A bit of a change for me yesterday. A friend wanted a look at the towpath journey along the Leeds and Liverpool canal, so here goes, I had a ride in company for the first time in mumblehowmany years. The previous word is usually pronounced with a question mark. We were meeting at Leeds City Station, so the usual hobble around Holbeck and the Dark Arches took me near enough, and back with company to the towpath. I do not often travel further west than Kirkstall on here, so from there on it was exploration for all. From there on it was also raining and some unsettling surface changes along the way.
I suppose the idea of cobbled speed bumps on a canal towpath should be applauded, but not by me. On a fixed as I was, they are a literal pain where you don’t want one. It is rather close to impossible to take any weight off the saddle, and on road tyres, as we all were, riding around the ends of the bumps is sort of dodgy as well. Little matter, it is part of towpath riding, which is or was yesterday a load of different fun. The weather and likely the day of the week meant the towpath was pretty quiet, good for a gentle pedal around.
There is a really narrow bridge, by what was the Kirkstall brewery, with a deeply grooved bit of stuff to ride on. I wimped and walked that bit. Continue, there are no directions possible for this, its towards Liverpool or back to Leeds. Not a junction to negotiate. Told you it was easy! The tower (?) of the old Abbey was only just visible, the trees behind blended in so well. The next of the gentle climbs up a lock side, already done a few of them, and then the first of the three rise and steep locks. Only two of these, and one of them is Bramley Falls, I think. That’s has taken us to Newlay, a wall to our right and some moorings on the left, another bridge to ride under. On the towpath, villages are still obvious, there is a big gap from Newlay most of the way to Rodley. Few houses, little of anything except fields and woodland and canal. I was the one who knew where the cafes were, I think they all bought their ‘Opening Hours’ signs from the same shop, they were all shut on Monday, as was the bar at the Saltaire Brewery. Never mind, on we pedalled to Saltaire itself, where we were welcomed, fed and we bought beer at the pub on the riverside overlooking Robert’s Park.
While we were indoors enjoying warm and dry surroundings, the weather changed. For the better, so out we ventured, the wind was still cold but it was going to be a tailwind, and the sun came out! How good is that? The journey back to Leeds, see the map, was exactly the reverse of riding here, but it all looked different from the other direction, we finished the thirty and a half miles round trip in good spirits, but still damp ( the puddles ) and some one’s bike was dirty indeed. Mudguards next time. A good day’s ride.
No video today, I forgot, but the map is here:--
I suppose the idea of cobbled speed bumps on a canal towpath should be applauded, but not by me. On a fixed as I was, they are a literal pain where you don’t want one. It is rather close to impossible to take any weight off the saddle, and on road tyres, as we all were, riding around the ends of the bumps is sort of dodgy as well. Little matter, it is part of towpath riding, which is or was yesterday a load of different fun. The weather and likely the day of the week meant the towpath was pretty quiet, good for a gentle pedal around.
There is a really narrow bridge, by what was the Kirkstall brewery, with a deeply grooved bit of stuff to ride on. I wimped and walked that bit. Continue, there are no directions possible for this, its towards Liverpool or back to Leeds. Not a junction to negotiate. Told you it was easy! The tower (?) of the old Abbey was only just visible, the trees behind blended in so well. The next of the gentle climbs up a lock side, already done a few of them, and then the first of the three rise and steep locks. Only two of these, and one of them is Bramley Falls, I think. That’s has taken us to Newlay, a wall to our right and some moorings on the left, another bridge to ride under. On the towpath, villages are still obvious, there is a big gap from Newlay most of the way to Rodley. Few houses, little of anything except fields and woodland and canal. I was the one who knew where the cafes were, I think they all bought their ‘Opening Hours’ signs from the same shop, they were all shut on Monday, as was the bar at the Saltaire Brewery. Never mind, on we pedalled to Saltaire itself, where we were welcomed, fed and we bought beer at the pub on the riverside overlooking Robert’s Park.
While we were indoors enjoying warm and dry surroundings, the weather changed. For the better, so out we ventured, the wind was still cold but it was going to be a tailwind, and the sun came out! How good is that? The journey back to Leeds, see the map, was exactly the reverse of riding here, but it all looked different from the other direction, we finished the thirty and a half miles round trip in good spirits, but still damp ( the puddles ) and some one’s bike was dirty indeed. Mudguards next time. A good day’s ride.
No video today, I forgot, but the map is here:--
A brief pleasantry was about as much as I could manage, as I couldn't have kept pace with them even if I tried... 
We shared hellos and laughs as we came to the junction with A10. She dismounted and crossed the road, I turned left to head back towards Downham. Have to say, I was really impressed as she had been bowling along at a fair old lick on a well used... shopping bike! 
I'd managed to avoid the showers on the way round so far, but caught the edge of one with seven miles to go. It wasn't the rain that was the issue, it was more that the gusts of wind were picking little old me and my shrunk-in-a-boil-wash bike up and blowing us across the road. 
Fortunately, nothing coming the other way, but I did think about bailing out at that point and just toddling off home.
That was certainly fun. And I had a tailwind all the way home from there. 
- I know, they're particularly belligerent buggers, aren't they? But may explain why I see so many of them squished on the road ...
