I did my Glasson Dock (port of Lancaster) forum ride today. It turned out not to be very 'forum' (only @Dadam and @Pennine-Paul had signed up for it, and Dadam dropped out yesterday due to fatigue), and not at all 'Glasson Dock' (details below)!
My non-forum cycling pal Bill joined us, giving me a lift to the starting point at Spring Wood picnic centre, near Whalley. We met PP in the car park, as arranged.
I had heard that the car parking system was awkward, and yes, it was! If you didn't have a smartphone or a phone signal, you would be stuffed. I had to download an app, then register with the parking company, then confirm my registration, enter Bill's car registration number, and only then could I actually pay (in my case using Google Pay)! The good thing is that it was only £1/day plus a 20p service charge, and I suppose that it will be simple next time, now that I am set up.
I haven't seen Paul for years so it was good to meet up again. We had a little chat, and then set off.
We were heading through parts of the lovely Forest of Bowland to our café stop at Glasson Dock. We passed through Whalley and Great Mitton and then began a gradual climb to Cow Ark. Then...
Stop - Paul's rear tyre had got a slow puncture; drat; not a good start to the ride!
(Bill takes a break from supervising Paul repairing the puncture, and starts supervising me photographing Paul repairing the puncture!)
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Repair complete, we continue the ascent. A couple of minutes later, Paul (luckily!) realises that he has left his tools behind, and goes back for them. We wait. Paul climbs back up to us. We continue on our way...
We got to Cow Ark then took a right turn and headed over the hill and began a rapid descent to Whitewell. On the way down I was struck by how gorgeous the scenery looked today, but we were a bit behind schedule so I didn't want to stop to take a photo. I will cheat, and grab one from Streetview...
(It looked like this, only even better!)
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We continued, but soon there were more problems with Paul's bike... I knew that Bill would be getting frustrated so I suggested that he should carry on without us to Glasson Dock. He could wait there if he wanted to, otherwise he could do the rest of the ride solo, drive home without me, and I would ride the 26 km back from Spring Wood later.
(Paul starts work on puncture #2, and I take some scenic snaps!)
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Paul was checking the newly punctured tube. He put some air in it and it seemed to maintain the pressure. Very odd!
I decided to take a good look at the tyre. I couldn't spot anything wrong with it! There must be something though... I checked again, extremely thoroughly! I eventually found a miniscule thorn. It looked too small to be the cause of the problem but when I flexed the tyre casing back and forth I saw the tiniest of pinprick holes open up. That must have been about the smallest possible hole! The tube had probably gained an equally tiny puncture which didn't open up under Paul's gentle test pressure, but would under normal pressure. We put another tube in. It held pressure... Ok, puncture fairy - that was enough for today!
Onwards...
We got to Dunsop Bridge and headed for the Trough of Bowland. Road closure signs for 1st-6th August... Phew, dodged a bullet there. Only we hadn't!
Chippings. Great piles of chippings. Then, still-wet tarmac with chippings half stuck to it. It couldn't go on like that, but it did, km after km. It was horrid!
The only thing worse than cycling along a flat road covered in piles of loose chippings is climbing a very steep hill covered in piles of loose chippings and having your wheels slide about beneath you. No, let me try again...
Cycling along a flat road which is covered in piles of loose chippings is nasty; climbing a very steep hill which is covered in piles of loose chippings and having your wheels slide about beneath you is terrible; descending a very steep hill which is covered in piles of loose chippings and having your wheels slide about beneath you is terrible and terrifying!!!
(These photos taken at the top of the Trough of Bowland climb don't really give a true impression of quite how gravelly that road was today, but they will give you some idea!)
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We somehow managed to get safely to where the road was about to start climbing to Jubilee Tower and the damn gravel continued! It was obviously going to right up to the tower and then down to the crossroads at Quernmore. But look - the road to the left was gravel-free! Blow it - we were running late, Paul was finding the route a bit tough on singlespeed, and we'd had enough of the gravel, so we turned left. It would knock nearly 25 km off the route, and some climbing.
We made good progress round to Scorton and stopped there at The Barn for a rest, and ice cream cornets.
Eventually, back on the bikes, we headed for Longridge. It took us a while to get there and we were hungry and thirsty so we called in at Sainsbury's for a short second break.
As we then headed back towards Whalley, I realised that I was not looking forward to my extra 26 km ride home. I would get 80 km in by Spring Wood and that would be enough to qualify as one of my Lunacy Challenge rides. 26 km more would hit my 100 km stretch target, but I would rather not.
We got to Whalley, turned right at the mini-roundabout, and began the climb to Spring Wood. I looked up the road and spotted a familiar cycling jersey - Bill was standing on the pavement stuffing his face with wild blackberries. Super!!
He had waited a while for us at Glasson Dock and then set off back, but had got a bit lost and done extra hills and distance. He was desperately refuelling on berries.
We said goodbye to Paul at the car park and then I was driven home. Luxury!
A lovely sunny ride (apart from that gravel!); hopefully not the last decent one of the summer.
Sounds like quite a fraught ride! Thanks for the heads up on the gravel over the trough. I was there a few weeks ago and noted what a good patch job they had done along the TdF route, seems strange to cover that over with chippings. Usually they will come back and sweep up but not pleasant to ride through drifts of the stuff in the meantime.
