A crazy way to spend a weekend.

Background

I like cycling, but I am a lazy cyclist. I don't like hills. That's why cycling old railway lines like the Monsal, Tissington and Middleton trails in Derbyshire appeal to me: they're traffic free, out in the country and relatively flat - no nasty hills to deal with. They're relatively short distance though, 15miles or so, barely more than an hour each way and you end up back where you started. What I really wanted was a route that was flat but that actually went somewhere: I wanted a nice, long, flat journey I could do by bike. There aren't many old railway lines that fulfil that criteria, they've either been sold off, built on or still have trains running on them. It was then that I started looking at the British canal network, of which there are still thousands of miles in the UK, often very close to urban centres so easy to access and, as the original 'super-highways' of the country, travel for long distances.

That's probably why the Liverpool & Leeds canal came to mind. I knew the Eastern end well having grown up very close to it and having navigated it two years previously on holiday. However, I didn't know the rest of its course at all. Whilst researching I found a very useful website called Towpath Treks, dedicated to walking and cycling the Liverpool & Leeds canal. It was full of information about the route, distances, towpath conditions, where to stop, where not to stop, hints and tips and of course blogs from people who have previously cycled and walked the route.

The canal is (now) 127miles (205km) from end-to-end, with one end adjacent to Liverpool docks by the Mersey, the other at Leeds Wharf next to the mighty River Aire. The route starts and ends in very urban environments but in the middle passes through some of the loveliest countryside in Britain, i.e. the Pennine hills of North and West Yorkshire. It also passes through some post industrial mill towns (the Grim North), where the scenery and surroundings are not so pleasant. Having read many blogs on Towpath Treks, it seems that two days to cycle the length of the canal should be eminently achievable, some have done it in a single day, a few have even done the return journey within 24hours (hard core).

127miles over two days, that should be easy: at 10mph that's about 13hours in the saddle or four sessions of a little over 30miles each, ideal for a two day weekend cycle. When I've been out on my bike, I can easily average 15mph so 10mph should be straightforward, even with comfort and food stops. This 10mph average seemed to tally with many of the blogs on Towpath Treks. I could do this, I thought. But I needed someone with which to share this adventure, I didn't want to do it on my own, it would be very dull and boring and probably not wise from a health and safety point of view.

I knew my neighbour, Lewis, was a cyclist, we'd discussed cycling many times so I mentioned it to him and he said he was 'up for it'. The trouble was, Lewis does a lot of cycling and is a lot fitter than I am - he does Triathlons for fun. I needed to be able to keep up with Lewis, or at the very least not embarrass myself trying to keep up.

Preparation

I clearly needed some practice, I'd never even cycled as far as 30miles in one go (just one of the four sessions required to complete the whole route), let alone nearly 130miles. I started off cycling some of the old railway trails to build up the miles. A return journey on the Monsal trail was about 17miles, a circular route around the Tissington and Middleton trails about 48, a return along the Camel Trail in Cornwall about 30 and the Cornish Coast to Coast around 24. These were good practice I thought, particularly as the last two were very, very wet and gruelling. This was good 'battle hardiness' for the upcoming Trans-Pennine test. A final circular route around Coventry dispatched 30miles in less than 3 hours quite easily. Great, I can do this.

Planning

So, assuming four sessions of 3 hours over a weekend, we could get the train from Coventry to Liverpool early on a Saturday morning, set off around 10, stop for lunch around 1pm then be at the evening stop for beers at 5. Ditto for the Sunday then catch the train home from Leeds. Easy. So, here was the basis of a plan. A weekend was set and the logistics began.

How should we break the journey: a straight 50:50 split 65miles (ish) per day or try to 'break the back' of the journey on day one. We decided of the latter. Using the Mileage Matrix on Towpath Treks, half way is a place called Church in Accrington, about half way between Blackburn and Burnley. Burnley would seem a sensible place to stop then - this was about 75miles from Liverpool or about 3/5ths of our journey. We chose to stay at the Premier Inn Burnley which, handily, is right next to the canal. When we rang to pre-book they were very helpful, we explained what we were doing and that we'd be on bikes and was there somewhere to store them securely overnight. In fact, they allocated us a ground floor room so we could wheel our bikes straight in and keep them with us.

Arriving at Liverpool Lime St station

Getting to Liverpool was the easy bit, we catch a 7:30ish train from Coventry which would get us in to Liverpool at around 10am. A quick ride across the City centre would allow us to be 'on our way' at 10:30, lunch stop at 13:30 for an hour and then evening stop around 7:30. A bit later than the ideal plan but still doable. The Sunday could be more leisurely as we would 'only' need to do 50ish miles and no doubt we would be tired from Saturday's activities. We'd then need to catch the train back to Coventry from Leeds at the other end. As we didn't know what train we'd be getting back we couldn't pre-book seats or the bikes on board we would just have to hope there was room.

We used Strava to plan the route and stops for snack and lunch breaks. Their route planner allows you to see distances from the start point and work out where the most appropriate places to stop are. Using this we determined that we should stop for lunch at the top of Wigan Locks at a pubs called the Kirless Hall inn. For the Sunday, we decided to stop at the Bay Horse, just East of Skipton, which I know well and they do great food and beer.

The ride

[EDIT: 21/05/17]: Since writing this I have realised that many of the difficulties, particularly the massive mood swings I had can be attributed to 'bonking' or glycogen depletion: http://www.bicycling.com/training/health-injuries/the-5-emotionally-charged-stages-of-bonking-on-the-bike/slide/2

At the start in Liverpool

When the day came, the weather was pretty much perfect, dry, warm, but not too hot or sunny. We arrived at Liverpool on time and cycled the couple of miles across the city centre to where we thought the start of the canal was. It's not as easy to find as we thought and is hidden in the middle of a housing estate. Eventually we did and after setting various GPS devices, phones and watches we were ready to go at 10:40, very slightly later than planned.

The swing bridge in Maghull

The first few miles run along the back of the docks are very urban with well paved or Tarmac'd paths (although you do need to watch out for broken glass and dog mess) we made good progress and had done 12miles in the first hour when we stopped at a swing bridge in Maghull. Things quickly went downhill from there: by chance, we had picked the weekend when a national angling competition was taking place on the canal between Maghull and Wigan. Every twenty yards was an angler with their rod across the path. Almost to a man they were very obliging and did their best to move their rods out of the way as quickly as possible, however, by the time we cleared them, we'd lost a good hour out of our schedule.

Kirkless Hall Inn - Wigan Top Locks

After 3 hours, we'd only covered 2/3rds of the distance we needed to get to our lunch stop but we needed some food. We had a break in Parbold, where there is a lovely cafe by the side of the canal. Despite the route from Parbold to Wigan being very urban, there were long sections of the towpath that were smooth tarmac or concrete which made progress quite rapid, even so it would be another hour before we made our lunch stop at the Kirless Hall Inn at the top of Wigan Locks.

 

The Top Lock at Wheelton

Despite now being very behind schedule, we needed a good break. We left "lunch" at about 3:30, we still had nearly the same distance again to go until our overnight stop in Burnley and we were a little concerned that we might run out of daylight. Getting going again after lunch was difficult, the food was sitting heavily and it was w hile before we settled into a rhythm again. At about 5pm we stopped for a quick rest at a lovely pub called the Top Lock in Wheelton. I'd have loved to spend more time there but we couldn't stay - we needed to press on.

Church - Halfway marker

We finally reached Church - the half-way point on the canal at 7pm, the light was beginning to fade already but we had to pause for photo and quick rest and sustinance. By now, my left knee which had been grumbling since late morning was really beginning to cause me discomfort and it made progress difficult. Other than the stops, I don't really recall the journey from Wigan to Burnley, I was just focussing on keeping going and ticking off the miles. Raising the saddle and adjusting my position helped a little, but I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to resume the journey in the morning.

As we approached the outskirts of Burnley, we lost the light entirely but we still had a way to go. For safety's sake, we considered laving the canal and proceeding to the hotel via the roads. In the end we didn't but were it not for the spill-over from the urban lighting around Burnley then we would have really struggled to stay on the tow-path. That was brought home to us then next morning immediately after we set-off, the first bridge over the canal was so low that had we tried to clear it in the dark, we'd have surely hit it. Also on the outskirts on the way in to Burnley is one of the two tunnels on the canal - Gannow. Navigating this requires leaving the towpath and cycling under the M65 motorway and over a large roundabout before dropping down the other side of the hill to rejoin the towpath. Fortunately, the route is now well signposted and easy to follow. 

We arrived at the Burnley hotel completely shattered having been travlling for almost 10 hours since we left Liverpool. The hotel were very helpful and friendly and as they had booked us a ground floor room we were able to wheel our bikes straight in to keep them safe. Having quickly washed and changed we hobbled across the car-park to the restaurant. I had expected to be starving hungry, however, we were almost too tired to eat.

That night I slept very badly, my aching knee and some very bizzare dreams reliving the day's activities kept me tossing and turning all night. In the morning it was clear from the pain in my knee that I would not be able to get back on the bike straight away. Having had a very hearty breakfast we went for a walk to Sainsbury's for pain-killers, supplies and to ease our aching muscles back into life.

As a result of that and a little light bike maintenance it was nearly 11am before we set-of again. We almost had a nasty incident at Borrowford Reservoir with a group of cyclists coming the other way. One popped out from the back of the group directly into our path and we only just missed them, with our combined speed would have meant the end of our adventure.

Not far past the reservoir is Foulridge tunnel - much longer than the previous Gannow Tunnel in Burnley. Navigating this requires climbing up over a steep hill and following public roads for some 2.5km before rejoining the canal at Foulridge.

The next section of the journey was, for me, by far the hardest. The towpath was, at best, rough and uneven with small stones, fallen leaves and protruding roots. Once we got past Barnoldswick we were into the middle of no-where - the canal snaking back and forth across empty farmland where the towpath was little more that rutted grass strewn with hidden rocks and stones. At times we were going little quicker than walking pace. In fact, we kept leap-frogging a runner who caught us up at each gate and in the rougher sections. It was at this point that I had the first and only "off". We'd stopped at a gate and I didn't unclip my pedals quickly enough, I leant on the gate for support but it just swung out of the way and I ended up on the ground bending my rear derailleur bracket at the same time. I now couldn't select "top gear", not that this was much of an issue given the terrain.

This was the lowest point for me: my knee was giving me serious problems now and my morale was very low. If I hadn't been travelling with Lewis I would have given up at this point, I certainly felt like doing so, and wanted to - so much. But travelling together does make things easier and if I had stopped, what would he have done? Stopped with me, carried on? This was his adventure too. I just needed to dig-in and keep going.

I kept thinking that if I could just make it to Gargrave, that's somewhere I knew and I'd be back in Yorkshire, plus I'd have the choice of leaping on a train to Leeds if things got really bad. But I couldn't stop here no matter what, there was no way out (to Gargrave) other than to keep going, either on foot or on the bike. I HAD to make it to Gargrave.

Thankfully, I did make it to Gargrave where I would have liked to stop for lunch but we had to push on to Skipton. For a while around Gargrave the towpath improved and progress was much easier and less gruelling.
 
Gargrave was the turning point for me and it felt like we were then into the "home" stretch - literally. We were now cycling directly towards where I grew up in and around Bradford, Shipley and Saltaire. The further we progressed the more familiar it felt and the higher the motivation to get to the next town or village.

Now, as we left the Gargrave area the towpath deteriorated back to rutted grass but at least the scenery had improved and I knew where we were - it wasn't far to lovely Skipton where I knew the towpath was better and where there would be another train option if I needed it. This became my next goal and I was entirely focussed on reaching it.

Skipton Canal basin and the Springs Branch

Skipton and it's canal basin thankfully came soon enough, but not before time, we desperately needed a rest but our lunch stop was 3km further on the way out towards Keighley.

The best pint I've EVER had.

The Bay Horse, near Snaygill is a lovely pub. They do great food, have super local beer (the Copper Dragon brewery is literally across the road) and they have a wooden deck that backs directly onto the canal towpath. It is here that we stopped for lunch at about 2pm. Rightly, or wrongly, I treated myself to a pint of my favourite Timothy Taylors Landlord - I needed something to lift my spirits.

I could have happily spent the rest of the day at the Bay Horse, but all too soon it was time to get underway again. Buoyed by our hearty lunch and a pint, the improved towpath and the welcome familiarity of the scenery, the journey became a little easier. The actual act of turning the pedals was no less hard, my knee was still causing me serious pain and at times all my effort was just using the one leg (that's the benefit of clips) but the travelling was more enjoyable. I didn't know how long my knee would last, even with the painkillers. From here on, it was just mind over matter to make it to the next milestone, somewhere with a station where I could jump on a train if needed.

The Canal at Saltaire

The next major milestone was Bingley Five Rise locks. I know this place very well having spent many Sunday afternoons there in my childhood. From here the canal is very much urban rather than rural and the towpaths are now well maintained and much easier to ride. The sun was shining and were it not for my discomfort it would have been a thoroughly enjoyable ride.

Not long after Bingley is the closest point to "home", Saltaire. The canal runs right past Sir Titus Salt's magnificent weaving mills and model village. I just had to stop and take a photo. I'd hoped to meet up with an old school friend here, but time was against us and we had a train to catch in Leeds so we couldn't stop.

East of Saltaire is a stretch of the canal that I've never explored, and so, although we were getting closer to reaching our goal, leaving Saltaire felt like going back out into the unknown and became much more difficult again. Once outside the environs of Saltaire and Shipley the towpath was less well kept and was harder going again. Even now, only 20km from our goal, I was still wondering if I'd be able to make it - if my knee would hold-up. However, by this point, it would have been quicker and easier to keep going rather than resorting to the train - so that's what I did - kept going.

Between Shipley and Kirkstall the canal runs through much more rural countryside, you can still see the urban sprawl around you but largely, you're cycling through fields and woods again. Approaching Kirkstall, there is a road that runs adjacent to and parallel with the towpath next to an electricity sub-station. The chance to roll on some smooth tarmac instead of the rough and rocky towpath was too much of a temptation and a welcome relief. Almost as soon as that came to an end we were into urban Leeds proper and the towpath was smooth and wide. Sensing the closeness of our goal we picked up speed for the final push to the finish, however, in my head, I still wasn't sure if I'd make it. It's funny what tricks the tired mind and exhausted body plays on you.

The canal meets the River Aire at Leeds Wharf

All of a sudden, as we rounded a corner, under the railway bridge we could see the finish. For the first time I realised that we'd made it, we'd cycled the length of the Liverpool to Leeds canal. We just had to make our way over a bridge and around a couple of buildings and we were there, we'd done it.

The obligatory selfie at the finish.
Lewis (L), Andy (R).

And not before time, it was 6:30 already, the light was beginning to fade and we still had a train to catch back home.

There was little time for celebration other than the obligatory selfie, a couple of tweets and a text. We had a train to catch.

Leeds station is less than five minutes ride from the Wharf. On arrival, we had enough time to buy some food and drink and make our way to the right platform - which at Leeds, is not that straightforward. Ticket barriers and stairs need to be negotiated. The platform was busy and we knew there was only one carriage on the train with the rack for the three bikes allowed. We didn't have reservations for either us or the bikes. Not knowing which train we would catch we couldn't pre-book or reserve. Unfortunately, there was already one bike pre-booked on the train and three people wanting to get on with bikes we'd have to just get on and hope. The train manager did come to find us, but thanksfully let us continue on out journey - he could have asked us to leave the train at the next stop.

Of course we were still in our cycling gear and if for no other reason than respect for our fellow traveller's noses, we needed to change into clean, dry clothes. Getting changed in a train loo whilst it is moving is not something I ever expected to do - and I'm in no hurry to do it again any time soon.

The train journey home was spent quietly, muching on our food and drink and catching up on the Tweets we'd sent. A final change at Birmingham New St saw us at last on the final leg of our journey - the train back to Coventry. We got off at the local stop rather than Coventry main station as we really didn't fancy having to cycle up the hill back home out of Coventry.

After two hours of inaction, I could barely move my knee and once more I wondered if I'd have to wheel my bike the mile or so home. However, once I had bent my knee, movement was easier and we trundled the mile or so home. By this point it was after 10pm and completely dark.

We stumbed through our respective front doors, abandoned our gear, washed quickly and fell into bed. As with the night before, sleep did not come easily, nor did it for several nights after. Exhaustion, aching bones and muscles and reliving the weekend's activities over and over again put paid to that.

The after-effects

I was back in work the next morning, and limping dreadfully. I don't know what I did to my knee, but it was several weeks before it was close to being back to normal. In fact it would be ten weeks until I got back on the bike and eleven before I rode seriously again. Even then, my knee curtailed my ride. In the end I diagnosed incorrectly positioned pedal clips/cleats as the cause of my discomfort. Once they had been adjusted (by just a few mm) my knee no longer gave me problems.

Summary

So, would I do it again? Maybe, possibly. I've been asked to do it again this year, but the calendar won't allow. I certainly don't think I'd do it in the same way again - I might take a more leisurely trip and do it over three or fours days exploring the towns and countryside (or the many hostelries) along the way. There's so much beautiful scenery and things to see, it seems a shame to charge right through/past it as quickly as possible.
 
So, what did I learn from our grand adventure?

• Just because canal towpaths are flat - it doesn't make them easy to ride. 127miles could be completed in six or seven hours on the road, but on the towpath it'll probably take twice that.
• I hadn't done nearly enough preparation or get enough miles under my belt before doing the ride.
• We didn't leave Liverpool early enough, we should have started a good 90 mins earlier (9am-ish)
• We were fortunate that we had great weather and no mechanical problems or punctures along the way, otherwise we'd have never made it.
• We didn't eat enough food along the way to keep our bodies going properly.
• Don't cycle canal towpaths at night - it's no fun and not safe (for many reasons).
• You can do it the ride quite easily in a weekend, but travelling to/from home at each end is making things difficult for yourself.
• Do it with a friend or a group - it's much more enjoyable and you can help support and encourage each other along the way. It's also safer.

The final Strava stats for our ride were as follows (although I did forget to stop the clock in Parbold on day one):

• 215.8 km (134 miles) - the "extra" 7miles could be GPS inaccuracies.
• Moving time = 12h 49min - this would have been the expected 12hours if I'd stopped the clock.
• Average speed = 16.8km/h (10.5mph) - again, pretty much spot on against our estimate.
• Total time = 31h 53min

Advice for fellow riders

• Plan properly. Work out where you're going to stop and when. Make them easily achievable and frequent.
• Have a backup plan in case of injury or mechanical failure.
• Book your overnight accommodation in advance, you do not want to be searching around for somewhere to stop when your tired and hungry.
• Tell someone your plan.
• Wear a helmet and glasses/eye protection. Overhanging branches, bridges and kicked-up stones or twigs can ruin your weekend.
• Clip in pedals can make your ride much more efficient, but there are times and places where it's useful NOT to be clipped in, e.g. up cobbled bridges or along particularly rough parts of the towpath next to the water or bridges where you need your feet free. I used Shimano PD-M324 pedals, which are flat on one side and clips on the other. They meant I could clip when the going was good but have the safety and convenience of "flats" at other times.
• Lewis used a full suspension setup bike, whilst I used a hard-tail with front suspension. I think Lewis had the easier ride when the towpath got really rough and tricky, particularly on the second day before Skipton. I also think the lack of rear suspension on my bike contributed towards my fatigue and aches and pains. If I was to do the ride again I'd definately use a full suspension bike.
• Takes spares of critical equipment, e.g. inner tubes, repair kits, spare chain (and link extractors), brake/gear cables, brake pads.
• We both used rucksacks for our journey and they held just enough kit for the journey itself and two changes of clothes. However, even then, they did wear us down and meant getting under some of the lower bridges was more difficult. A better solution would have been to use cycle panniers which can carry more and put less strain on the rider.
• Wear sun-protection. It's going to be a long day and with the wind on your skin - you may not notice the sun burning you until it's too late.
• Put your phone/GPS other electronic equipment in waterproof protection. It's bad enough going in the water, much worse if you also lose your means of communication for help.
• Don't go in the water. You don't know what's under the surface. Look here to see what I mean.
• Fit a bell and use it, but don't expect people to move for you, they may not hear you. Many  towpath users wear earphones and won't hear you approaching. Be patient.
• If you're travelling in a group and come up behind other people on the towpath, the first rider past should say which side they're passing and how many bikes are coming through. Some people moved back into the centre of the towpath as soon as the first cyclist has passed, back into the way of the following cyclist.
• Check for activities along the canal in advance - don't suffer the same problems we did with the angling competition.

Links and resources

• Towpath Treks - http://www.towpathtreks.co.uk/LLC/index.html
• Towpath Treks Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/towpathtreks
• The Premier Inn, Burnley - https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/lancashire/burnley/burnley.html
• The Bay Horse at Snaygill (Skipton) - https://www.vintageinn.co.uk/restaurants/yorkshire/thebayhorseskipton
• The Canal and River Trust (for closures/activities) - https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices
• This is the Strava route: https://www.strava.com/routes/6839079
• My Strava activity log for the journey -
  Day 1 : https://www.strava.com/activities/1842661507
  Day 2: https://www.strava.com/activities/1842723089