White Coppice is situated at the foot of the West Pennine Moors, steeped in history it is the birth place of Henry Tate who founded the Tate Gallery. Henry Tate managed to make a fortune by discovering a method of turning loaf sugar into cubes.

White Coppice really is a unique location. It has a rich mining past and scars can still be seen on the landscape. White Coppice gives access to a vast stretch of Moorland and on a clear day, you have a view that encompasses the peaks of the Lake District, Blackpool Tower and The Big One roller coaster, Liverpool Bay, Anglesey to the peaks
of Snowdonia.

White Coppice attracts walkers, fell runners and mountain bikers. White Coppice also sports a cricket pitch and during the cricket season you can go and watch, food is available at either the ice cream van or from the cricket club.

Route 1.

Go through the gate at the top of the cricket pitch. Turn right and head towards the stream, follow the path alongside the stream. Thus path leads uphill towards some mining works. If you're on a bike you can launch yourself back down the hill. Its exhilarating because of the huge drop on the left hand side.

Route 2.

Go through the gate at the top of the cricket pitch. Turn left and follow the path straight on. You will get to a fork in the path. Turn right and head up the rocky hill. The path winds itself up to the top of the moorlands. As you climb higher you begin to see more of the beautiful scenery. When you eventually get to the top you are greeted with a vast panoramic view which stretches all the way to the coast. If you continue along the path you will see the ruins which used to be Drinkwaters Farm.

The best part especially for mountain bikers is cycling back down the hill. Its a technically demanding descent. Full of loose boulders it will test any rider to their full potential.

Route3.

Go through the gate at the top of the cricket pitch. Turn right and head towards the bidge. This way takes you along a path with huge hills on your left hand side. This way is extremly popular with walkers and bird watchers.

All in all White Coppice is a must visit location.

After 2 weeks of no mountain bike action my bike must of thought its ready for the scrap heap. Fortunately my mate Finnan managed to get his back wheel fixed after it broke jumping off walls in Astley Park, Chorley. We arranged to go out on Sunday, usually there's the 3 of us who go out, me, Sweeney and Finnan. Sweeney couldn't make it because he broke his foot jumping over a wall when out on the town.

We decided to stay local and head to a wood near the Yarrow River. The main aim was to discover new routes and downhill sections. We cycled down a long path which opened up to what could only be described as "mountain biking heaven."

We discovered a huge slope which lined the path we were on, we pushed our bikes to the top to have a closer look. One downhill caught our eye the most and Finnan decided to take it on. The hill was extremely steep so he stayed on the brake most of the way down. The fact there was a tree right at the bottom was neither here nor there. He managed to skid around the tree then it was my turn.

I thought I could go faster than that, I set off down on the break then released when I had a good line, I picked up some speed and began to think about avoiding the tree, unfortunately my wheel got stuck in a ridge and I couldn't turn to avoid it, I slammed on the break but to no avail, the bike flipped, I went over the handle bars and smacked square into the tree, bounced off and hit the ground then the bike landed straight on top of me.

My first thought was I must have broke something, but to my surprise there wasn't a scratch on me. Finnan came running over thinking the same and couldn't believe it when he saw me get up.

If my bike thought it was ready for the scrap heap before, then what would it be thinking after whacking into a tree at high speed. Luckily though it was in full working order, I could hardily believe how lucky I had been.

It brings a new meaning to "being close to nature."

A new feature to the blog will be arriving shortly. I will be posting up local routes of where I mountain bike. The routes will include a map indicating key features such as downhills, jumps etc. The first map to be posted will be White Coppice near Heapey in Chorley and features a number of downhills.

After hearing my mum and dad were planning a holiday to Loch Lomond in Scotland, I instantly thought of taking my mountain bike.

We stayed in a beautiful log cabin by the edge of the Loch in a place called Ardlui. On arrival we got talking to a guy who worked at the resort and he told us about a ferry that goes across from the resort to the opposite side of the loch, from there you can get onto the West Highland Way. He had taken a couple of mountain bikers across and they said it was completely impassible.

The Challenge

This sounded like a challenge to me, and I wanted to check it out for myself. I had the idea of cycling around the Loch and ending up on the West Highland Way.

The Day Arrives

I filled up water bottles and packed up all the necessary food for the journey. The weather was good so I didn't have to worry about it raining. I set off down the A82 which is a main road down the left hand edge of the Loch. The road is 24 miles long and takes you to the bottom edge of Loch Lomond. From there I would stop and have dinner. The journey down was relatively quick and I managed it within 2 hours. I stopped in a town called Balloch for some dinner and filled on sweets to keep my energy up.

The next leg of the journey I cycled towards Drymen. From their I took a road which led up the opposite side of the Loch. This ended in a place called Balmaha (picture at top was taken in Balmaha a couple of days later). From their I got onto the West Highland Way. I was now almost 3/4 of the way round and so far it had taken over 4 hours.

West Highland Way

I joined the West Highland Way which weeved in and out of forests onto flat plains and back into forests. The going was like a bridle-way, and I began to think this is easy. As I entered Ross Wood the path started to become a bit more rugged, and narrower. The path was becoming more mountainous, so much so that it wasn't really a path at all. On stretches it was impossible to cycle and I had to carry my bike, this led to other problems in the fact that the path just blended into the surrounding landscape, so actually navigating became a challenge.

As I got half way up the opposite side of the Loch I was carrying my bike more and more, It was now impossible to cycle, and carrying the bike was becoming a real burden. I was increasingly frustrated as my bike bounced of rocks and boulders. I thought it couldn't possibly be like this all the way back.

I plodded on walking, at one stage the path led right to the edge of a cliff over the Loch, This was extremely hazardous and summed up the West Highland Way to me. The path was now totally gone and was just big boulders and rocks. Time was now ticking, it was taking ages to walk and carry my bike over huge obstructions. I started to think if I would make it back before it went dark.

What the Hell????

The path became to reappear but I was still walking, It began to wind up and around to a bridge over a ravine. I crossed and the path then led down to a hotel of all things. By this point I was really frustrated and I couldn't believe their was a hotel in-front of me. I had been walking for at least 3 hours and I looked like I had been to hell and back.

The thought of not actually making it back before dark was becoming more real. I had to press on faster, I began to think I could always catch the ferry that leaves from Ardlui (where I set off from), but this stopped operating at 9pm. The time was now 5pm so I had 4 hours to reach the ferry port.

The last stretch

I managed to jump on my bike for 200 yards then it was back onto the West Highland Way. It was back on foot again, and I was becoming more weak due to carrying my bike. The West Highland Way didn't get any easier I thought it mite ease of and I would be able to cycle a stretch. This was not the case. I eventually made it to the ferry port, by this point i'd had enough and it was now becoming dark, the time was now 8pm. I walked over to the ferry and realised that it wasn't running. I had got my times wrong, it runs till 9pm in summer and had finished at 7pm.

I stood at the end of the pier looking out across the Loch to Ardlui, I had no energy left and I had missed the last ferry.

Ship Ahoi.

As I stood at the end of the pier a man shouted from a sailing boat confirming I had missed the last ferry. He slowly sailed over to where I was stood and offered to give me a lift across. I couldn't believe it. He helped me place my bike in the boat then we hoisted up the sail and set off. The whole journey was worth it just for this experience, it was so calming sailing back across the Loch especially after a day of huge frustrations.