A Right Couple Of Tools

2nd June 2023

The start of this evenings adventure was delayed slightly with Graham being held up on the M56 on his way home from Wrexham but nothing was going to stop him making our adventure tonight, maybe in hindsight he wished he had.

I had planned our route tonight using a new to me app “Komoot” . The app enabled me to plan a route I wanted to use simply by selecting waypoints which made it far easier. Now with the route planned I met Graham at Leverhulme park and let him know where we were going, up towards Entwistle reservoir. I noticed he had only come in a T-shirt and shorts whereas I had donned a lightweight hoodie. On seeing this Graham said “ should have worn mine , I’m a bit chilly “ . I offered to nip to mine and let him borrow one but he politely refused saying “We’re Extreme Bikers “.

We exited the park and headed up Wagon Rd before dropping down into Seven Acres Country Park and followed the trail until we came to a bit of a standstill, held up by a couple with around 6 dogs of varying sizes. We came to a stop whilst they sorted the dogs to let us pass , a little Chiwawa took a dislike to Graham yapping away at him, with Graham responding with “ that was a bit of a viscous thing “ , a bit of an exaggeration if you ask me.

Longsight park was our next waypoint a lovely park with wooded areas and a children’s playground at the far side. I noticed a strange square in the path that I thought was a little odd just sat there on it’s own. If anyone knows what it is please leave an answer in the comments.

As we rode further along Graham spotted a large mound of grass covered earth with some large rocks scattered over it. We had to stop so Graham could explain that he thought they were crop circles and the rocks on top were most likely as old as Stonehenge, somehow I doubt that.

Now we were on the road the most dangerous part of our adventures. The amount of traffic on the road these days is staggering and everyone is in a rush to get anywhere. We certainly needed our wits about us dealing with these idiots. This would become more relevant later.

Thankfully we soon left the road after a long climb up to Bradshaw Fisheries where we paused for a rest enjoying the evening sunshine . As we talked I noticed some Foxgloves by the side of the road with bees buzzing in and out of the flowers. It was then Graham called out “ Hey look at that weed it’s beautiful “ . I kindly pointed out that it was actually a Foxglove but before I could finish he remarked “ Can’t be a weed there’s loads of them all spaced out neatly. Graham’s hearing strikes again

After getting our breath back we followed the path towards Bradshaw Brook down some rough terrain before we emerged at the bottom of Jumbles Reservoir . Our route then took us up a steep gradient on a loose stone path, part way up we had to push our bikes up, even extreme bikers know their limits, but once near the top we got back on our bikes to give the illusion we’d rode all the way up.

As we rode along the path around the reservoir we spotted some old stone pillar’s which would have supported something across the brook but it had long since gone, leaving the pillars as a reminder of its history. The pathway continued becoming narrower as it followed the brook then at one point it opened out into a lovely open space so we sat by the water and discussed the events of the past week. This actually took longer than we’d anticipated, which meant getting back on our bikes involved some rather strange groans and other noises

Next point was reached , Vale St this was to take us up a long winding hill towards Edgworth. On our way we passed Giuseppe’s restaurant which brought back a memory of a friend of mine, Paul. One day at work a customer asked his name so he could send a letter of complaint about him , quick as a flash Paul answered “Giuseppe”. Shortly after we received an email regarding Giuseppe , the management were perplexed but it gave us a real good laugh. Sadly we lost Paul a few years back but seeing things like this his memory lives on.

At the Black Bull we turned left through the car park towards Wayoh reservoir. It was here Graham decided to divulge that he didn’t want a late one tonight, bit late now I thought, we’ll just have to pick up the pace on the way back. We arrived at a gate and then we saw the sign NO CYCLING . I turned to Graham as I dismounted pointed out the sign so we continued pushing our bikes along. We arrived at the point where we could get back on our bikes, I was just about to get back onto my bike when I spotted Graham already riding his , I called out to him “oy you’re breaking the rules “ he just gave me one of his silly grins as he rode passed.

It was here we noticed the very steep graded banks at the reservoir and both wondered how the hell do they cut that grass. We came to the conclusion that they must have a special angled lawn mower but who knows.

At the opposite end of the dam we came upon the overflow for the reservoir, what a splendid and wonderful thing it is indeed a huge drop hole overflow

Once on the other side we rode up Green Arms Rd towards our next waypoint, Entwistle reservoir. This took us up yet another hill we had now been climbing almost non-stop. I turned around to Graham and said “I think this is the last hill pal” unfortunately I was wrong. Every turn we made brought us to yet another hill and I could hear Graham behind me “ Ohh FFS “ and a few other expletives as we came upon one hill after another. Eventually we reached the top of our adventure but it meant going down and then back up the hill to Entwistle reservoir so with Graham in mind I decided to carry on and head back down towards home.

The downhill sections were great they took us down some gravelly roads with potholes and rocks strewn around through fields of sheep with stunning views even the Manchester skyline in the distance. We passed various farm buildings and houses and even the most overgrown greenhouse we’d ever seen . We travelled down these roads at hair neck speeds at some points struggling with our steeds enjoying the thrills as we did. Sadly though this was to be short lived. At the bottom of this road we went over a cattle grid onto a tarmanc road leading up yet another hill, in his haste of changing gear Graham’s chain got securely stuck in his sprocket, no amount of pulling would free it.

It was time to empty our tools out, only to find all we had between us was a couple of tools that were definitely not up to the task. We nevertheless struggled on. Not long, a couple of fellow cyclists rode up . Asked what was wrong and then just rode on , offering no assistance at all. We would have stopped and offered to help in anyway we could but these 2 just ignored us.

The 2 tools we had found proved sufficient enough with Graham’s mechanical skills to free his chain, but now it was getting on and we still had a fair way to go.

Up the road we continued , viewing a rather splendidly large house at the top of a hill. It looked like our path was heading up hill towards it. Oh boy, it did up a very steep pathway up and up past this mansion, Graham’s heart must have sunk as we rounded the bend because I know mine did. The view from the top was worth it though looking over Bolton to Manchester in the distance. The mansion was indeed a splendid property looking out over theses views.

For us that was to be the last hill we had to climb, bar one. It was now all downhill through Turton Golf Club twisting and turning as we descended on the gravel and shale path ,here we gathered speed enjoying the twisty course, that was until we encountered a stretch of deep fine gravel which caused us to skid and almost lose control as we hurtled down, luckily we both came through unscathed. At the bottom we came upon our last hill of the adventure, up a rocky path to a small gate. Now at this point we were both shattered but tried our best to climb the hill. As we did we passed a young woman walking her dog, she looked at us both and said “Rather you than me”, it was at this point we dismounted our bikes admitting defeat.

We exited the golf club onto Windy Harbour Rd. What a surprise we had the houses around there were absolutely outstanding. We once again guessed at the people that owned and lived in these fabulous properties, solicitors, lawyers, consultants and Graham’s thought ” Drug dealers” so as we cycled past each one we called out ” Solicitor” , Drug Dealer, Consultant, Drug Dealer, Doctor, Drug dealer etc., anybody watching us must have thought we were crackers.

We emerged onto Chapletown Rd and knew now it was all down hill at last, Graham emitting a huge sigh of relief. Chapletown road is a long straight road and we rode down gathering speed as we did, travelling at nearly 30mph, towards the bottom where it meets Turton Rd we slowed down but arrogantly a motorist chose to pass Graham but couldn’t pass me so he braked and pulled right in front of Graham causing him to brake hard and swerve to avoid a collision. Extreme biking comes with its dangers but not all of our own making.

Left at the bottom of Turton Rd and the a quick right took us on a path through Bolton Arboretum part of Longsight Park. The path took us on a twisty turny route over the brook and back again which eventually brought us out ironically at the crop circles Graham had pointed out earlier. The light had begun to fade as we rode back through the park and up to the barrier at Thicketford Rd, it was here as we stopped Graham turned around and said some awesome words, ” people don’t see half of the things we see pal on our adventures and it’s all thanks to you my Bestie, I love having you as my Bestie !” , I was actually taken aback for a moment before I replied ” I love having you as my Bestie too!!”

There was definitely a chill in the air, it was still only Spring so it was to be expected. So without lingering around we set off . Our adventure was not over yet though .As we now rode back through Seven Acre Park I noticed a strange noise emanating from the front of my bike, I looked down to see the mudguard rattling around just about to fall off, so not wanting a mishap so close to home I decided to stop and do some running repairs to get us home safely. Once it was “fixed” I said I would text Val to let her know Graham was on his way home as he said she would probably be worried now , we had now been adventuring for nearly 3 hours. I duly messaged Val to let her know that Graham was now on his way home. On my arrival home I messaged Graham to say I was home and shortly later I received a similar message back. We had both survived our traumatic adventure.