The campsite at Salterforth had little to recommend it apart from its convenient location so I headed out early along the canal towpath towards Foulridge. The flat start to the day was to be a vast contrast to what was waiting beyond Colne. The next three valleys I was to cross seemed to have near vertical sides to them, and the initial climb was tough to impossible in each case. Could I have ridden all the way up these on a conventional bike? Somehow I doubt it would have been possible even then. However, in each case the gradient soon reduced some quarter of a mile up each climb into something steady and manageable. The tops of the fells were at their very best in the glorious sunshine. Reservoirs were features at the top of each of these fells and they were lovely in each case
On one fell top, as I stopped for a drink, I met the only people I was to meet on the tour who were riding the same route as me – NCN 68. They were heading North and were keen to hear which sections of ‘off road’ where OK to tackle and which to avoid. As I said in an earlier post I was indebted to the group from CTC Cambridge whose blog had given me the low down on this and had guided me well on all but the rail bed of day 1.
The next landmark was the M62. Whilst I was doing this ride to enjoy the wild splendor of the hills, there always seems something special about crossing a motorway. Perhaps this is because of my penchant for riding or walking ‘Coast to Coast’ and because the M6 and A1 feel like major milestones on such crossings? Route 68 takes a tunnel under the M62 which was rather fun.
It was time for a rest when I reached bustling Hebden Bridge and time to top of up water. The Metabike turned heads and a number of people were keen to know ‘how do you start off on that thing’ and ‘can we watch you set off?’ It pays not to be too shy if you ride a ‘bent because you are always going to stand out from the crowd. I decided to follow the canal towards Sowerby Bridge but soon found this too slow for my liking. Also I simply didn’t feel confident riding over the cobbles which seemed to be a feature under each bridge so I headed out onto the A646. Route 68 takes you South of the canal on minor roads, but this would have been very up and down. After my climb over the fells from Colne I wanted lunch before I tackled anything too challenging again.
On the outskirts of Sowerby Bridge ‘Friendly Fisheries’ came into view and this looked a good place/plaice to buy lunch. The day was sunny and warm, the hills significant and your truly was good and sweaty. As the lady behind the counter rooted through the Haddock to choose one to fry she seemed to be paying undue attention to the task. I must have looked like I’d done a good mornings work because the result, once cooked, was a very big portion – I must have conveyed the full hunger I was feeling! Once again I had to push the bike up the initial ascent out of Sowerby Bridge– but a bench at the top of the steep section gave me a lunch-spot with a view over the town.
This time the fell had a greater length of elevated section which I enjoyed greatly. Once again there was an attractive reservoir to ride around. Interestingly some of the reservoirs in this area provide water to the high sections of the local canals rather than drinking water. Finally I descended through the attractive and amusingly titled Upper Thong. My schoolboy mind boggled! It had been the toughest day yet by some margin and it was almost dinner time when I peddled into the attractive Holme Valley campsite just outside Holmfirth. I was to save Holm Moss, made famous by day two of the TDF until the morning.
Coming soon – Holmforth to Dovedale, the concluding section of my Spine of England tour.
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