This was an attempt at the 160 Km ride around the Cheshire Canal Ring consisting of The Maclesfield Canal, The Trent and Mersy Canal, The Bridgewater Canal, The Ashton Canal and The Peak Forest Canal. The attempt was initiated by Dave who wanted to complete this in one session. At the outset I thought the challenge would be too much for me so I undertook to accompany Dave (almost 20 years younger) for the first half.

The canal towpath varies from a well made tarmac path to a muddy quagmire, sometimes rather overgrown so progress was variable. Dave set a good pace, faster than I would normally go. By Middlewich after 5 hours (including lunch), fatigue was setting in so I decided not to hold him up any longer and broke off at 70 km to catch the train home. This left Dave with a further 90 km to complete the circuit. I will try to complete the second half at a later date.