Manchester to Blackpool bikeride. Any hills?

Gotte

Because of certain logistics, my friend an I might will probably have to do the Manchester to Blackpool bike ride on a couple of folding bikes. This is no great difficulties, as I've done the distance (60 miles) on my Dahon, trouble is, it's never been on anything other than flat country with only the occasional hill (steep, yes, but never too prolonged)

What's the profile like for the Manchester to Blackpool? Are there any nasties in there?

Cleat Eastwood

Bonjour, theres a thread here:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12706799

with a link in one of the posts to someones really good blog on the ride that will answer most ofyour questions.

Theres also a thread in sportives section.

I think the general consensus is that its basically flat. Do read the blog though its really interesting.

Gotte

Thanks for that. Much appreciated.

shouldbeinbed

how'd it go on the Dahon? I've done it a couple of times on my Birdy and survived quite happily. I was beaten by over an hour first time by a guy on a bog standard 3 speed Brompton tho. he was passing the roadies for fun too.

Gotte

I found the trip fine. I had no problems with the hills, all manageable - even the skin shredding headwind at Lytham didn't really phase me. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for my friend. Though he didn't find it mauling, and started well, he slowed to a crawl after about 40 miles. We tour abroad, so it was natural for me to stick with me and chat as we went, and our eventual time (with three longish food stops) was about seven hours. I figure we were going about 10 miles an hour at best, and in the teeth of the gale at the end, may five? My friend's not a regular cyclist, so really, his achievement was not to be devalued. And though we weren't the last, it was pretty much wrapping up time when we got it. The man in the booth with the mic even mentioned our folders as we went through the finish with a tone in his voice that suggested we'd been riding unicycles.
The only slightly sour point was that my friend seemed to blame our slow speed on the fact that we were riding 20" wheels. try as I might to convince him that the gearing made it immaterial what size wheels were on his bike, he just kept saying "But surely if you have bigger wheels, you just go quicker."

shouldbeinbed

Lol. I hear that a lot from the uninitiated till I point at the big front cog compared to the half size regular ones.

good effort to finish then, I didn't like the Lytham way last year, it just seems to drag on forever and that wind off the sea is no fun as you're spending what seems like a couple of years rounding the headland and up onto the promenade.

Gotte

You're right, the Lytham bit did seem to take forever. Up till then, even though we weren't going that quickly, the time flew by, but at Lytham, someone dropped the anchor and it went all Land of the Giants.
The worst bit of the route, though, for me was through Preston, where we went by the river and through a trading estate (don't know its name). The road was narrow and filled with people out for shopping. It was really wearing, though mercifully short.
Anyway, here's to next year.