FNRttC Manchester-Morecambe FNRttC 16th October 2015.

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Andrew Br

Andrew Br

Still part of the team !
A little late and very wordy but indulge me on this and let me have your feedback about what worked and what didn't.

As I've already mentioned, I was very anxious about this ride. The worry mainly set in after the reccy that Martin A and I did. It was cold. Very cold and the mist didn't help. I could envisage a scenario where we had the same temperatures with wind and rain thrown in and that would be very uncomfortable and, even, borderline dangerous. I planned how to get the front of the group off the moors before the tail arrived (with great co-operation from the group) and I even researched “easier”* routes should the weather not play ball. In the event none of this pre-ride planning was required and we had, I think, about the best weather we could have hoped for. October, North Lancashire. What could possibly go wrong ?

On previous MCR-Morecambe rides, I've rocked up to the start just in time to check in and hear the pre-ride safety briefing. This year I'd agreed to meet a few people at Piccadilly Station so Helen and I positioned ourselves in the upstairs bar and watched with amusement as the arrivals wandered off in all sorts of directions. They all still managed to find us though.

When departure time arrived, we managed to negotiate the traffic and the tram-lines without incident and we arrived at Albert Square to meet up with the other riders.
After an, apparently, amusing safety briefing, we were off. The ride out of MCR is a long up-hill slog through lots of traffic lights which spread the group out. Since there are no turns 'til Whitefield, this meant that we didn't need to have very many re-grouping stops and it meant that we weren't a huge group for the rest of the traffic to overtake.
We braved the night-life of Bury town-centre en-mass and, as ever, it was good natured. Further down the road we stopped to lay flowers and remember AlanS/jogler. It was also the time to prepare for the hills to come.
It's a steeper slog up through and then beyond Tottington before a swift descent to another safety briefing about the poor surfaces on the dips to come. There were no casualties and, as far as I'm aware, no “scares”. Please come clean if you had a moment ;-)
Edgworth is a pleasant place to re-group and I'm pleased to report that the Rose and Crown appears to be in fine fettle. It didn't take long for the tail to join the front before the “signature” climb of the ride up to Edgerton Moss at ~340m. This strung us out, as expected, but the clear skies and warm(ish) temperature meant that it wasn't a great hard-ship to wait while an early group set off the for McDonalds food stop.
The Grane Road from Pickup Bank to Guide isn't great on a bike except when it's very early in the morning. Then, it's absolutely fantastic, as is the descent from Shadsworth to Whitebirk.
McDonalds did the job. Then I took us on a short detour when I didn't believe my Garmin. It was correct so we executed a very stylish U-turn to ride the roads that my school bus used to take on the way home.
We went through a red light at Brownhill since I've yet to ride there at night and trigger the sensors and then came the lovely descent to Ribchester, one of the highlights of the ride IMO. That was followed by one of the lowlights, the climb to Longridge. I hate (up)hills and I'm not very good at them. Some of you seem to like this ride because there is a lot of climbing (up). Nutters.
It's after Longridge that this ride really come into its own (again, IMO). The dips and sweeps through the lanes are a great rush when a group hammers along them and we seemed to keep together quite well. A further bonus was that I didn't take any wrong turnings ….
It was fantastic that we managed to time one of the regroup stops with clear skies and very little light pollution so that CharlieB could explain about the planet conjunction and point to help the hard of understanding (me).
At Condor Green a discussion was had about the wisdom of taking the coastal versus the intended A road route. The consensus that it was likely to be dry and not muddy proved to be correct and we had a fantastic ride into Lancaster and then on to a sunny Morecambe. For once, and finally, the views across the bay to the Lake District fells were a) viewable and b) majestic. It was worth riding there for that alone.
Back in Lancaster, we managed to drink Wetherspoons dry of Lancaster Black, a stout that we had for breakfast in honour of the (sadly) missing wanda2010.

And that was it. There's another MCR-MOR ride next year. I hope that it's as good as this year's. We finally got the weather that the ride and its participants deserved.

Thanks to everyone who came along and made it so easy for me. Your contributions on the reccy or to tail-ending, way-marking and riding competently helped me enormously. It's part of what makes the Fridays such an honour to be part of.


FWIW: our Saturday chicken, chips and Champagne evening went very well. It was complimented by coleslaw, Cremant (d'Alsace) and, when Helen and I eventually staggered home, Calvados. There were also cats though we didn't eat them.
I eventually went to bed at 01.00 Sunday. Epic.
 

504steve

Senior Member
Andrew, you needn't have stressed over the ride. It was great.

The route was perfect. A few hills (for someone who says they don't like hills you sure shot up them at the front), a bit of urban interest and some great quiet lanes.

We were lucky with the weather. For the time of year I don't think it could have been any better. Your report from the reccy about the cold, and also past years biblical rain made me realise how good it was overnight.

The timing of the ride was just perfect with the sky lightening and the sun rising as we cycled alongside the river Lune, to see Eric in daylight!

Many thanks Andrew for organising and leading this ride.
 

Siclo

Veteran
@Andrew Br I remember you mentioning on the ride that you had been a bit stressed - well, it certainly didn't show, and I was delighted that @Siclo came along - hopefully it was a fitting tribute to Alan.

Yes it was a fitting tribute and meant a lot to me, thank you all.

As to this

There were no casualties and, as far as I'm aware, no “scares”. Please come clean if you had a moment ;-)

I know nothing about a local rider who does know better but was so curious about just how much speed a 'bent could carry through the dip that he very nearly forgot to take the turn at all and ended up running out wide through the gravel against the verge :whistle:
 

Gordon P

There's no Calvados? I'll have a beer or a whisky
Location
London E3
I was very anxious about this ride
And as a result all went wonderfully well. getting out of Manchester was potentially tricky but you had apparently got it all covered & that made it straightforward. Once we were beyond Bury the drama of the ride unfolded.
We finally got the weather that the ride and its participants deserved.
And it was amazingly warm and the views at Morecambe magnificent
So thanks for all that preparation
 

kimble

Veteran
I know nothing about a local rider who does know better but was so curious about just how much speed a 'bent could carry through the dip that he very nearly forgot to take the turn at all and ended up running out wide through the gravel against the verge :whistle:

I must have missed this, somehow. Possibly looking in the wrong direction? :smile:
 
U

User482

Guest
I was thinking of the contrast between our lovely ride and scenes of the flooding yesterday in Lancaster and further north. Hope everyone is ok up there.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-35024430
 
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