Ride Reports
Saturday 7th October 2017
C Ride to Heysham by Ken Roberts
And then there were…………?
Yvonne should have been C ride co-ordinator on Saturday but was unfortunately not well so Steph suggested that as I‘d just ridden most of the way back from Heysham already getting to Garstang I might be best qualified to navigate the group on the outward journey there also. I agreed to this & immediately rode off at the front, only to lose my chain & then my pump before we even got past Booths, this did not auger well for the rest of the day! Once over Garstang X roads & on towards Cockerham we lost Stewart who had failed to get across so we stopped to let him catch up. Once at Conder Green I lost Pip who needed to return home, then at Aldcliffe I lost Steph who was worn out having ridden from Manchester to Brighton the day before & then I lost Stewart again as he went back with her in sympathy, a sense of deflation within myself began to emerge even without a puncture in evidence yet! So eventually we arrived at the café stop, at which point Chloe announced that herself & Hannah needed to return forthwith for a wedding reception, Hannah had managed to get herself all the way to the UK from Germany & I had managed to lose her by Half Moon Bay, so having ridden only 10 miles so far I had managed to lose one rider every 2 miles. Some relief was introduced as upon entering the café there was Malcolm, who would bolster us remaining 5 to a less numerically embarrassing 6. Once Ken & Gwen had finished their teaspoons of beans on toast we set off on the return leg; as we rode along Sandylands prom’ we were greeted by the sight of men surfing in the sea pulled along by large kites, someone enquired if I might consider tying a kite to my bike but given my minimal weight & the wind strength & direction I replied in the negative, as it would be a bloody long ride back once I had landed in Bridlington! So we carried on to Lancaster groupo compacto but due to excessive traffic by the railway station we were held up for several minutes whilst Malcolm emerged further down & got across almost instantaneously, I announced that we would wait for him to re-emerge behind us at the next junction, however, as time passed my declaration appeared to be somewhat optimistic, ‘Oh heck I’ve gone & lost 6 now’, I thought resignedly! But Malcolm is not called ‘The Ghost’ for nothing & went sweeping by in a completely different direction, then there were 6 again. As we approached Dolphinholme it began to rain & rain even harder which soon exceeded my personal ‘rain threshold’, so I stated my intention to return home to my loyal 5 remaining group & set off in that direction, leaving them to find their own way back to Garstang, so yes, before the end of the ride I even managed to lose me, it was that sort of day!
Yvonne should have been C ride co-ordinator on Saturday but was unfortunately not well so Steph suggested that as I‘d just ridden most of the way back from Heysham already getting to Garstang I might be best qualified to navigate the group on the outward journey there also. I agreed to this & immediately rode off at the front, only to lose my chain & then my pump before we even got past Booths, this did not auger well for the rest of the day! Once over Garstang X roads & on towards Cockerham we lost Stewart who had failed to get across so we stopped to let him catch up. Once at Conder Green I lost Pip who needed to return home, then at Aldcliffe I lost Steph who was worn out having ridden from Manchester to Brighton the day before & then I lost Stewart again as he went back with her in sympathy, a sense of deflation within myself began to emerge even without a puncture in evidence yet! So eventually we arrived at the café stop, at which point Chloe announced that herself & Hannah needed to return forthwith for a wedding reception, Hannah had managed to get herself all the way to the UK from Germany & I had managed to lose her by Half Moon Bay, so having ridden only 10 miles so far I had managed to lose one rider every 2 miles. Some relief was introduced as upon entering the café there was Malcolm, who would bolster us remaining 5 to a less numerically embarrassing 6. Once Ken & Gwen had finished their teaspoons of beans on toast we set off on the return leg; as we rode along Sandylands prom’ we were greeted by the sight of men surfing in the sea pulled along by large kites, someone enquired if I might consider tying a kite to my bike but given my minimal weight & the wind strength & direction I replied in the negative, as it would be a bloody long ride back once I had landed in Bridlington! So we carried on to Lancaster groupo compacto but due to excessive traffic by the railway station we were held up for several minutes whilst Malcolm emerged further down & got across almost instantaneously, I announced that we would wait for him to re-emerge behind us at the next junction, however, as time passed my declaration appeared to be somewhat optimistic, ‘Oh heck I’ve gone & lost 6 now’, I thought resignedly! But Malcolm is not called ‘The Ghost’ for nothing & went sweeping by in a completely different direction, then there were 6 again. As we approached Dolphinholme it began to rain & rain even harder which soon exceeded my personal ‘rain threshold’, so I stated my intention to return home to my loyal 5 remaining group & set off in that direction, leaving them to find their own way back to Garstang, so yes, before the end of the ride I even managed to lose me, it was that sort of day!
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