Le Grand Depart
1 novembre 2023, Angleterre ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
The challenge to ride the Leeds-Liverpool Canal started next to the River Mersey. We had parked the car at Costco, perfect for a loo stop before heading round to mark the official start of theEn savoir plus
Everton's New Stadium
1 novembre 2023, Angleterre ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
On our drive in we clocked where the canal moved away from the Riverside and into Town. But it wasn't quite so obvious when we got to it. We turned off the road to check out how Everton's new stadiumEn savoir plus
Finally on the canal
1 novembre 2023, Angleterre ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
Having crossed busy roads and gone around building sites we finally found the official start of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. With a rather impressive set of locks. A bit of bike carrying over the locksEn savoir plus
Motoring Along
1 novembre 2023, Angleterre ⋅ 🌬 12 °C
Once on the Tow Path it was all go. I was the support vehicle and planned to intercept Holly & Jonah at various bridges. However, on the first few I arrived there to see they had already gone throughEn savoir plus
Aintree Racecourse 🏇
1 novembre 2023, Angleterre ⋅ 🌬 12 °C
I honestly didn't think they would be quite as speedy as they were. I managed to intercept them at Melling Road and show them the fabulous Aintree Racecourse. It was lunchtime, had just started toEn savoir plus
Leg 2 begins
2 novembre 2023, Angleterre ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
Leg 2 picked up where we left off yesterday at Aintree Racecourse. The weather was good but we were very conscious that it could change, so would go for as far as possible.
Maghull
2 novembre 2023, Angleterre ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
I thought I would be miles ahead of them for this stop but no! Yesterday it was traffic congestion and traffic lights that slowed me down, today it was level crossings. I parked at Home Bargains inEn savoir plus
Waiting...
2 novembre 2023, Angleterre ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
I've finally managed to get ahead of them with enough time to draft a post. The weather is starting to get quite horrible with a driving headwind picking up and the rain starting to get heavy.
WhileEn savoir plus
Mechanical Failure
2 novembre 2023, Angleterre ⋅ 🌧 11 °C
The attached video has commentary so you'll get the picture, it has sound too.
This event, plus the rapidly deteriorating weather ended today's ride earlier than anticipated.
The muddy legs tellEn savoir plus
Here we go again!
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ 🌬 7 °C
It's half term so we're back in the North West on the Bike Ride challenge. A short back track to complete the section where we previously had a mechanical failure and they're off again. Today theyEn savoir plus
The Saracen's Head
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ 🌬 7 °C
Aunty Sam got the first check point, with bags of sweets to hand, while Grandma and I could scoot on ahead. All is good, the sun is shining and the weather is perfect
Interception
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ 🌬 7 °C
After setting the kids off on today's leg, we jumped into the cars and headed off to the Ring O' Bells pub near Burscough (more of which later) - all part of the exceedingly complex logistics plan! ItEn savoir plus
The Ring O Bells
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ 🌬 7 °C
The Ring O Bells pub at Burscough is a perfect place to sit and wait. The car park is right on the tow path so the support crew could stay inside the car and wait for either the bikers to appear orEn savoir plus
Parbold
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C
Fully refueled and refreshed, they're off again. A short hop on to Parbold where the bikers were taking photos of an old windmill and and swing bridge, while the support crew get to appreciate theEn savoir plus
Gathurst Viaduct
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Getting to Gathurst on the outskirts of Wigan, was a drive along memory Lane, these are the roads where I learnt to drive, taking you right past the famous Heinz factory and this stop is just down theEn savoir plus
The Approach To Wigan
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
The bucolic Lancashire countryside (a phrase I never thought I'd write) turned very urban, very quickly as we hit the outskirts of Wigan. However, it wasn't all shabby warehouses, barbed wire andEn savoir plus
Wigan Pier
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
Wigan Pier was where we were aiming to finish today, After the previous 2 legs I thought this may be ambitious but achievable. Turns out everyone was up for just keeping going!
Grandma and I keptEn savoir plus
Bloody Locks
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
Now I get it's exceedingly difficult to get water to climb hills, but how hard can it be to build a tunnel under the Pennines? I'm sure the Wigan Lock Flight is an exemplar of Victorian civilEn savoir plus
Where are we?
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Having checked out a potential finish point at Redrock, thinking there was a big pub to finish at, we discovered that the pub was derelict and not actually a good finish point. So the support crewEn savoir plus
The potential finish point that wasn't
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
The alternative finish point that wasn't
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
Fredericks Ice Cream Parlour
12 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
We needed to find an end point where Grandma, Holly & Jonah could wait in comfort with some refreshments while Chris and I drove back to the Ring O Bells to collect the car. One idea was the MarinaEn savoir plus
Start of Leg 4
13 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C
This morning we picked up where we left off yesterday, minus the Ice Cream 🍨
I popped into the Marina Café who had pointed us in the direction of Frederick's yesterday to use the loo, say thanksEn savoir plus
Just missed them!
13 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C
There's a fine art to trying to find a good point to do a safety check point and intercept the riders. You can't have it too close or they're too fast and will always be ahead of you. Too far andEn savoir plus
A muddy old start
13 février 2024, Angleterre ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C
As we did yesterday, once we'd set the kids off on their way, I drove down route, parked up and rode back to meet them. I'll be honest, this bit was hideous - the ground was super boggy, I was ridingEn savoir plus
























































































