At last - a decent day's cycling.

Ten Mile Loop - A Day To Myself

Today was a very rare day: one for which I was home alone. Work and holidays had happily conspired to give me a little me time.

So, I found the shed key and set off on an unplanned bike ride. I'd awoken to blue skies but by 11.30 the clouds were rolling in and looking pretty gloomy, so I figured I'd better stay close to home in case I ended up getting my shower before getting home!

First Job ...

Before I set off, my first job was to fit my new torch. To be honest, the simple bracket was incredibly easy to fit and not worth worrying about. It took about 2 minutes, resulting in the busiest cockpit in the Western hemisphere:

I set off through Milnrow first of all, going a little further than needed to avoid the steep climb that is Kiln Lane. A much easier uphill jaunt through Milnrow's residential back streets brought me to Wildhouse Lane which was much easier to ride towards Hollingworth Lake than it is coming the other way: the prevailing wind was behind me, woohoo!

On reaching Hollingworth Lake I treated myself to this:

A luvverly cuppa and a luvverly view!


Then it was a clockwise loop around the Lake (with another cuppa and a butty halfway round. I remembered I hadn't eaten since last night's trip to Milnrow Balti House and nobody wants a muddy collpased diabetic on their hands on a weekend stroll out!). I unwisely went for the fat and tomato option:

Stomach full, I finished the lake loop then headed to Littleborough via the main road, as far as Smithy Bridge Road then downhill to the rail station and back on the canal before heading home. It was a lovely ride and the rain held off for long enough to let me relax in the back garden, have a drink and admire my clean dirt from the jaunt:

The ride's on MapMyRide if you fancy a more in-depth look. Tell 'em Phill sent ya!