Apologies for stealing a variation of one of the finest Rallying films ever 'From Harrogate it started' with a soundtrack by The Who and the story of the 1974 (I think) RAC Rally.
The RAC was dominated then by Scandinavians, brought up on a diet of wet slippy mud and gravel, with the driving skills to excel in such conditions. Our bike ride on the other hand, saw us face equally wet slippy mud, but negotiated by Helen and I with 23c slick road tyres. On a suitability scale of 1-10 we wouldn't have mustered a 1. Caitlin of course was fine with her cross tyres, whilst Evan was gripped to the max on the tagalong, and actually acting as a stabiliser for me.
We set off from Padiham Baths and ascended the Padiham Greenway, a vertical ascent of 'several' metres. We then jumped onto the Leeds Liverpool Canal and for some as yet unknown reason turned right. Had we turned left we would have been blessed with smooth towpath and an easy ride to just about anywhere. No. Right it was and so once past Hapton we encountered the cycling equivalent of the Paris-Dakar Rally (bear with the analogies). Traction was at a premium, speed the same, whilst balance kind of came and went! After one or two Clash moments (should I stay or should I go now) we persevered and made it as far as Church, where we found a Pub just off the canal. The smaller ones amongst the group had increased the volume of their dissenting voices and hunger was their call.
A local pub for local people we found. "Do you do food?" I asked. "we do pies" came the reply. So our merry band of 10 was furnished with 4 hot cordials, 1 hot cholcolate, 5 teas, 10 assorted Hollands pies and 1 pint of Thwaites Lancaster Bomber. The benefit of being 'off the beaten track' as it were was that this came to a pretty impressive £18 all in. Our eventual departure involved stroking the Whippet on the way out. Really, you honestly couldn't have scripted it.
After fixing Grayson's puncture. Well actually after watching her change her tube and then reinstall a directional tyre incorrectly, without intervention - I'll never get to heaven - we set off. The off-road mileage had been painfully slow and so we decided that we would venture onto the smoother blackstuff, Mr Tarmacadam's finest, and take a more direct return to Padiham. This saw us negotiate the tricky road-junction at the bottom of Dill Hall Lane and ascend to the summit at the end of Queens Road West. King of the Mountain points were dispensed at the summit with 10 awarded to yours truly, 9 to Evan (who could count himself quite fortunate to have been sat on the tagalong to receive such award), 8 to Vanessa and 7 to Caitlin. We then descended to the lights at the top of Clayton-le-Moors before starting our second climb up the Alpe D'Huez-esque hairpin bends of Whinny Hill. King of the Mountain points were once again awarded and then we traversed the plateau that hides Lancashire's largest landfill site and then descended to the Accrington Brickworks, home of the infamous Accrington NORI red brick. At this point I found it necessary to gather our group and explain this fact - all I can say is that I'm glad I'm not a Teacher!
The route then took us through Huncoat and down past the Mill Hill picnic site before crossing the ford and climbing back to the top of Manchester Road, Hapton, just below the Hapton Inn. A quick roll towards 'The Village' saw us stop at Landon News for Kirsti to buy sweets and chocolate for all participants. Stories of how I used to deliver newspapers for the shop were met with similar interest to the brick story!
Back onto the canal and onto the Padiham Greenway saw us lose Len, Christine and Vanessa as they headed back to Burnley. The remaining protagonists negotiated the icky, sticky, mud (you can't go over it, you can't go under it .. oh no, you've got to go through it!) and back onto the Greenway. Shannon then demonstrated how to perform the Superman/woman/girl position on a bike with a number of imitators, before we landed back at Padiham Baths to signal the end of the ride. The Family Welsh accumulated a further 60 miles on their journey round the world, taking the total to 300 for the latest fortnight block. Good effort people!
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