19th July 2019
Journey Length 22.8ml
Click Here For Route Via Ride with GPS
Setting off from our meeting point at the base of Nob End locks we headed along the canal towards Ringley and up along Red Rock Ln, it was here we came across an unusual sight on such a quiet lane, roadworks complete with traffic lights. These roadworks went on for ages, and therefore we failed to get through before the lights changed and a car met us head on, fortunately we were on our toes and managed to take evasive action to avoid a nasty collision.
After that excitement we made our way to the bridge at the end of the Outwood Trail that would take us over the M60 motorway. As we headed up the steep hill, Graham had to dismount “can’t manage it with my bad back, I had physio yesterday” he said with a smile. As we got to the top of the hill Graham noticed a burnt out motorcycle in the undergrowth. A quick look was in order. I then asked Graham if he thought he could ride it, which he duly did, with a quick pose for a photo. I said “ You remind me of Steve McQueen in film “The Great Escape”, “funny you should mention that pal, people have commented that I have a resemblance of him” , yeah I can see that, he was a bloke as well I thought .
Over the bridge we rode around the paths through Waterdale Meadow to get down to the side of the Irwell, as we did we passed a number groups of mountain bikers passing us , “all the gear no idea”. It was at this point I asked Graham “ do you think they realise they’ve just passed a couple of extreme bikers and thought to themselves WOW !! , a bit like a regular soldier seeing at an SAS soldier, wow I wish I was one of them”.
Drinkwater car park was our outlet onto Agecroft Rd where we crossed over the bridge onto the opposite bank of the river which put us on the right side for our first destination of the evening. Now extreme bikers humour isn’t the same as normal people, so when I stopped to take a photo of the Manchester skyline I wasn’t surprised to hear Graham call out behind me “nice view of Blackburn”
The path led us along the river bringing us out at Littleton Rd, it was here we noted more new houses being built, that had a wonderful view complete with a gaggle of geese on the river. We stopped while I got my bearings, then I informed Graham we need to turn left then right and follow the road up, just as we set off I had to stop him, we were actually straight across from the entrance of our first destination, Kersal Wetlands. Riding through here it looked like it was an empty reservoir then we noticed signs stating it was a flood area as it was between the bends of a river. We stopped at an information board and noted it had actually once been a horse racing track ( click on link below for full information on Kersal Wetlands).
Info link On Kersal Wetlands
The area was flat and a little uninteresting but I said we might as well ride all the way around since we were here. Noticing a water level gauge on the bank , it was like a huge ruler , so therefore there was only one thing to do!
Part way round we decided to have a little play, doing some skid turns in the dirt like great big kids (Video Link Below).
Skids YouTube Video Link
As we got to the point where we had entered the Wetlands , marked by a building covered in lovely murals of the area I stopped only to be passed by a speeding Graham. I eventually caught up with him after about 300m further on “ Where you going pal?” I asked “thought we were going all the way round ?” he stated, “we have mate, back there” pointing to the building back in the distance. Ah well it’s not his fault, I’m in charge of navigation, but sometimes I wish I wasn’t as will become apparent a little later.
We exited the wetlands and proceeded to find our second objective, Salford City FC, which I had noted wasn’t too far from here. Just as we turned right along the road Graham spotted a large old pub in the distance, “what’s the betting it’s called the Racecourse “ well I don’t know how he guessed that but by golly he was almost bang on, it was actually called the Racecourse Hotel.
Around a mile later we came to a roundabout where we turned right up the very steep hill of Moor Ln on our way to find Salford City FCs stadium. Shortly we came upon it on the right. After a quick exploration we had our obligatory selfie before we set off home. It had taken us longer than anticipated to get to our destinations, so now we were in a bit of a hurry to get home. Off down the hill at quite a lick, we turned left at the roundabout to retrace our route back to the river.
We crossed a bridge over the river so we would be on a smoother path and on the correct bank to enter Drinkwater Park. As we rode along the path we came upon yet another burned out motorbike. As we exited onto the road near Drinkwater Park, Graham stopped abruptly, thinking I was heading in the wrong direction I questioned why he’d stopped.” See that road back there, we’ve just come down there.!” Now I thought that was just stupid we’d travelled miles and couldn’t possibly have done, but with a quick check on Strava I had to admit he was right. In fact we had travelled 2 miles in a circle to get to nowhere. Sometimes things just don’t go according to plan, ahh well.
Shortly after that we again took another wrong turning, and had we not stopped we could have found ourselves having to ride a further mile. At a junction of paths at Philips Park we stopped and after a short discussion about which way we should go, we set off hopefully in the right direction.
Spotting wildlife is common place on our adventures but in less than 500m we were going to encounter more than our fair share. Firstly I spotted a roe deer with its 2 young just stood in the path ahead of us, we rode up in stealth mode, but unfortunately after noticing us they pranced off into the undergrowth before I could get a picture, but this wasn’t the strangest thing. As Graham hurtled down the path he was hit in the head by not 1 but 2 dragon fly one after another, how bizarre. The rest of the ride home was pretty uneventful and we parted company where we had met earlier, til next week pal.
