Mary Townley Loop - Sat 19th Sept 2009

[Globalti]

Both times I've done the MTL have been in warm sunshine, with long summer daylight available. I wouldn't want to do it in wet or muddy conditions. Some people do it in two or even three days! The stupid vandalism of the direction signs is an additional irritation.

Maybe plan it for May or June next year when the weather will be nicer?

 

[ColinJ]

I was feeling really knackered last night - the kind of all-body knackered that road riding doesn't give you. I don't really get any upper body exercise (unless you count typing and PC mouse operation as exercise ) so hard MTB rides really wear me out. My arms and shoulders suffered much more than my legs. I'd promised myself some beer last night but I didn't even have the strength to drink it! Anyway, I feel much better after a good night's sleep.

I think that I'd prefer to skip the mud and drizzle, so perhaps next summer would be the best time for me to try it again.

Shaun - you are a brave fellow to plan to plan to tackle it in winter! There are some very exposed places up on the hills and you probably won't get a mobile signal everywhere on the loop. One bad fall and you could be in serious trouble. Definitely not something that I'd fancy, but good luck if you go for it.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

it's was probably worse last time. it was unrelenting sun, i was seriously under nourished and probably dangerously dehydrated. any future attempts will see me well prepared. yesterday i was extremely unlucky. who has granny ring bolts coming undone? on a side note, the gearing i chose was perfect. obviously more of a spinner than i thought.

i still find it amazing you got lost where you did. especially as i think redbikes has done it at least twice. to end up at thievley pike monument is an almighty cock up and incredibly hard work. you must have gone one of 2 ways and i know both well. which way did you go? the brick road or the muddy singletrack route that crosses a small steep ravine? for future reference, when you cross bacup road, just freewheel and your bike will follow the correct route as it's mostly downhill to the memorial stone. i was only up there last week and the signposts were still up.

 

[ColinJ]

i still find it amazing you got lost where you did.

I do too!

Looking at my 1:25,000 map. I can see that we just went straight on from the gate, at 90 degrees to the road, rather than sticking close to the road and dropping down past the Mary Towneley memorial.

I don't think I ate or drank enough yesterday because I was feeling pretty fuzzy headed a lot of the time. I was getting off and walking stuff that even I should have been able to ride because I just wasn't thinking straight. By the time we got to Deerplay, the clouds had closed in and it was damp and miserable. I don't know what I was thinking because I've ridden up there before...

... to end up at thievley pike monument is an almighty cock up and incredibly hard work. you must have gone one of 2 ways and i know both well. which way did you go? the brick road or the muddy singletrack route that crosses a small steep ravine?

We went via the ravine. It was a hard push and then conditions were boggy up above. Because of his painful knee, Martin had wanted to ride up from the Ram Inn and then ride back towards Callis Bridge via the Long Causeway, thus avoiding the long offroad climb up over to Widdop. By the time we'd faffed about on Deerplay in the wet, I didn't even want to do that so we 'cheated' and went back on the A646 and Rochdale canal towpath.

 

[RedBike]

Unfortunately, as well as having done the MTL I have also done a ride that went up to Thieveley Pike. As everything looked familiar and I could clearly remember having rode that way before I didn't realise we wern't on route until it was far too late.

I woke up this morning with a thumping headache and aching legs. I realised when I emptyed out my camelbak that I hadn't actually drunk any of it. So I had done the ride out and 3/4 of the MTL on just two 750ml bottles. It was no wonder I was feeling rough this morning.

It was good to meet everyone. I will no doubt be trying that loop again; but not until next year now.

 

[goodspeed]

I'm really suffering today! could hardly move this morning and my knee's aching like a Bugger. think I'll stick to the road for a while.
After all the pitfalls it was still an enjoyable day and nice to have met everyone.
Thanks to Red for the majority of the route finding. I have to admit to operator error for the total failure of my new GPS. I think the settings were all wrong for off road, so at every turn it was trying to redirect to the nearest road, something like that.
So maybe try again next summer!

 

[RedBike]

I have to admit to operator error for the total failure of my new GPS. I think the settings were all wrong for off road, so at every turn it was trying to redirect to the nearest road, something like that.

Your GPS came into it's own getting us off the Pike and down to the road.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm really suffering today! could hardly move this morning and my knee's aching like a Bugger. think I'll stick to the road for a while.

I hope you haven't done it any long-term damage. With a bit of luck it will feel okay in a couple of days.

Thanks to Red for the majority of the route finding. I have to admit to operator error for the total failure of my new GPS. I think the settings were all wrong for off road, so at every turn it was trying to redirect to the nearest road, something like that.

So maybe try again next summer!

There must be some way that you can tell it not to suggest anything, but just to follow the route you've loaded in?

Anyway, I've just been on Bikely to look at the route you downloaded. It is majorly (© Sean Kelly 2009) wrong in places. As I said when we set off - it goes to Horsehold and along along Kilnshaw Lane, as opposed to what we did which was the official route. More importantly - it didn't follow the bridleway to the Bacup Road and the official crossing - it followed the road in the direction of Burnley before going offroad again on the correct route.

I'd really advise anybody downloading routes to double-check them against a map because a lot of people seem to just upload their tracklogs, complete with navigational errors!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

oh dear, that is probably the best of two evils. the brick road is an absolute nightmare even when fresh. but doing the ravine run when already running on reserve energy must have been soul destroying. especially in the wet and unsure of where you are. but you still did a respectable distance and time on the moors. surely that's not a failure in anybody's eyes. actually the sign you followed has only been up a short time, so that was pretty unlucky timing. did you return via the ravine run or did you cross the fields onto the roads? if you did return via the ravine run did you enjoy it? it's one of my favorite bits of 'proper natural' bridleway.

if you fancy coming up one day, i'll show you the rest of that bridleway and some brilliant little known downhills bits. only a couple hours riding.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I hope you haven't done it any long-term damage. With a bit of luck it will feel okay in a couple of days.


There must be some way that you can tell it not to suggest anything, but just to follow the route you've loaded in?

Anyway, I've just been on Bikely to look at the route you downloaded. It is majorly (© Sean Kelly 2009) wrong in places. As I said when we set off - it goes to Horsehold and along along Kilnshaw Lane, as opposed to what we did which was the official route. More importantly - it didn't follow the bridleway to the Bacup Road and the official crossing - it followed the road in the direction of Burnley before going offroad again on the correct route.

I'd really advise anybody downloading routes to double-check them against a map because a lot of people seem to just upload their tracklogs, complete with navigational errors!

and to take a map and compass. i always do. i assumed you had one yesterday. had i known you didn't i would of given you mine. i always carry a survival cover aswell. packs small but as you saw yesterday it can change in an instant up t' moors.

 

[RedBike]

We had a map and a compass. Well I did.
Can't use them; but I did have them

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

We had a map and a compass. Well I did.
Can't use them; but I did have them

oh dear oh dear.

google for 'ordnance survey' website, they have tutorials on there it's not hard, but an absolute must to be able to read maps.

 

[RedBike]

I had a map that ONLY showed the MTL loop. Once we were up near the Pike it was pretty useless as we were off the map / half the paths weren't on. It was also impossible to tell where any of the roads went to!

 

[ColinJ]

oh dear, that is probably the best of two evils. the brick road is an absolute nightmare even when fresh. but doing the ravine run when already running on reserve energy must have been soul destroying. especially in the wet and unsure of where you are. but you still did a respectable distance and time on the moors. surely that's not a failure in anybody's eyes. actually the sign you followed has only been up a short time, so that was pretty unlucky timing. did you return via the ravine run or did you cross the fields onto the roads? if you did return via the ravine run did you enjoy it? it's one of my favorite bits of 'proper natural' bridleway.

if you fancy coming up one day, i'll show you the rest of that bridleway and some brilliant little known downhills bits. only a couple hours riding.

We ended up going back to the pike and then eventually followed a footpath down to the A646. What we could have done would have been to follow a grass road back up to the A671 from halfway down the footpath. There was a burned out vehicle on it so it obviously went somewhere. I followed it up the hill and it ended up at a disused quarry pit, so going the other way would definitely have brought us out on a proper road eventually. That might have been a better bet than our footpath.

As for 'proper natural' bridleways... I confirmed yesterday that I don't like really steep, technical stuff! I'm not a fan of walking my bike up impossible climbs and I'm never going to be a downhiller. I don't enjoy adrenaline rushes so I have no incentive to improve my skills - I just wouldn't use them. Watching Martin fall off on a relatively simple descent on large stone slabs reminded me why I feel the way I do, and flying through the air later on myself didn't make me change my mind!

... and to take a map and compass. i always do. i assumed you had one yesterday. had i known you didn't i would of given you mine. i always carry a survival cover aswell. packs small but as you saw yesterday it can change in an instant up t' moors.

Jon had a map of the route. Martin's GPS told us exactly where we were, but it wasn't easy to see the best way back to the road.

To be honest, I never normally go out on proper moors so there is no danger of me getting lost. Normally it is stuff like London Road, Kilnshaw Lane, Duke Street, Edge lane and so on. Mainly old packhorse trails, reservoir access roads and farm tracks.

 

[ColinJ]

Jon had a map of the route. Martin's GPS told us exactly where we were, but it wasn't easy to see the best way back to the road.

Because of course we were about a couple of kms off the route, having not consulted the map while we were still on it!