Finally, after much persuasion, Andy did buy a knee support this morning and thankfully it’s seemed to help.

Manchester, Bolton & Bury canal

Funny old day as the mileage was low but it took ages to cycle. The first leg, getting out of Greater Manchester, took forever as it was so fiddly on the map and we kept losing the Sustrans signs.

The centre of Manchester was really lively and vibrant – there was a huge amount of building and re-development going on. However, pedalling through the suburbs was a bit sad – they’re very run down and there’s so much real poverty in evidence.

Mummy goose and her cute brood

The scenery only got really beautiful when we hit the Ribble Valley, our destination for the night, just outside Whalley (pronounced Wall-E).

View over The Ribble valley

Writing this from a pub in Whalley tonight as it’s the 2nd leg of the play-offs: Charlton vs Doncaster. Things are a bit tense at half-time 1 – 1.