Leeds - Liverpool canal in a day - 127 miles!

What are they riding ?

Any other tips would be great!

Make sure you have a bell

+ 1 bell, if the other bell gets annoying or breaks.

thats a long way on a mtb, get another bike
or strip of the cassette shifters derailleur and make it singlespeed and slick tyres

Did it on my old On-One Codeine, think i had Spesh Pergs on it at the time.

You'll be fine, probably.

Yes, bring a bell.

It's a long time since I rode any of it (20 yrs) but, from Leeds to just past Skipton used to be a regular passage as it led into different wooded trails at the time.

If you're fit and fuel properly etc you should be fine with the distance as it isn't that taxing physically.

For tyres, they wouldn't be first choice although I'd just allow for a slightly slower average speed instead of spending money on a new set not to be used again. If everybody else doing it is on gravel type bikes and of a similar fitness to you, maybe some re-evaluation is needed.

I've not done it but those that I know who have have complained about how much rougher it is in places than the section from Leeds to Keighley.

I've entered the CDT in Sept so might get the train over to Liverpool and cycle back.

@Weeksy There will be 4 of us. Two hybrid bikes and im not sure of the others yet

@twonks Thats reassuring thanks! We hope to be averaging 10-11 mph. I plan to do a good few miles along the canal with my current setup in the next few days to how it feels and how fast i average. Take it from there 🙂

If you're reasonably fit you'll be fine on any tyres, but something faster rolling will sap less energy.

Are you in Leeds by any chance? I might have some fast rolling 650b tyres you could have for cheap (I think they're Vitoria Aka's).

Ive only done the bit in and around Liverpool, so cannot comment on the other 100miles or so, but its rough. Something with a big volume tyre would be good, i was on a 2.1" tyre at 40psi, with no suspension and found it tough to keep a high speed due to the nature of the surface.

I recently did a long gravelish ride along the canal , surface was pretty chewed up in places , on my hardtail with tyres (ardents) pumped up v hard , gave me really aching feet, that's with spesh shoes & egg beater mallets, so make sure your shoe/pedal setup is super comfy, I ended up letting some air out of the tyres and made a big difference.

Worth putting some narrower bars on - say some 680's as there's dozens of A-frame vehicle barriers to negotiate.

Think about a crud catcher or something similar for all the dog dirt.

Make sure your bunny hops are on point for the fishing poles strewn all over the track, they love it when you hop over 1k of carbon pole...

Don't underestimate how tiring towpaths can be. Flat and bumpy which means constant pedalling. They can get really rather dull as well!

Tubeless with fresh sealant or some kind of puncture proof tyre. Mrs used to commute the bit around Blackburn and it was a glass-fest requiring Schwalbe Marathon plus to avoid guaranteed punctures every day. I imagine a lot of the other urban bits will be similar. Say hi to the drunks permanently sat at Eanam Wharf.

The bit out of Leeds got resurfaced recently, it's tarmac in places too. Not too bad as far as saltaire either - good taproom here. Beyond that I hear it's rough as they say above.

100% need a bell so folk move out the way and lights obvs.

Defo get some fast rolling tyres but Your bike will be good for the rougher stuff.

Maybe figure out some motivational strategies as I get bored after riding it for an hour so 10 hrs could be mind numbing.

I've done it in a day.
MTB too much bike & weight.
Gravel bike, with bell, and large volume tyres with low-ish psi. No need for much tread.
Brooks saddle would be useful.

I ride from Skipton in both directions quite often on both a gravel bike and rigid MTB. As has been said, the condition of the path varies a huge amount so there's not really a perfect bike.

Think your bike will be fine but take a pump so you can mess around with pressure depending on the section.

From the bits I ride, Keighley to Silsden is pretty smooth, Silsden to Kildwick rough, Kildwick to Gargrave mostly smooth, Gargrave to Foulridge rough in places.

Don't worry about keeping up on any of these sections as the walkers will keep the speed down.

The only bit I know, and not from riding it, is Wigan to Liverpool - I would think tyre choice could be weather dependent, if it's wet you'll need something to get traction on the mud.

I think the bike will be fine, but those tyres will be pretty draggy as you will be pedalling them constantly with it being flat, so do get something faster rolling.

I've some 650b Vittoria Mezcals you can borrow (if you're in/near Leeds), or which I can sell and send you for around £25 all in.

I did Saltaire to Silsden on a Brompton. Dullest ride ever and it can be slippery mud fest or baked hard and bone rattling. It was lockdown and the only bike I had access to.

I’d say the hardest part will be getting food in if you’re not used to riding long enough to need to eat properly.

Maybe figure out some motivational strategies as I get bored after riding it for an hour so 10 hrs could be mind numbing.

Dullest ride ever

Wear a life jacket in case you drift off and wake up in the canal.

I did 100 miles of it last Summer on an OnOne big dog, supporting SiL who did it all in a day. He did it on an old rigid MTB with road tyres. His big mistake he says, is stopping for too long a few times. Where he should have done a quick 10 minute refuel, he had a half hour break....multiply that by a few stops and the 11-12 hrs becomes 15. (He had a back up driver meet him at a few pre determined points...it worked well and meant he (plus 2 others he did it with) could be dropped at the start and all picked up at the finish)

Get yourself a British Waterways key, about £4 on Amazon. Dead handy. Gravel bike/Cross bike is your best bet MTB over that distance would be a bit of a drag.

I did Saltaire to Silsden on a Brompton. Dullest ride ever and it can be slippery mud fest or baked hard and bone rattling

Can't think where it would be a slippery mud fest on that section as it's all tarmac or aggregate? If you mean the silsden end (which used to be really bad) then it was all surfaced about 6 years ago. I'm pretty certain that from Leeds to gargrave there are only odd sections unsurfaced now, silsden to kildwick being the longest section, there's a short unsurfaced section at Shipley but you can ride on the tarmac road immediately parrallel.

My bit of advice would be about your hands. Sat for hours in the same position with weight on your hands wont be very pleasant and you'll probs get pins and needles in them and might become unpleasant. Maybe get some of those ergo grips and or bar ends so you can shift your hands about. Maybe even set up a more upright position so there's less weight on your hands. Maybe take some padded gloves.

Also in addition to bell and puncture protection, maybe wear some glasses, there's often loads of flying insects about on the towpath (depending on weather conditions).

pass all the advice onto your mates. Especially the high chance of punctures one.

If it was me id buy some cheap road/commute tyres and those inner tubes with gunk in them.

I've done similar "easy" distances on an MTB before, my tips would be:

Is your bike comfortable? Generic MTB branded saddles are fine for 2-3 hours of sitting/standing. They can be horrific if you actually just sit on them and pedal for 10minutes. If you've got a turbo, stick the MTB on that and see how long you can stay in the saddle for.

Fueling: You'll probably want about 3000 calories (remember your body can burn it's own glucose stores and fats as well so you don't need to keep up with what the garmin says, about 50% of that is about right). I like to have 2x bar bags, one sweet (cakes, jelly babies etc) and one savoury (mini sausage rolls, sandwiches, nuts, etc), then every 20 minutes have a 100 calorie portion.

Rest: I prefer a break every 2.5-3 hours. Do a few stretches, cook some instant noodles, have a brew, cool your feet in the canal. Some people subscribe to it being better to keep moving slowly than to stop if you want to get there quickly, but if you're not behind schedule it's nice to have a break.

Bike/tyres : If you're fit enough then anything is possible, you just need to be able to ride below your threshold at the groups pace. I'm not sure 1 day out justifies n+1, but then you might enjoy it and start commuting by bike, in which case a slick tired hardtail might be a good choice. OR buy it, stick your own saddle and bar/grips on for the ride, and sell it afterwards.

Thanks for all of your suggestions everyone!

I have fully committed to the challenge now. I will be riding my all-rounder Whyte T130rs. I have already installed a higher carbon Fatbar for comfort, ordered a new seat as my old was creaking really bad. Fitted a fancy football bell. I've ordered a top tube bag for easy access to snacks, gels etc. I have a camelbak ready. Still undecided on tyres, I did a 20 mile test run with my current setup and it seemed ok pumped up pretty hard. i will see what the weather has planned for september.

Anyway. The Mr's has decided we should setup a fundraiser page for Paws who are in desperate need of help at this time. If anyone would like to throw a few pennies at it then they would be massively appreciate anything you can possibly donate.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/liverpool-to-leeds-canal-bike-ride-for-paws?utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer

Cheers all. Alan

All sounds good, just do me a favour and don't pump.your tyres up hard. Run your usual pressures. I guarantee you'll remember this advice halfway through and smile to yourself.

ordered a new seat

This could be either a really good, or really bad thing.

The state of my arse after 6+ hours would be the main concern for me.