15th July 2021
Journey Length 16.4ml
A lovely sunny evening beckoned and it certainly looked like a good day for one of our adventures. Arrangements were made and we were soon both sitting outside the old Jaguar garage in Farnworth, commenting on how it had been a hard slog up the hills we had ridden up to meet up with it being a hot evening.
After catching our breath I told Graham of my plan for the evening’s adventure. He wasn’t impressed with this at all and let out a rather large sigh when I told him we were heading up Plodder Lane which is an uphill stretch for 2 miles.
Not long after, we reached the top of the hill and headed down Watergate Lane towards the M61 where we had to negotiate around the roundabout using the traffic lights on the cycle path. I pressed the button and waited for the green cycle light, as it did a very large lorry was heading towards us, up to join the motorway, and by pressing the button we had delayed his progress. He didn’t take kind to this and shouting out of his cab, what sounded like to us ” Bike riding W*****s”. As extreme bikers we just ignored his childish comment and continued on our way to Cutacre Park.
The evening was lovely, glorious sunshine and a gentle breeze, just right for a little adventure. Due to the lovely weather I took a little diversion through the park so we could sit on a bench and have a chat whilst we took in the great views. We noticed that on the bench was a sign informing us of nesting birds in the long grass and to keep to the paths, it goes without saying we followed these instructions
Whilst sat mulling things over as we do I mentioned to Graham about how I had reversed our selfie so the words on our shirts read the right way around, but then realised his badge is AA ,ah well never mind. As we sat there a young lady rode passed us on a stunning and very large horse, I pointed out to Graham that you wouldn’t want it standing on your toe! A short silence followed and then Graham asked ” Eh pal how do you know when a horse is happy?”. From here this is how our conversation went:
Me- “I don’t know mate, maybe it smiles”
Graham – “Nawh don’t think they do”
Me- “Maybe it gets a big winky, that’s what happens to me when I’m happy!”
We both laughed like naughty kids, talking about sex for the first time.
Graham – “Ahh well I don’t think I’ve been happy for a while”
A great deal of laughter followed that comment .
After calming down we set off to exit the park near Engine Road this involved going down a path with about 50 small steps. I took the a path to the side of the steps but Graham decided to ride down the steps. All went well for him for the first 10-15 steps then they got closer together and all could hear from behind was ” thattttt wasnnnntt mmmmy bbbbbest ideaaaa ppppal” he jabbered as he bounced down the steps before he joined me on the path.
Our route was to take us to Engine Lane to explore around the area, then find a route home. In theory this sounded easy but with all the rain and sun we’ve had over the past months a lot of the paths are overgrown and impassable for bikes, so we had to improvise.
We found a path that led us over Engine Lane and looked to be taking us in the right direction, that is until we came to a dead end. A quick U- turn back up to a fork in the path looked to be taking us the way we felt we needed to go, but then we came to a point where the path split into 3. Which way to go?. After a quick chat Graham made the decision, we were going left. When we eventually emerged onto Cumbermere Lane we had another decision to make left or right. Graham chose left again, and off we rode. Up along the narrow path we came to a set of wooden kissing gates. I dismounted and proceeded to push my bike through, lifted up on its back wheel. At this point our conversation got a bit silly.
Now as you know me and Graham have known one another for a great deal of time and he is truly my bestest friend, we know what the other is thinking a lot of the time but on this occasion I had no idea what was about to unfold-:
Graham – “Is yours bigger than mine ?”
Me – “Not sure it might be, we’ll have to measure them”
Graham – “OK, right stand yours straight up and I’ll do same, oh hang on a minute I cant get mine out , right that’s it it’s out now”
Me – “Can’t really tell from here ,I’ll tell you what you hold mine, but don’t let it go and I’ll move over there for a better look”
Graham – “Well who’s the biggest ? “
Me – “Mine but only by a couple of inches.”
Whos is bigger ? 
Ebay’s bigger one
Well with that all sorted we continued on our adventure. A little further down the path we saw a group of people who were leading some horses up to the stables we had just passed. One horse had a mesh hood over its head, and I asked the lady if it was to protect it from flies, she said it was and I thanked her. Then it was Graham’s turn ” Excuse me but how do you know if a horse is happy “, I was expecting her to laugh but instead she answered ” When it’s ears are forward “. Well it just goes to show that you are never too old to learn.
At the bottom of Cleworth Hall Lane we rode straight across and turned left along the guided bus route that runs from Leigh to Ellenbrook heading towards Walkden. Graham was amazed with this infrastructure and was perplexed at how it worked, and to be honest so was I. As we rode along Graham said he wanted to see a bus, but none came. I pointed out to him its typical, they’ll like buses, nothing then 3 come at once. Just then he spotted one in the distance and we waited at a crossing to watch it go by. This is when we noticed a road sign you don’t see every day “Car Trap”.
We both commented on how the guided bus lanes reminded us of the car ride Grand Prix that we both used to ride on Blackpool Pleasure Beach back in the 70s that’s still going to this day.
As the bus went by Graham noticed the guides on the bottom of the bus and got a little excited (see video below)
After all that excitement it was time to head home, the sun was beginning to go down, but we managed one little stop off in the sunshine at the site of St Georges RC school on Parsonage Road. The school was obviously no longer in use and there was a sign saying Danger Demolition in process. Graham wasn’t happy about that and told me it shouldn’t read Demolition, because these days a lot of material is reclaimed, so demolition is the wrong word to use. I eventually got him off his soap box and we headed home with just a quick stop off on the motorway bridge. The speed of the cars below was astounding, both of us commented on how it doesn’t feel that fast when you’re in the car.
M61 Motorway 
St Georges High School
We parted company at the top of Bradford Road as I headed straight on, both under instruction to message when we were home.
On a more serious note, I have recently been watching a channel on YouTube ,“Ashley Neal”, aimed at improving your driving skills and techniques. I have found it very helpful in understanding other road users and tonight it may have just saved my life. I was riding down Manchester Road when I spotted a Black BMW waiting to pull out. I remembered from the video to slow down and be aware he might just pull out. This is infact what happened, he didn’t look, just pulled out slamming his brakes on at the last second, it would have been too late for me, If I hadn’t slowed down he would have taken me clean out.
Once home I messaged Graham just as I received his. Stay safe everyone till next time.
Graham cycling down the stairs. I thought he might have started going head over heels or perhaps more accurately, wheel over wheel down the stairway. 😆. I know there have been some spills and this one would have not been unexpected.