Saturday 17th August 2019

C Ride 50 Mile Challenge? - Pah! That’s no challenge for the riders that currently choose the C option from the club’s ride calendar! Today, eleven members gathered at Hutton Village Hall for a sunny but windy ride through some quintessentially English villages around West Lancashire. This often neglected (for our club) part of the North West is certainly worth the 16 mile drive south of the Ribble to an area relatively unknown to many. In an area where devotees of the Flat Earth Theory thrive, it is reassuring to find that there is a hill, a quite impressive hill at that, to overcome, rising from the pancake-flat plains that constitute the first thirty miles of the ride. It comes as a bit of a shock after the not too testing first half and a relaxing stop at the excellent Velo Cafe. The climb up Bannister Lane to the High Moor Inn is not too steep and only a mile long but, maybe because of the previous flatlands, it give the impression of being a much more serious ascent, with fabulous views across the sprawling West Lancashire Plain and the Fylde. After the climb it was refreshing to have a tail-wind for the the pleasant rolling roads towards Wrightington and then the long descent down to Eccleston. After a brief re-group in the village and safely passing two prisons, we were soon back to our cars at Hutton - just in time to pop into Latham’s cake shop for their delicious Coffee Renoirs, reduced to half price as we entered! B.O.G.O.F Coffee Renoirs! What a great reward for our efforts! 50 Mile Challenge? Well, somehow it only turned out to be 48 miles but I got the impression that all the team were capable of a lot more. Maybe we should increase future ‘challenge’ rides to 70 miles? Just saying!! Stats - distance - 48 miles, average speed - 12.5mph, ascent - 1,230 ft, wind - yes, sun -plenty, sausage barm -good, coffee renoir - excellent, company - 100%, banter - ranged from collective noun for haggis (haggi?) to meaning of quintessential (5 essentials?). Cheers folks!