" Wearing Boots And Short Hair Cuts We Will Kick You In The Guts But Now Look They’ve All Grown Up They Drink Tea In A Cup "
Old school rules .
Back to basics this week . No car . Rode from ours . Up the canal , over to Borsdane , then through the Wuchie , and then over to Haigh Hall for toast . Oh , and lots of back wheel slippy slidy .
Bike of choice . Old ( ish ) , ( OK , mid -old ), Gary Fisher Big Sur . Silly skinny 1.5 tyres . Ace .
Jeff turned up at ours with two mates from some city way out west . Sevvo and Oz . No curly wigs , calm down , but trackies and trainees. We all met up With Tony . Definitely fully old school . We headed up towards Wigan on the canal , 'til we got to the Ince type of area , whereupon we turned on the the course of the old railway line towards the Hindley type of area . I've been down here before , sometime , long ago , lost in the ether . After a short while Tony and I had put a little distance into the other 3 lads , so at a bridge we stopped to wait for them .
It took a few moments for the scene to kick in .
I dont know if the Hindley punks are still alive and kicking , but they've certainly left their mark .
Relevance of graffiti will be lost on people under a certain age . Bit before my time even . In '77 I was dressed like little lord fauntleroy. Morrissey was in Slaughter and the Dogs , as was The Cult's Billy Duffy . They were/ are from Wythenshawe . A city back east. Anyway . I thought it was cool . I like old graffiti . I saw some the other week that I remembered from when I was a kid .
Toast relevant to all ages .Haigh Hall has a toast policy . At precisely 11AM an impenetrable roller shutter comes down over the toaster , preventing further toastery . So we press on .
We should've made a left off the old railway ,that I missed , so we end up on the road into Hindley , just briefly , but it's for me , and Tony also, a bit of a nostalgia trip . In the 80s we made a weekly pilgrimage to a crummy old bike shop , in a garage down a back street in Hindley . It was a BMX only bike shop . It was a million miles away , and the centre of the universe . Dont know whatever happened to that guy , but I'd hope he's on a sunny beach somewhere sipping daquiris.
Borsdane was a classic . Is a classic . It's a tough ride , starting right off with a river crossing . Ok , there's a bridge , but that'd be easy . I hesitated and scoped the drop/splash in , but after deeming it only slightly more eroded than last time , I had a go , followed by Sevvo . Nice one . it's a baptismal , of sorts . Alan and I used to drop in farther up , but in the intervening 2+ decades that spot is just too eroded . O' level geography in action.
The other side of the water is a slippy singletrack through the trees . Up and down , rolling . There was , unfortunately , a few too many fallen trees hampering our progress . Jeff commented later it was a bit ' stop - start ' . It was, a little . But I still was on a nostalgia trip , instantly recalling lines and roots of old . What can I say ? it's a bit tricky , that's all .
We head out on the road towards The Wuchie . Another classic for me . I realise the nostalgia that I have for this place is only relevant to me . We rode there a lot in the 80s and early 90s before , sadly , someone was killed on an MX bike and the council in their infinite wisdom went to very great lengths to prevent us , anyone in fact, riding in there . It was a classic case of a sledgehammer / walnut scenario .It had great potential as a dedicated riding venue . Tough climbs up , a tricky ' spine ' through the ferns along the top , and a number of precipitous drops , culminating in the big one at the end . Sheer , with a rut to cross , and no run off to speak off . It was brill. Gaz fell off that time . His face looked like pizza.In the ether . Anyway . We didnt do any of that. We rode along the bottom path , through the mud , and headed on over to Haigh . Oh , good downhill on the way in though.
Haigh Hall . We headed in and straight up . Toast beckoning . Off the main trails it was very slippy . Tough going . Character building , one might say. Before the caff I headed up to the top of the woods . I wanted to see just how slippy it was . It was slippy , and the wet exposed roots dropping down the other side were a welcome eye opener ,too.Tricky climb . After toast ,( we beat the deadline ) and a chat with Gordon , we head down . Well , up , then down . Down ish . A politician would say the trend is definitely the reverse of rising. Overall .
I didnt bring my new super spangly phone , and my partially dead old phone was acting up , so no pics from me . Suffice to say it was very wet , very hard going , very muddy, very slippy , very dangerous , very steep , very silly . And then we went home . Bit of a classic ride . Back up the canal. Sevvo and Oz seemed to enjoy it well enough , but after we split off from tony for the last hoof back home they really seemed to be feeling it . In total , extrapolating Tony's bike computer data ,we did a mid 20+ mile ride . I dunno , 24 , or something. Not too shabby then . UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE. Spoke to Jeff in the week . He said Sevvo and Os were both complaining of sore arses on Monday morning . Well . It could've been worse . They could've gone out with the roadie gang .
"These mist covered mountains, Are a home now for me. But my home is the lowlands, And always will be. Some day you'll return to, Your valleys and your farms, And you'll no longer burn to be brothers in arms " *
ANDY AND STU AT THE WATERFALL , LEADMINES.
Not like we need an excuse to go out riding on the hills on a damp November morn or anything ,but today is rememberance Sunday. For the last few years now I've been trying to make the visit up here for the Bolton Mountain Rescue/ Horwich Rotary service at the war memorial at Leadmines Clough . I've been to a few over the last couple of years ,and whilst not overtly religious,thank God ,it is , for me at least , a fairly moving thing . Maybe the location adds a certain spiritual element to the proceedings , I dont know , but it does tend to aid my reflections on the day .
So today ,on the way to the main event ,as it were , we meandered up to the Pike , chatting with Matt on his magic singlespeed on the way , and then dropped down the ice Cream Run ,(me on my semi-vintage Fisher with 1.5 tyres . Tasty ) before heading down to Alance Bridge into Leadmines Clough . We were just a little bit early ,so we rode up out of leadmines,a tough climb/push, and then across the field to the head of Leadmines to the waterfall. Much nicer conditions than last week , I'd say. Me , top of Leadmines . Holding onto 4X2 for dear life . That bridge is slippy as.
THE SERVICE AT LEADMINES CLOUGH.
Bolton Mountain Rescue do their own write up on the day and it's specifics,and obviously there is a lot more to read about what they do HERE . If I was young and hip , about now I'd say 'big shout out ' or something . Well done guys . Thanks . Dont take this the wrong way , but I really hope I never have to call you.
A short video that I took at the service is here :
"See the steeple pine The hills as old as time Soon to be put to the test To be whipped by the winds of the west " *
Not a great lot to say about todays ride . Myself and Jeff braved the horrendous conditions to bring you fantastically blurred photographs of Rivington Pike and Leadmines Clough . It was pretty bad . We didnt die. But we could have . I'd thought of going up and over the mast at Winter hill , but used the Pike as a gauge , of sorts . It was deemed a little on the silly side to go over the mast . It goes without saying . Whilst we grow familiar with the hill , we should still understand just who's boss .
The above photo's were taken climbing up the back of the Pike ,and some from the top , showing the , er , view.
Below we have the Limestone Brook at Leadmines , with the last few at the head of Leadmines near the waterfall.
We called it a draw and shot to the caff .
Still , a bonkers unforgettable ride . Really . Where were you ?
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My name's Tim and I "organise" regular MTB rides, usually at the weekends and usually on our local trails on the West Pennine Moors. When I say "organise" I'm using it in the broader sense, as it is in reality just me out riding with my regular riding buddies.
We have a fleet of demo bikes for you to try out if you like. The riding will be "proper mountain biking". Dont let that put you off. My riding buddies represent a broad spectrum of age, ability and fitness. Within the group there will always be someone up front and always someone bringing up the rear, but, either way, the emphasis is on it being a social activity. The riding might not be as easy as you think, but it certainly wont be as hard as it could be, and we'd always wait for you if need be. Tea and toast will be a recurring theme. Like I said, social.
A regular spot we ride frequently is Rivington Pike. The riding round here is great and I feel is a good representation of what I call "proper". It does take a certain effort to climb up there, depending on the time of year the weather can vary, again "properly" and the downhills, whilst challenging, can be done by most riders at their own pace. If you dont feel happy going down some of the more techy bits there will often be an easier way down and it will still be there the next time for you to progress on to. Again I think that riding with a group is a great way for less experienced riders to improve their skills and technique. Above all else it's an opportunity to see people riding mountainbikes as they are intended. Riding MTBs doesnt have to be about jumping 360s off the side of a mountain in Scotland, but equally theyre a lot more capable than people think, and deserve more than the odd few miles down the canal.
Which brings me on to my next bit. If you already have a bike that's collecting dust in the shed, maybe you used to do a bit of riding, but you and the bike are a bit rusty. Dont worry. Clean it off and come along. It's not about having the latest shiny bouncy bike. It's about the riding. I personally have in my quiver of bikes a few, er, vintage, bikes. Providing they're actually working, they're OK for what we do. If you think your bike needs a service, we can sort that out too.
The group of riders are a great bunch and are the key to how enjoyable the rides are. In addition to the usual weekly thing, there is usually a monthly 'EPIC' ride. It could be a day trip to the lakes or a weekend away in Scotland. Coming up is a night out at Manchester Velodrome. Hiring out the whole place, the bikes, the lot. There really is something for everyone.
Oh, and in addition to all that a few of us have roadbikes too and do the odd sneaky training ride. If that's your poison. I'm hoping to throw in some decent roadbike rides soon.
