Ride Reports
Saturday 19th August 2017
C Ride 50 Mile Challenge by Mike Coleran
They say a change is as good as a rest. Well this week’s ’50 Mile Challenge’ was definitely a change, being a meandering route around West Lancashire, an area unfamiliar to many of our club members. But was it a rest? Hardly, with a strong and gusty south-westerly gale to contend with, the going was tough in places but we were well rewarded when the ragged remnants of Hurricane Gert was on our backs.
It was a respectable number of fifteen riders that set off from (and later returned to) Hutton Village Hall on what was themed as a ‘Brucie’ ride, in honour of the late, great Bruce Forsyth. I won’t go into detail, you had to be there. Let’s just say “It was good to see them, to see them good!”, it was a “Good Game, Good Game”, and “All right my loves?”. The wind was at us from the start, this first half being pancake flat with nothing to stop it roaring in from the Irish Sea. Pushed and shoved we battled our way across the agricultural landscape passing fields of carrots, spuds and windmills (just one actually – windmill I mean, not carrot), before our arrival at the Twin Lakes Café, just five miles from where we had parked our cars. We received a very warm welcome by John, the joint owner of the café, and were quickly served the usual fare. Our Club Baked Beans Aficionado, Kenny, declared the B on T to be up there amongst the best – a great accolade for Twin Lakes! Some great Bacon butties too and scones to die for!
The second half of this ride takes on a different character with less of the unvarying flatness experienced earlier. Gently rising lanes through Maudsley and Bispham Green lead us to the first (and only) ‘proper’ hill of the day, the steady climb up to High Moor. At last, some panoramic views followed by wind-assisted rolling roads heading gradually downhill to Eccleston, with a short stop to look at Delph Quarry, the scene of a macabre murder many years ago. The final few miles were through Ulnes Walton and New Longton before crossing the busy A59 and back to base. When planning this ride I knew the distance was somewhere between 48 and 52 miles, would it be the 50 miles as in the rides name? Well, 50.07 miles showed on my Garmin as I cocked my leg off the bike for the last time today! I was going to be clever and put the route on here from my Garmin thingy along with average speed, but my Garmin thingy may be clever but it looks like I’m not – I think I deleted the ride when I switched it off, doh!!
Another, well attended C ride, with lots of banter and lots of laughs – “Didn’t they do well?” Thanks for your company everyone.
It was a respectable number of fifteen riders that set off from (and later returned to) Hutton Village Hall on what was themed as a ‘Brucie’ ride, in honour of the late, great Bruce Forsyth. I won’t go into detail, you had to be there. Let’s just say “It was good to see them, to see them good!”, it was a “Good Game, Good Game”, and “All right my loves?”. The wind was at us from the start, this first half being pancake flat with nothing to stop it roaring in from the Irish Sea. Pushed and shoved we battled our way across the agricultural landscape passing fields of carrots, spuds and windmills (just one actually – windmill I mean, not carrot), before our arrival at the Twin Lakes Café, just five miles from where we had parked our cars. We received a very warm welcome by John, the joint owner of the café, and were quickly served the usual fare. Our Club Baked Beans Aficionado, Kenny, declared the B on T to be up there amongst the best – a great accolade for Twin Lakes! Some great Bacon butties too and scones to die for!
The second half of this ride takes on a different character with less of the unvarying flatness experienced earlier. Gently rising lanes through Maudsley and Bispham Green lead us to the first (and only) ‘proper’ hill of the day, the steady climb up to High Moor. At last, some panoramic views followed by wind-assisted rolling roads heading gradually downhill to Eccleston, with a short stop to look at Delph Quarry, the scene of a macabre murder many years ago. The final few miles were through Ulnes Walton and New Longton before crossing the busy A59 and back to base. When planning this ride I knew the distance was somewhere between 48 and 52 miles, would it be the 50 miles as in the rides name? Well, 50.07 miles showed on my Garmin as I cocked my leg off the bike for the last time today! I was going to be clever and put the route on here from my Garmin thingy along with average speed, but my Garmin thingy may be clever but it looks like I’m not – I think I deleted the ride when I switched it off, doh!!
Another, well attended C ride, with lots of banter and lots of laughs – “Didn’t they do well?” Thanks for your company everyone.
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