I've been continuing my
'nurture a new cyclist campaign'! My friend wanted to cycle to the shops in Todmorden today so we headed out on the Rochdale canal towpath.
We did our shopping, had lunch and she suggested that we come back on the A646. I didn't fancy the whole way in traffic so I proposed a nicer rural alternative to the first part of the return ride, via Lumbutts and Mankinholes. She was worried about the steepness of the road but I said that she had lots of low gears on her bike, and it didn't matter how slowly she rode, or if she wanted to get off and rest or walk. In the end she decided to give it a go.
Well, she made it up the hill without stopping!
There is a fast descent to Lumbutts which I like, so I bombed down that and then climbed back out of the dip and round to Mankinholes. I turned to see how my friend was doing and she seemed to be off the bike and doing something strange at the side of the road. (None of the things you are imagining!
) Eventually, she caught up and told me that she had found a dormouse on the road so she had picked it up, stroked it a few times (probably causing it to die of fright!) and then placed it in the long grass by the dry stone wall ...
I was trying to revive a rather knackered-looking sheep when the next picture was taken!
I was just looking at the photo and realised that it shows the residual swelling in my left leg, the Post Thrombotic Syndrome from last year's DVT. I've blown up part of the picture to make it more obvious ...
It's not as bad as it was, but it is still very obvious when you get a good look at it.
My pal was pretty chuffed when she got home and is already planning the next ride ... (In fact, she was on the phone to her sister when I left, trying to persuade her to start coming out as well!)
)
