Paul and Jeanette joined me for this Monday morning bike ride on an overcast day but still with lovely autumn colours, albeit muted in the dim light.
We met, as is normal for this route, at Timperley Bridge – pictured above.
Just a few pictures today, as I’ve described this ride before, most recently on 1 October.
Paul posed for me at Chorlton Water Park, where a colourful foliage image was available from the same spot.
We enjoyed a break at a picnic table before wrestling our way through Stockport, interrupted only by Jeanette’s attempt to buy a sofa.
Further on, after disturbing a buzzard on the path to Reddish Vale, we utilised the bench near Haughton Green that has replaced my favourite picnic table. We were joined for a while by George, and Rosie The Pointer. A pleasant interlude spent chatting about the Cheshire Ring canal system.
Soon afterwards we joined the Peak Forest Canal at the point pictured below, after a steep hill, whence our planned route home follows the Cheshire Ring.
Before the junction with the Ashton Canal, we met a team of men from Kier who were investigating a leak in the canal.
As we continued down the Ashton Canal towpath we encountered a diversion between bridges 27 and 24 that had been in place on our last visit. We managed slightly better to follow the diversion this time, only taking two wrong turnings.
The Ashton Canal now revealed a few problems. Several sections have been drained, and debris from the muddy bottom of the canal has been placed beside the towpath. This is clearly an active project and hopefully the canal will be reopened in a refreshed state before too long. It looks awful at present.
Amongst the debris – the ubiquitous shopping trolley…
This rubbish from the canal will hopefully soon be cleared. We did notice that the general rubbish that blighted the environs of the Ashton Canal on our last visit has largely been removed.
Our third break, after 45 km, was at the velodrome café, where we met an acquaintance of Paul and Jeanette who is in training for a paracycling event (World Championships?) in London.
The bees that were on display on our last visit have now been auctioned off, with just one of them being left on display outside the velodrome. Hopefully it is vandal proof.
The homeward route saw us having to leave the canal towpath before Piccadilly, where a large metal gate barred our entrance, re-joining it at Canal Street for the rest of the ride.
Today my Garmin recorded 62.5 km (39 miles) with 210 metres ascent. We took nearly five and a half hours, just over four of which were actually on the bikes. Paul and Jeanette went a bit further, as they had to get to and from Timperley from their home.
The next Monday morning ride will be in two weeks time. Let me know if you’d like further information.
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