The forecast for Saturday when I looked on Friday evening was that it would be dry but cold. Saturday morning was rather a shock when I get up as it was pouring with rain! I told Andy that I didn’t want to go – but he just laughed at me. We set off anyway and cycled to the starting point of the SCCC ride, which for Saturday was Longdendale. Our ride to the official starting point was 15.4 miles for us. The route tooks us through Bredbury, Woodley, Mottram through Hadfield. We were surprised as we got past Hadfield, that there was snow on the ground.

We met with the others in a lay by part way down the Longendale Trail. Some had come by car. Those of us that had cycled there, were rather wet and therefore rather cold as a result. My cycling shoes felt like they were full of water, despite the fact that I had neoprene cycling boots on over the top of them – the water must have come in through the bottom where the cleats are attached – yuk!

Initially we cycled along the the side of the Woodhead Reservoir along a trail until we reached the A628.

Having followed the reservoir and the huge pylons than ran down the valley. At the end of the valley where we met up with the main road, there was a rock face with what looked a tunnel going into the hillside. Andy Sykes, the ride leader for the day, told us that the power lines which had come up the valley then turn into cables which go through the Woodhead Tunnel and supply energy to Yorkshire. He told us that it was a very well kept secret that Lancashire is supplying Yorkshire with energy.

After a photo call, we returned back to the lay by where we started.

For the lay by we then continued along the trail. You can clearly see the snow on the hills in front of us.

We cycled along the trail following along the side of Torside Reservoir then over the dam and then along the side of Rhodeswood Reservoir. along Valehouse Reservoir and Bottoms Reservoir and into Hadfield.

There were quite a few of us that found we had problems with our brakes. I think that it was down the the rain, puddles and muddy tracks that we were cycling down – they must have worn the brake blocks down. I found that mine stopped working altogether, which was rather scarey! I made sure that I walked down the hills.

Once in Hadfield we went to a cafe called Cafe Royston. Which was a very friendly, had good food and was excellent value. Before I went in, I tinkered with my brakes. Unfortunately I could get the front brake to work but did mange to get the back brake to work.

After the cafe a few of us cycled home rather than complete the ride back to the lay by. This was mainly because of the brake issues. However the ride back to the lay by was actually following the route than we had used to get there in the first place. The following photo’s are some that we took on the way to the start in the morning. The afternoon was much better weather wise.

It was a shame about the weather, which put a bit of a damper on the ride for me – just because my feet were sooooo cold! Here is the route of the complete Longdendale ride:

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We cycled back home via a different route, which turned out to be a little shorter, only about 12 miles. We went back through Glossop, Charlesworth then Marple Bridge and back to home.