quite rugged for about 18 miles from fowlridge onwards to skipton, other parts have been significantly improved , also some parts between burscough and Wigan are a bit rough but not bad.
Not sure what you mean by night riding , but if you leave Liverpool around 6am the sun will be just coming up and not too bad visibilty, so by rights you could land in leeds around 6 or 7 in the evening with a bit of light to spare.
Make sure you take plenty of water , fuel and a tube , also the canal folk are very helpful and friendly and will gladly give you water and help if you need it - dont be a afraid to ask.

Good luck and hope you raise loads for your chosen charity!

PS any questions just ask

 

[Pjays666]

Hi Jonathan have you done the sections over the two tunnels were you have to leave the canal (gannow and foulridge) if not I would be happy to cycle that section with you. I live in Burnley and do this route regularly.

 

[JohnClimber]

Saw a load riding it near Aintree this morning in yellow Marie Curie cycling tops, was anyone here in the gang?

I'm thinking of doing it in one day once the schools have gone back and if it's dry, then getting the train back to Liverpool

 

[Pearss]

Me and 3 friends have just completed this. We set of from Liverpool at 7.15am and arrived at granary wharf for 8.15pm. So a total of 13 hours with about 5 breaks of 10 mins. It's hard graft. I was ok till about 80 miles then suffered but got through it. Some of the canal from foulridge to skipton and skipton to leeds is awful. Really rocky and difficult to ride on. We did it on 29er mountain bikes and none of us got any punctures. Watch out for some dodgy characters coming into Leeds about 5 miles out. It was an incredible achievement to do it in a day and was for charity so happy with result. Take plenty of water as on a hot day you will supp a plenty. Best riding bit for me would be eldonian village in Liverpool the start to top lock in wheelton 51 miles in total. Hope this helps

 

[Flyboy]

Where about in Liverpool does this actually start.

 

[Ste T.]

Literally the Albert Dock in the city centre, but for decent footpath access you maybe better starting at the Eldonian estate where the L & L arrives after going through the magnificent Stanley Dock and up a short flight of locks.
I did it about 20 years ago. Thank god we did it Liverpool to Leeds as it was blowing a westerly gale on the day.