So I managed to get roped into doing the Liverpool to Leeds canal for charity next week, being a weekend warrior,and a occasional commuter I’ve not done any long distance stuff in a few months and have got a little unfit.

Were doing it on Mountain bikes, and taking it easy in 2 days. Appart from a sore arse and tiered legs. what advice has anyone got,anywhere to get cake and tea?

Borrow a crosser, they’re faster.

I did the Midlands to London a few months back on the Grand Union. Thread below…
Midlands to London

All I’ll say is put your effort into comfort and fast rolling tyres. I used vaseline,where you say? ahem, you know…and got some decent undershorts.
I was on my own but in a group I guess it won’t be quite so dull. Otherwise, some music/radio is a godsend.

Have fun.

Cycled the canal from Liverpool to ormskirk at the weekend, flat,bouncy in places, the chequer plate bridges in Bootle are lethal in the wet or damp for tyres, and please saythankyou to doggers(dog walkers) and walkerists who move to the side to letyou past,it makes them feel theyve made the effort.

what advice has anyone got

At Burnley, you need to leave the towpath and ride the roads for a short while before rejoining it (or at least, you used to have to). Look at a map beforehand, it’s really badly signposted.

I’ll ask my OH later, she’s ridden it and I’m just passing on what I remember.

I’ve done about half of it and the surface really sucked in places. Once you’re out in the cabbages there are bits where the path is just a muddy stripe on a river bank.
That’s not to say it’ll be really hard or anything – I think 2 days sounds like a fine timeframe to spin along it. But expect to put in a shift here and there when the ground is soft.

Keighley to skipton (or vice versa) has a bumpy dirt path for a few miles that is horrendously sticky in the wet and can become a quagmire after a few days rain, fortunately it runs next to the bypass road so you could cheat for a couple miles on road then rejoin the canal, it pretty much runs alongside it.

I’ve done Liverpool to Leeds on an HT a few years back, bl*dy great experience to do in a day for an unfit git, I think I’d prefer doing in one as I was in pain the next few days.

Eveything above is correct – also in Lancs there’s some belting winds – i remember shouting expletives into thin air as I was cycling through deep mud, in the rain with a 50mph headwind (really).

Check out these guys for advice, great site.

http://teamaldi.blogspot.co.uk/2007/07/team-aldi.html

I also packed little bags of SIS and plotted out towns to stop off for water – there’s a couple of garages and then of course Skipton.

It’s easy fitness-wise, but is mentally challenging!

Good luck!

Saracens Head at Halsall
Cafe beside the canal at Parbold
Sarnies on the outskirts of Blackburn
Awful drag to Burnley (Accrington Stanleh – who are they / where is that?)

Stayed over at the Premier Inn at Burnley

Then there’s a lovely little pub right beside the canal near Barnoldswick…does a nice Guiness or two

The drag to Skipton can be a killer…you might need to nip out to Gargrave for some food…but if you make it to Skipton then you’ve got a few options. Theres another pub beside the canal near Bingley, then Fannys in Saltaire (but a slight detour is needed)

Then the Railway at Calverley Bridge, The Barge in Rodley and a swift one in The Abbey…then slowly amble into Leeds and get to Oracle or The Adelphi

Not that we were sober when we arrived but the alcohol and the sunshine on the 2nd day were enjoyable

Check for angling competitions – I got stuck in one at Adlington a while ago and it was a nightmare to get through

Just in case anyone was woundering, We completed the canal today totaling around 17 hours in the saddle, we made a few wrong turns i burnly and a few revers trips to pick up stranglers, some of us totaled around 147 miles. we did it over 3 days however we were allusing mountain bikes with nobbly tyres and may of the group hadn’t been on a bike for several years.

If you are the GP from Barnoldswick who gave us directions Thank you and hope you got your strava section back.

I was on this yesterday, though only 30 miles worth from Liverpool centre (well, Kirkdale anyways), never really thought about doing the whole lot.

Any highlights?

Nice one, good that you can tick it off the list of things to do. What was the charity and how much did you raise?

My highlight was Skipton to Keighley really enjoyed the off road track.

we raised money for families against nuroblastoma. between 3 of us we raised around £1000 and the other half the group raised around the same for great ormand street hopital. both of the funds raised are being matched by the company’s we work for.

Congratulations on completing the ride.

I did a short section from Wigan to Burscough yesterday, it was OK but I wouldn’t want to try it in wet weather as it looked like it could turn into a mudbath.

+ 1 for the earlier suggestion about he cafe at Parbold, had an ice cream there but managed to go down the wrong side of the canal so ended up going down a narrow section in a field as I should have crossed the bridge in Parbold but didn’t realise.

Carried on down the wrong side till I got to a tiny tunnel and crossed back over, got scratches on my arms from all the brambles now !!!

I’ve now, but by bit, done the Buscough to Blackburn section.