Another great forum ride!
We were so lucky with the weather - it was a chilly, overcast start at 09:30 but after about 2 hours the sun appeared and we then had fantastic conditions all day.
Rammylad turned up unannounced at Spring Wood. It was nice to meet him again, along with
Alun, tubbycyclist,
potsy,
OldnSlow,
Skudupnorth and
Pennine-Paul.
We met
italiafirenze at the start and
Ajay as we rode west below the north side of Longridge Fell.
I liked the stop at
Bonds of Elswick. The ice cream was very nice and was reasonably priced. Apparently, it gets very busy in the summer, which doesn't surprise me. The sunshine had brought out quite a few people yesterday, including other cyclists.
Even though I had plotted the route, I found my sense of direction being challenged by the numerous twists and turns that we made. I don't think I'd have enjoyed the route half as much if I didn't have a GPS to help me navigate. In that respect I had able backup from
tubbycyclist which helped when I was at the rear of the group as we approached a junction.
As you can see from
potsy's photos, we did ride some of the way on the new promenade. It should be really nice when it is finished, apart from the piles of dog crap lying around - thanks a lot those selfish, stupid dog owners in Blackpool! A nice place for families to walk about but some of you still let your dogs leave steaming piles for kids to run through - fantastic! Not great for cyclists either ...
We saw that we were tight for time. We had been riding slowly so far but we were keen to catch the 15:00 ferry at Fleetwood so we skipped the promenade north of Blackpool and rode as quickly as we could to get there in time. We had a fairly strong
sea-breeze to contend with all the way to Fleetwood but made it with 5 minutes to spare!
Getting onto the ferry proved a slightly dodgy experience! They kindly shifted the ferry and put a ramp up to us but I reckon that carrying bikes down concrete steps would actually be safer than trying to walk down a 45 degree metal ramp when wearing cycling shoes. Several of us nearly came a cropper slithering down that ...
The cafe at Knott End was really good. We sat in the sunshine at some tables in the garden at the rear of the building where we could catch some rays and keep an eye on our bikes. The food was nice. As you can see from
potsy's photo, I was fiercely protective of mine. A bad habit picked up in those years 'inside' - sorry folks!
Eventually, it was time to set off again. We still had that lovely sunshine. What became increasingly obvious was the difference in speed between the faster riders and the slower ones, and also that we weren't going to get back in daylight.
OldnSlow didn't have lights. It made sense for him to go on, and
Rammylad knew the way.
Ajay needed to get back to Lancaster and
italiafirenze was heading back towards Blackpool. They decided to say their goodbyes and be on their way, while the remaining 6 of us settled in to a speed that we could cope with.
I paid the price for not changing my rear tyre on Saturday evening. I'd pinched the wheels off my Basso and changed the cassette over so I could ride my Cannondale. I'm not fit enough to ride it on the big hills, but it was ideally suited today's 'flattish' ride. When I'd been working on the wheel, I noticed that the rear tyre had a big flat worn on it. It was obvious that most of the rubber was gone where it contacts the road. I tried to get another few rides out of it, but a sharp object managed to penetrate the tyre. Serves me right. I'll bin the tyre now.
The repair job taught me another lesson - I'm now too long-sighted to work close-up without glasses! I couldn't focus on the hole in my tyre to see if anything was still in there and had to borrow
Alun's specs for the job. I must add a cheap pair from the local market to my tool kit!
Skudupnorth was riding his Boardman fixed and had already done an extra 33 miles to get to the start so he made the wise decision to leave us after Scorton and head home on the A6.
The sun was getting low in the sky as we hit the hills again on the run back to Whalley. We were getting tired and were counting down the miles, or kms in my case. A sign saying 'Whalley 3 miles' was a welcome sight. What wasn't quite so welcome was another sign a mile or so down the road
also saying 'Whalley 3 miles'!
We made it back about 30 minutes after dark. I clocked it at 163 km, or 101.5 miles.
You know what - I'm not sure I can cope with
potsy beating me up all the hills and seeming fresh as a daisy afterwards!
A special thanks to
tubbycyclist for the lift. I couldn't have coped with riding an extra 43 miles yesterday to and from Spring Wood.
Special congratulations to
Pennine-Paul who not only did by far his longest ride ever, he did it fixed-wheel, and coughing and spluttering all the way after a week with a bad chest infection. Great effort!
PS And to
Skud whose 148 miles was a massive PB in distance, was also on fixed, and beats my PB by 6 or 7 miles.
And finally ... The answer: 1! (The question: How many beers would I have the energy to drink last night?)
If we don't do another forum ride before then, see some of you chaps on
Spring Into The Dales.
