Rishton

When I arrived to find a huge fence topped with barbed wire I was worried that it would be like being at the zoo as the riders pedalled past free on the other side and I waved. With a bit of walking around I did finally find a gap in the fence. If you could block out the roar of traffic on the M65 and the spinning class blasting out of the nearby gym, it was quite idyllic.

I checked the live location feed and started the stopwatch to see how long it takes to go from one side of Blackburn to the other on a bike along the canal. Including a detour due to the towpath being closed and stops for photos, the answer is roughly 53 mins, I reckon it wouldn't be much different in a car and way more stressful.

When everyone arrived it was unanimously agreed to call it a day. Another 27.22km in the bag and some very muddy bikes and children.Read more