- Location
- London
I have a tried tested ridden gpx route from manchester, through bury to whalley skud. Involves very mild off road. Pm me if interested @skudupnorth
Spring Into The Dales (SITD), Sun, 14th Apr, 2019. HQ Mytholmroyd.
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Hi @skudupnorth
Yes, there are some quiet and scenic routes from Astley to Littleborough and beyond that avoid busy roads.
I can pm you a very flat route (mainly decent surfaced off road, easily rideable on your Spa tourer) and a more hilly route that takes you through Bradshaw, Hawkshaw, Greenmount (nr Ramsbottom), quiet roads and tracks the south side of Bury and later via the Rochdale Canal towpath at Castleton on to Littleborough. From Littleborough to Todmorden/Hebden Bridge it would just be a choice of opting for the main Calder Valley Road or using the canal towpath. The only snag being that the stretch of canal towpath from Littleborough to Hebden Bridge does include some very mucky patches in a few places after a period of rain. But the surface is excellent from Castleton to Littleborough.
Just let me know if you would like the gpx files of these.
skudupnorth
Cycling Skoda lover
- Location
- Astley,Manchester
Well what a brilliant and challenging ride that was ! 115k Audax with the added extra mileage to and from the start made my total mileage up to 133 miles with a cheeky ride up Cragg Vale on the way home. For most of the ride i was on my own with the odd time tagging on to groups as we went along the route. The organisation was perfect with food and drink provided at the start,checkpoints and a banquet at the finish ! As already mentioned,the wind was a major factor on the outward leg to Keithley. It was cold and the odd time there were snow flakes trying to spoil the the already tough ride. I took plenty of food just in case i started to struggle and stopped at regular intervals to have a munch and enjoy the scenery. From previous experience,i avoided eating at Bolton Abbey,it is expensive and not really good compared to the smaller cafe's or pubs. Once at Rossi's cafe,i splashed out on a massive coffee and scone for the last blast over the hill to the finish. I met up with a chap called Eric at this point who was from my area originally but moved to Halifax recently. I shared the bike lock with him and he was happy to have a familiar accent on the ride 
The ride into Hebden is bliss after the long slog up from Rossi's and we made good time to enjoy the amazing,homemade sandwiches,cakes and treats at the community centre. Hope you like the photo's and roll on the next one
The ride into Hebden is bliss after the long slog up from Rossi's and we made good time to enjoy the amazing,homemade sandwiches,cakes and treats at the community centre. Hope you like the photo's and roll on the next one
OP
OP
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Somebody has ruined the surreal joke on that elephant graffiti! (It is on a small outbuilding on land owned by Bradford University at Cock Hill, between Hebden Bridge and Oxenhope, on the way to Haworth and Keighley.)
I had seen it many times in passing but never taken much notice until someone asked me if I had looked closely at it. They didn't explain why though, so I made sure to check it out the next time I rode up there. This is what it looked like until recently ...
The adult elephant is painting a picture of an elephant.
(PS I could swear that originally the smaller elephant was standing on the larger elephant's trunk and was the one doing the painting!)
I had seen it many times in passing but never taken much notice until someone asked me if I had looked closely at it. They didn't explain why though, so I made sure to check it out the next time I rode up there. This is what it looked like until recently ...
The adult elephant is painting a picture of an elephant.
(PS I could swear that originally the smaller elephant was standing on the larger elephant's trunk and was the one doing the painting!)
