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)