Todmorden by bike

Date of Ride : Saturday 12th.January 2013

Distance : 24.02 miles
Time Taken : 3 hours  
Elevation Gain : 657 feet

When looking back at last year, I had too many spells where I was struggling with an injury of some description. Although this never went in my 2013 goals, I decided that this year I am going to try and cross train more to hopefully avoid some injuries. So after a week of getting my running going again,  decided to get the bike out and clock up a few miles.

I still haven't bought a new bike yet as I need to install more security in my shed before spending quite a few pounds on a new model. (I'm talking about a bike here!) My current bike copes well on canal paths unless you hit cobbles, hence there will be no totally off road cycling until the new one arrives.

Today's ride set off from home and I then cycled to Hollingworth Lake. This is quite a pleasant ride once you get past Newhey/Milnrow. I hate that route as lorries whip along that road at a rate and a speed. I do feel that Rochdale seems to provide more cycle lanes and it seems much safer once over the boundary.

Once at Hollingworth Lake I decided to add a loop of the lake which while it added a couple of miles to my distance, resulted in a  rather slow loop due to the amount of families taking advantage of the weather. Looking at the splits on my watch, I've run round Hollingworth Lake quicker than I cycled it this afternoon!

After leaving Hollingworth Lake, I took the main road out towards Todmorden, heading through Walsden. Despite it being a major A road, it seems so much safer than the main road out of Shaw. I vaguely remembered walking round here a few years ago when  training for The Oldham Way walk but I've never cycled out there. I was contemplating going as far as Hebden Bridge but as my ride didn't start till 1pm, I was concious that I only had about 3 hours of daylight, so decided to stop at Todmorden.

After turning round, I returned via the canal which was a pleasant and enjoyable route, before joining the main road in Milnrow and then heading home, although once again I wasn't too happy on the main road heading into Shaw.

On reflection, I was quite pleased with my afternoon out as it seems a while since I've got out on the bike.

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Running (wb 7 Jan)

Not the greatest week of running I've ever had. I am still unclear how I did it but at some point over Christmas I tweaked my sciatic nerve, so exercise was extremely painful, especially when involving any form of uphill. However, I have managed 3 runs this week, at quite a slow pace, only totalling about 10 miles, but with no reaction I can now push on a little bit. It's only 15 weeks till Manchester!

I did have a half marathon scheduled for next weekend but I feel it would be crazy to do this with my current fitness and mileage. I am still hoping to be fit enough for the Tigger Tor Fell Race in a fortnight but have no hill fitness whatsoever at the moment. I will decide on that nearer the time.

Carneddau

Date of Walk : Thursday 4th January 2013

Distance : 9.53 miles
Time Taken : 5 hours 22 mins
Elevation Gain : 3396 feet

This walk involved a very early start from Oswestry and getting out of bed at 6am, we wondered what we were doing as it seemed so dark. However, as the day continued, this early start was most definitely worth it. The original plan was to walk in Snowdonia but upon driving over, it was looking extremely grim, so a unanimous decision from myself, Gary and Neil was made to head for the Ogwen valley. A better decision couldn't have been made. as Snowdonia seemed to be shrouded in cloud all day.

We parked on the A5, and started by heading up Pen Yr Ole Wen following the river which was flowing rather quickly, especially when I missed an easy crossing, but eventually I rejoined Neil and Gary without the need for mountain rescue. We continued up the mountain before starting the scramble up to the summit. Our route turned at the outflow to Ffynon Lloer before following the ridge to the summit.

The cloud was creating spectacular effect on the way up, with perfect views of Tryfan on the way up and then the whole range would disappear in swirling mist.

I was hoping that we may be lucky enough to witness a brocken spectre, as conditions seemed similar to one I had experience previously in the Lake District. However, one never arrived although walking across the plateau the sun was creating spectacular effects. Eventually, we reached the summit although we didn't linger for long as it was extremely windy.

Thanks to Neil for the photo.












Despite the slight disappointment of no brocken spectre, the awesome cloud invesrions more than made up for it. I've never seen one as clear and the only thing missing was a peak poking through, but it was still a fantastic sight.

We continued along the ridge before climbing to Carnedd Dafydd, and then moving on to Carnedd Llewelyn. The final summit of the day was Pen Yr Helgi Du. Hopefully I've got all these summits correct, but my GPS log confirms visiting these summits! All in all it was a spectacular day in the mountains, and was worth both the early start and the decision to change our planned route.

A massive thanks to Neil and Gary for their company on a great mountain day. A brilliant start to 2013 and hopefully there is more weather similar to this on many days this year.

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Moel Sych & Pistyll Rhaedr Waterfalls

Date of Walk : Wednesday 3rd January 2013

Distance : 5.02 miles
Time Taken : 2 hours 40 mins
Elevation Gain : 1801 feet


A short walk which started close to the Pistyll Rhaedr Waterfalls in the Berwyns. These waterfalls are quite spectacular, especially with the amount of rainfall deposited recently. As we had parked near the waterfalls, we decided to visit them at the end of the walk. The walk was to the summit of Moel Sych, but this is certainly a summit I need to revisit at some point as sadly views were non existent.

It was a soggy and damp walk to the summit, and in fact it rained so much that the camera never left my bag until the waterfall, with the exception of a quick summit photo, in order to imagine the view!

The waterfall is the tallest single drop waterfall in the UK. (240 feet) I would certainly recommend a visit if you are in the Berwyns.




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