Leeds Liverpool Canal

Sunday 19th 2015 (1057)

Another fabulous day! 

It was so nice to have a bit of a lie in this morning (more than usual) but we were still up and out of the house earlier than yesterday. Despite a disappointing forecast on Friday the rain stopped at about 8am and the rest of the day was glorious. A quick trip to Halfords on the way out for repairs and purchases then on to Aintree to pick up the Trans Pennine Trail.    

The first part of the "ride" was a challenge to say the least. Limbo dancing on the bike under the trees, weight lifting it through barriers that were really tight, path that got narrower and narrower. We ended up walking the bike a fair distance. When we got to the Leeds Liverpool Canal though it became a pleasant ride, passing through Maghull where we then turned off on to the Cheshire Lines old railway track. We followed this for quite a while, struggling against a headwind. We were in the middle of nowhere and started to hear the sound of bagpipes. We soon spotted a lone piper who had parked in a layby and was practising behind a tree ... obviously he'd been kicked out by his neighbours or his wife! :-)

Our ride took us all the way to Ainsdale, which we decided was far enough. After a picnic lunch supplemented in a local cafe we started the return journey. We decided to make a detour to vary the route. At first it was along a nice quiet country lane, which was great. We then picked up the canal a lot further along than where we'd originally left it. We soon realised that that stretch was not the easiest to cycle along. It was very narrow in parts and I had visions of ending in the canal. There were also lots of obstacles. We found four more geocaches along the way and released a new joint trackable. We were hoping to release its twin but didn't find another suitable place.   

We continued along the canal to avoid the original difficult stretch. That took us along by the racecourse where there was a fun day with lots of large inflatables in the air, quite a sight! The ride was 30 miles in total. 

Back home for another Bar-B-Q, then Huddsbird had to head home. It has been a fantastic weekend with lots of fresh air and exercise and lots of fun and laughter plus putting the world to rights.