In answer to the question 'can I be bothered?' and contrary to all you nay sayers, I did go out for a ride. In fact it did turn out to be quite 'epic' (stick that in your pipe
@DCLane ) and is probably one of the best spur of the moment MTB rides I have done in a long time
.
Once I had finished dithering this morning, I re-bottled my sloe gin stash after sifting out the fruits (plus a few small glasses, purely to check the results you understand!) and ate one last mince pie before donning the cycle gear and heading out on the old faithful GT Zaskar
Just under 23 miles of hardcore riding on snow, slush, ice, rocks and boggy frozen moorland paths and tracks. It was extreme and at the same time extremely beautiful and I had a grin the whole time.
https://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_4652607.html
I headed out through the Dingle in Stamford Park where I had to climb the gate at the top of the slippy, twisty path at the top. Then across to Lily lane before heading up The Pike from the Ashton side.
View across Manchester from the top was a bit muggy.
I also had a bit of a chat and joke with a young courting couple I encountered. I said they must be mad to be up there in this weather but he assured me he was just being romantic
From here I quickly left Romeo and Juliet in peace and headed down towards Top Mossley and the Billy Goat pub. The view from the fields above the town was nice but I was not alone!
Path down the hill to the pub was fun and not actually too slippy despite the snow and ice. The footpath from Top to Bottom Mossley was more fun as the snow was well trodden and frozen pretty solid but I managed without a fall and also rode down the steep stone steps at the bottom just before passing through the small archway under the railway.
Crossing the valley and climbing the otherside I encountered these hairy chaps in a field on the edge of Buckton Vale village.
Continued in next post to cram more pictures in