Attendees: Peter Hughes, Sue Brooke, Dave Dillon, Kate Harvey, Oi Ding Koi, Phil Ramsbottom, Dave Shotton.

A damp, dark Sunday morning saw the hardy souls mentioned above gather at Sue's house for a bike ride around post-industrial North Manchester. Due to the previous weeks inclement weather, mud was very much on the menu!

We headed off along Ringley Road to the initial sanctuary of Hurst Wood. Despite being looked after (in a professional capacity) by Kate Horgan for a number of years [Close to being edited here, Ed!], the wood was looking very well maintained - well surfaced tracks saw us make excellent progress down to the old disused Radcliffe - Salford railway line.

We braved the mudfest of the old railway bed, then the bridge across the M62 brought us to Phillips Park and the start of the manmade Manchester Council bike trails. These trails drain well, are fun to ride and have brought a new lease of life to a quiet part of Manchester. Highly recommended.

A river crossing brought us to the excellent singletrack trails which skirt the Irwell and lead to Clifton Marina, where a quick detour round the back of the local sewage farm (posh, eh?) saw us bump into Phil Ramsbottom: Phil was wandering around in public waving long, sharp pointed things, under the pretence of 'clearing the canal side'. Obviously we gave him a wide berth and continued on our muddy way, free of casualties.

Next stop was the Horseshoe pub at Ringley, where we warmed up with soup, coffee and er, beer for a couple of hardy folk. Next, a final hack along the Bury - Bolton canal towpath, past the area featured in the film 'Spring & Port Wine' & the disused steam crane at Mount Scion, which along with some nearby public sculptures, provided climbing practice for Dave S & Ding.

Everyone was starting to feel a little tired at this stage and we were starting to lose the light, so we headed back toward Radcliffe and a final quick blast returned us back to Sue's house. A quick hose down of the bikes and plenty of tea and cake for the riders ended a very enjoyable day out.

Many thanks to all attendees for making the day a success. An excellent video, shot by Dave Dillon, portraying some of the events mentioned above is available for your viewing pleasure on our wonderful website.

A whizz round Phillips Park

A pleasant tour around some of the local north Manchester trails.The route will take in man made trails, canal towpath, disused railway and natural singletrack.

Nothing too technical, suitable for all mountain bikes, cyclocross bikes and hybrids - anything with decently treaded tyres should be fine, as it does tend to get a bit muddy.

Loads to go at, so depending on the weather and preferences on the day we can vary the length and severity of the route.

Meet at 10.30 at Sue Brooke's home address in Radcliffe - details in the handbook or contact myself or Sue for further details.