Mary towneley loop this weekend

mattyfez · 27 May 2015 at 17:23

Just after a bit of advice really, mainly whether to do it clockwise or anti clockwise, I'll be cycling from brighouse joining at Hebden Bridge as that's my normal ride anyway. I'll be riding solo,and riding out to the loop so an extra 40km of gentle canal path. So I plan to set off at first light to avoid darkness.

I'm familiar with the stretch from stoodley pike up to Widdop reservoir but undecided about going clockwise or anti clockwise.. I'd rather do steep short climbs and longer gentler descents.

Kit wise I plan on taking a spare tube, puncture kit, chain tool, screwdriver and 2 allen keys.

Food wise I was thinking cheese and ham sandwiches, 8 slices, and 3 litres of squash, with and extra 500ml water.
This will be heavy so I may take less liquid and look to refill at some point on the way around.

Anyone done this and what are your suggestions? I did 125km in 8 hours a few months back, but that was all towpath so much easier going.

Any suggestions appreciated!

mattyfez · 1 Jun 2015 at 23:53

Well I did it, it damn near killed me, took about 9.5 hours!

Not to shabby for an unfit middle-aged guy on a hard tail, an FS would have made it easier.

I did it solo, so carried all my food and drink with me, but the weight of the food and drink defiantly hurt me on the climbs, or should I say walks!!

I took 500ml water, 1 litre of milk, 2 litres of lemonade and a stack of cheese and (real)ham sandwiches.

I made sure the weather was fair before setting off, you don't want to get caught out there in the rain!

FrenchTart · 2 Jun 2015 at 08:03

Good work on this. I must have missed your original post sorry

Personally I'd have dropped the milk and cheese. I love both but they're not optimal riding food (post-riding, milk is awesome though). Also generally these days I prefer to only carry maybe 1/2 my water and have a planned stop to pick up more. You can do the same with food as well.

mattyfez · 5 Jun 2015 at 19:46

Cheers, yeh some better planning would have allowed me to carry a lot less weight!

Really good route though, well waymarked mostly, think i only took one or two wrong turns, but a kind farm lady helped me out the first time and a dodgy looking but friendly enough chap the second. There were a few sections where I wondered if I'd strayed but it's pretty easy to navigate if you have a rough idea where you need to be before hand.

Nothing massively technical about the route but it's long! With lots of climbs and decents, and the decents aren't that easy going, so you don't get to rest much!