North Manchester Local Knowledge Required

[Katherine]

Got plenty of ideas of places to go to and how to get there now, just need to get rid of this manflu which has timed itself to perfection with my holiday week off!



I made a little loop using a few A roads to the reservoir at Ashworth Moor, but probably wont do it tomorrow due to the cold and my manflu!



http://ridewithgps.com/routes/11225295

(The mad squiggly bit is me planning a little reccy of Heaton park!)

It's fun riding around Heaton Park. There are two cafes, the one by the lake is the obvious one but there's a nicer one near the stables. There's an hilarious segment on strava up the short(took me less than 20 seconds) steep hill to the temple, which is the highest point in Manchester, so fantastic views on a fine day.

 

[dan_bo]

There's the north of England cx championship in Heaton park on 6th December. Just so you know.

 

[bigjim]

There are three cafes in the park. The other one is at the garden centre at the St Margaret's road entrance. The park can be a bit of a pain sometimes. Lots of dog walkers especially. Often loose out of control or on those looney extending leads. Saying that I use it a lot and it serves well to keep one off the busy A roads that surround it. I will probably going through there in the morning.
That route can be improved/changed a bit to give you quieter roads.

 

[Nomadski]

I came to a decision, amidst the confusion I felt being in a new place, and feeling a little down with my manflu, and with very cold weather moving in, a decision I felt any sane human being would have made.

I bought a new bike.

Not received it yet, and plan to use it as my winter months bike rather than my sunshiny free as a bird bike, but looking forward to it, and should help me translate a lot of info from this thread into actual knowledge in my headspace.

I upgraded it to Tiagra from the standard Sora, and had a 50/34 - 11/32 Combo matching my Cannondale. Should be ready sometime tomorrow or early next week.

Couple of pics of bike porn at Dolans workshop (safe for work)

 

[ColinJ]

Got plenty of ideas of places to go to and how to get there now, just need to get rid of this manflu which has timed itself to perfection with my holiday week off!

Oh, bad luck!

I was just about to PM you to see if you were still up for a ride with me and @Littgull on Monday morning, but it sounds like you probably won't be? I had worked out a 31 mile loop from Littleborough to show you some of the local hills and valleys.

The weather forecast isn't looking brilliant anyway, though it might be possible to get a ride in before the worst of any rain arrives,

 

[Nomadski]

Oh, bad luck!

I was just about to PM you to see if you were still up for a ride with me and @Littgull on Monday morning, but it sounds like you probably won't be? I had worked out a 31 mile loop from Littleborough to show you some of the local hills and valleys.

The weather forecast isn't looking brilliant anyway, though it might be possible to get a ride in before the worst of any rain arrives,

I'm on an early shift on Monday anyway, but am off on Thursday and Friday if you are free? Hopefully the weather will be a little better, plus my new bike will definitely be here then.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm on an early shift on Monday anyway, but am off on Thursday and Friday if you are free? Hopefully the weather will be a little better, plus my new bike will definitely be here then.

I will be free, though @Littgull told me that he won't be. Let's keep an eye on the weather and see if we fancy it.

If we do ride, would you fancy a mix of road and offroad? I could ride a road bike or my cyclocross bike, depending on what you fancied.

 

[Nomadski]

I will be free, though @Littgull told me that he won't be. Let's keep an eye on the weather and see if we fancy it.

If we do ride, would you fancy a mix of road and offroad? I could ride a road bike or my cyclocross bike, depending on what you fancied.

Ill be up for anything so long as its not freezing! Bear in mind my experience of off road cycling is somewhere between zilch and zero.

 

[ColinJ]

Ill be up for anything so long as its not freezing! Bear in mind my experience of off road cycling is somewhere between zilch and zero.

Yeah, I am not keen on ice either!

We wouldn't have to do gnarly descents - there are lots of routes which could incorporate some some flat off-road, or relatively non-technical climbs. They would be at risk of ice though, so we'd need to have had a day or two with no frost to make sure that the (ungritted!) bridleways were ice-free.

 

[Nomadski]

Yeah, I am not keen on ice either!

We wouldn't have to do gnarly descents - there are lots of routes which could incorporate some some flat off-road, or relatively non-technical climbs. They would be at risk of ice though, so we'd need to have had a day or two with no frost to make sure that the (ungritted!) bridleways were ice-free.

Sounds good, pm me with where I should pop over to, to meet and lets do this!

 

[ColinJ]

Sounds good, pm me with where I should pop over to, to meet and lets do this!

Great ... I'll keep an eye on the forecasts and make a decision on Wednesday whether to ride on Thursday or Friday. I'll PM you Wednesday afternoon.

 

[themosquitoking]

That's a nice looking bike you've gone and ordered there Damon, i've kind of fallen in love with Dolans myself in the last week,

 

[Nomadski]

That's a nice looking bike you've gone and ordered there Damon, i've kind of fallen in love with Dolans myself in the last week,

Yeah I think they are great. Proof will be in the riding of course, but hoping this bike is a decent sturdy runner thru the winter, then have my sights set on the L'Etape Ultegra Carbon which has an amazing spec for a £1500 bike IMO....

mmmmm

 

[SteCenturion]

Did you get out for a spin in the end @Nomadski & @ColinJ ???

 

[Nomadski]

Did you get out for a spin in the end @Nomadski & @ColinJ ???

Indeed we did, was good fun!

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/your-ride-today.173254/post-4028001