Canal Bike Ride From Copley to Mytholmroyd

Copley - Mytholmroyd

The weather was poor in the morning, but we'd decided that whatever happened we were going for a bike ride. As the day went on the weather improved, so we needn't have worried.

This ride is just over 11 miles in total, you've got to retrace your tracks on the canal, but everything looks different on the way back!!

It's a good ride for kids with no road sense, as you're off road and beside the canal for the whole route.

Set off from Copley close to the Cricket ground. Usually you can park right next to the Canal, so the kids aren't let lose with traffic!

Turn left onto the canal and head towards Sowerby Bridge, the first part of the route in well paved, so it's easy going.

After a couple of miles you'll get to Sowerby Bridge, this is a good place for a drink, or a break. There is usually quite allot going on in this busy town.

You can get across the Canal by the Lock to reach The Moorings pub and restaurant.

Continue another hundred yards and you'll get the the main road. You'll have to dismount, cross the road via the crossing. Head up the hill behind the Wharf Pub. The canal is under your feet at this point!

Look left once past the pub and you'll see the canal behind the market place.

From now on just keep pedaling, the track can be a little muddy from here, so if it's been raining prepare to get splashed.

Once in Mytholmroyd you can have a look around, the only place open on Sunday was the Sainsbury's Local store, Pop and crisps of the kids!

The return journey is all down hill, well all the locks are downhill!

We did the full route in 2 and a half hours.

Mr Finlay Rides Again

Zoom Zoom!

Managed to get Finlay onto his Minimoto today! It's been a while, I got him started last year but he doesn't like the noise and all the commotion. When you're 6 years old just turning the throttle is hard work.

To be fair once he got going he really enjoyed it. After about an hour he still didn't want to call it a day, but we'd ran out of Petrol.

I would have loved to have a bike when I was a little kid, but there was no Chance of Mum and Dad getting me something like that. I think the longer I had to wait to get a bike the more I wanted one, and that left an impression on me.

Oulton Park - No Limits Track Day

Set off at 6:00am and the weather was terrible! As we got nearer to Chester the weather improved, and by the time we arrived everything had dramatically improved.

Knickerbrook.

Had a great day, first time at Oulton so took it easy to start with. The NC30 was great as always and I soon found my feet.
Last time out at Cadwell I didn't have a clue about the suspension setup, so I left it well alone. Today I started playing around a bit more. I made some changes to the front suspension, increasing the amount of rebound, this started to give me better feel.

Got down to 2min 10secs by the end of the day. Tyres look like they are working really hard, big blobs of rubber running off the edge of the tyres. I do need to think about my riding style a bit more, started to get the foot pegs down going through the chicanes.

Old Hall

The day went off without a hitch for me, however there was several incidents, with red flags and delayed sessions.

The faster bends are a bit scary, I need to get my head around Island bend, anything faster than 80mph and I'm a bit wiery. I spend too much time on the road where I'm not cornering that fast, and my timing just isn't there.

Clay Hill is blind and fast, but on the 400 I could go through flat out, just being carefull to keep left and not letting the bike drift over to the right edge.

Some people believe that the second chicane has spoilt Knickerbrook, but I really enjoyed throwing the bike through these sections. I would have probably been much more careful through the original layout.

Druids

Cascades was interesting, the front started pushing on the exist which didn't fill me with confidence. I need to look for a better line to help with this.

Druids was another place where the front causes concerns, however this was due to the camber changing and the front going light! A better line through this double apex right hander needs considering.

There is allot to take in for a first time out. Many bends are blind or unsighted, best to enjoy my day, think about it later and come back again for another go at improving things!

So for next time I need to think about the faster bends, look for braking markers and be braver. Consider my line through Cascades and Druids..... and have fun!!!

Pateley Bridge Camping

Jumping Jack.

Just got back from a great weekend away in the Yorkshire Dales. We stopped at the Riverside Camp Site in Pateley Bridge. The site is adjacent to the river Nidd and being next to the park is perfect for the kids. It's only 5 minutes walk from the town center, so it's a great base for the van.

Kids like the BMX track that can be accessed via a bridge over the river, there's also a Geocache close by so the kids had a couple of reasons to stop watching the DVD player!

On Saturday we had a walk south along the Nidd, we got as far as Low Laithe, had a drink at Ye Olde Oak Inn, did a second Geocache at the road side and walked back up the other side of the river to Pateley Bridge. The kids were kept busy with some conker trees on the riverbank. There was also a heard of friendly cows that came over to have a good look at us. The walk was easy going and the kids didn't complain once!

Saturday night we booked a table at Olley's Restorante & Pizzeria. Everyone made the kids welcome and the meal was fabulous.

The kids played in the park for a good while after tea and we made our way back for a cosy evening with wine and beer!

Sunday morning and time to head home, stopped at Morrisons in Skiption for some lunch in the cafe.

Reflecting on my weekend I can't help but notice what a nice place Pateley Bridge is. We live in a much bigger place, with thousands more rate payers, but the kids have a crap park that no one keeping an eye on, consequently it's always being vandalised. There isn't anything for teenage kids to do at all, certainly no BMX track!