On Friday afternoon I rode from home to Manchester for our belated office Christmas dinner because I didn't want to take the car or the train. A colleague had earlier taken my overnight bag for me so all I needed to carry was a phone and a wallet. After the initial climb out of my town and up onto the fells it was mostly downhill and I had a cold north-easterly behind me too so I had a blast. The last few miles down the A56 through Cheetham Hill into Strangeways was fast as I was well warmed up and knew I didn't need to keep anything in reserve.
The sense of achievement on arriving somewhere under your own steam is so much greater than just riding out in a big circle and stopping somewhere for coffee and cake.
Got to the hotel where the bike enjoyed a nice hot shower to get all the road salt off. Got picked up and driven home the next morning by my family. A great start to the weekend!
.
