Route: Withnell Fold
Distance: 14 Miles
Time: 1h:22mins

I'm only posting this one as it was the first ride on my new bike. It's a Merlin Malt 4 and was the top spec model when it was bought (not by me). When my old trusty Marin was stolen last year I decide to wait for the right second hand bike to come along. I waited almost a year before I spotted this one (my list of requirements was quite high) and sat there nervously waiting for the clock to tick down on my highest bid!

The main thing I wanted was remote lockout suspension forks which would come in handy for the not so good parts of the canal but I've always fancied a Merlin bike and at one point I almost bought a frame so I could swap over my Marin parts.

I have to say this bike is really, really nice to ride, but I still miss my old bike (sad I know).

Out (not by choice) with the old:

in with the new:

If anyone happens to come across the Marin pictured at the top, then please contact me. Any info leading to the bike being returned will result in a big kiss and a few £10 notes (at least five). You can of course, just take the notes!

Route: Chorley to Church (and back)
Distance: 46.5 Miles
Time: 4h:40min

This started out as a run to Withnell Fold, but turned into my longest trek on the canal somehow!

I've already posted some pictures of my run to Blackburn, so I wont bore you with the same ones and it got a bit non-photogenic in places after that.

This was the first time I can remember ever cycling "over" a motorway while on the canal:

Aqueduct over the M65

The scenery got better towards Rishton and I had a quiet chuckle when I came upon a sign that read "Welcome to Church". There are some coke ovens around Church which would make handy shelters if it were to rain.

Just after Church I came across the canal's half way marker. I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting to see here, but it seemed a bit of an anti climax as it was just there... with a row of houses behind it.

Half way marker

I got about 5 miles past this point and thought I'd better start heading back before it got dark!

25 Miles! Time to head back

Cycling back turned out to be quite difficult as the wind was blowing quite badly in my face all (nearly all) the way back. Now if you notice the mileage on the computer above you'll see I got to 25 miles, but the distance at the top of the page is 46.5. Needless to say I never made it back.

I got as far as Withnell fold when my right leg started to ache... quite a lot, and I made it as far as Bottany bay before I decided to phone the household taxi service!

Route: Home to Blackburn (and back)
Distance: 29 Miles
Time: 2h:55Mins

At the time, this was my furthest trip up the canal. I'd always turned around just before Blackburn, but this time I decided to see what was there. I came across a bunch of kids fishing on the canal at Feniscowles who stopped me to show me the size of the "gold fish" they were trying to catch. I thought they'd got mixed up with their types of fish at first, but there was actually a huge Koi carp in the canal!

I came across a cyclist in Blackburn that was actually slower than me!

I decided to turn around and head home when I got to bridge 100...

but made the most of the nice weather at Johnson's Hillock locks.

Route: Withnell Fold
Distance: 14 Miles
Time: 1h:30mins

This is one of the runs I do if I'm out of practice (or done too much previously). It's always a good run in the summer as it's very green and there are a couple of good pubs along the way :)

Withnell Mill

Route: Rufford to Chorley
Distance: 36 Miles
Time: 3h:14mins

Rufford Marina

View of Rufford Branch from Leeds / Liverpool

The tow path from Rufford marina is non existent for the whole ride and can get very windy in places where it opens up on to flat fields before meeting up with the Leeds / Liverpool canal.

The ride from then on is good with plenty of scenic views and a nice coffee shop in Parbold (I'm not sure it was actually a coffee shop in 2008 though. I seem to remember it being an antique shop at that point).

As a kid I spent so much time fishing on the canal and fished under the main bridge and on a bend just after the shop.

After Parbold came Appley Bridge, the M6 bridge, Shevington (another of my fishing places), then Wigan, Adlington and home.

When I did this run in 2008 I was riding a 1994 Marin Muirwoods that I had upgraded considerably from when I first bought it (from new). I spent a lot of time and money upgrading this bike and had done a lot of miles on it, only for it to be stolen from outside my house in Chorley some years later.

Parbold Windmill

M6 Bridge

Shevington

The Orwell - Wigan

Walking on Water (Adlington)