13th July 2017
Journey Length 22.4 ml
Click Here For Route Via Ride with GPS
So it began, after meeting Graham at the Meccano bridge we set off to Salford the reason being we had seen a signpost near 13 arches on one of our previous adventures “Post Holidays Adventure “. We had previously attempted this 3 times before, all resulting in failure, so today was to be a really concerted effort.
The original part of the route followed the same path as our “Post Holidays Adventure ” until we crossed the motorway bridge, this is where we had seen the sign post for Salford, Salford Quays. After a short debate we followed the sign for Salford Quays, as this was our intended destination if time was in our favour. We now cycled down past 13 arches and towards Drinkwater park, it was here we saw something unusual across a field, it looked like some kind of racing circuit, possibly motor bikes or something due to the noise. It actually turned out to be a drone racing circuit.
Further along the path we came to a junction of 4 paths leading in various directions, but none signposted for Salford. Even after a quick look at the area on Ride GPS it was unclear which one to take, as per usual we took the wrong one and ended up going around in a almost circle until we stumbled on the bridge going over the river, which I knew we needed to cross. Once over the bridge we turned left following the sign for “The Cliff” , which incidentally we never saw, maybe next time. Now down this path we came upon a small tree which blocked our way but we easily cycled around it, but further down there was a large fallen tree totally blocking our way, after I had dismounted and pushed my bike under the tree i waited for Graham, as he approached he said “ This could be where it you have your crash this week”, he immediately agreed and rather excitedly attempted to balance his bike and climb onto the fallen tree , failing the first time he was just reattempting it when a couple came along , now feeling a little embarrassed he paused until they had passed, on his second attempt he nearly made it, but unfortunately he couldn’t stay on top of the tree and went head over heels onto the ground, he wouldn’t make a Tarzan. Undaunted he tried once more, this time succeeding and the result was hilarious (see photo)
Along the path we rode now in virgin territory, we had never ventured so far south before. Shortly we came to the end of the path at some steps leading up to Agecroft Road, at the top we saw what looked like a continuation of the path so on we went .As we pressed on we past a very large cemetery on our right, which we later found out to be Agecroft cemetery. The path followed the bank of the river Irwell as it meandered along, as we continued we stopped a man walking his dog to ask for directions towards Salford quays, “ ye, ta end mate do a right and strait up road our kid, see them tower blocks, ed towards them” he said in a thick Manc accent. Following the gentleman’s directions we eventually came upon Littleton road and turned right following the signs for cycle route No6. Following these signs we went down Gerald St and once again crossed the river Irwell.
The signs were now becoming harder to spot, just stickers on lamp posts etc, a couple of times we missed them and had to turn around. We proceeded pretty well until after we had crossed Frederick road, as we once again crossed the Irwell for the umpteenth time. Our path was blocked by building work here, but as extreme bikers we soon found a route around and were soon back on the route No6 . This eventually led us onto East Ordsall road close to where we wanted to be, to see the “Salford locks”. This proved a lot more difficult than we anticipated due to massive amount of building works going on in the area as part of network rail’s plan to improve rail travel in the north, they are soon to build a new viaduct that will connect Manchester’s Victoria, Oxford road and Piccadilly train stations. The plans include a new section of track to the north west of Castlefield junction, in the vicinity of Ordsall.
We did eventually get a glimpse of the locks and it wasn’t until we were on our return journey having decided the quays were probably “A Bridge Too Far” we actually saw the locks properly.
Our route back just retraced our path apart from a wrong turning or two, until we came to yet another bridge and crossed over onto the opposite bank of the river until we reached Agecroft road, crossed over the bridge down the steps and rejoined our original path.
We decided rather than cross another bridge over the river we would stay on this path which we knew would eventually bring us out at Clifton country park from here it was short journey up Red Rock lane and Ringley road before we parted company at Nob End, both commenting we had ” thoroughly enjoyed the evenings adventure”, so that’s all folks until next time.
