Alan’s Ride and Lunch.
Nine Riders went on this run. 4 Twins and 5 Singles . Weather was overcast but not raining.
Alan set off on a tour of the roads near Garstang and then headed up to ride round Beacon Fell and down to Chipping where we almost lost a few riders as we turned off towards Whitewell and then again when we almost missed the turn for Whitewell. When we arrived at Whitewell there was a huge sign saying the road to Dunsop Bridge was closed. Ignoring this we carried on towards Dunsop Bridge and parked in the car park. The road closure was actually at Dunsop Bridge and they were resurfacing the road out to Slaidburn at last. Only about 5 years after it needed doing! A 15 minute rest here and back on the bikes in a little drizzle, through the wild boar park and down to Chaigley where we turned right to travel along Birdy Brow to Longridge and then via a different route via Haighton to Broughton and Kirkham. It was now quite sunny and we rode through Kirkham up to Wesham and out to Weeton. At this point we lost about 6 riders and on going back found that Tony’s gear lever had fallen off. A bit of spannering and off we went again via Mythop to Blackpool and Alan’s abode.
By now we were in glorious sunshine and at Alan’s place Shenna had set us up in the garden.
The lunch she provided was gratefully consumed which included sausage baps, Rhubarb cake, Banana cake and another cake which I couldn’t find room for! After the consumption of the food someone mentioned they would like to see the sea on the way home, being as we were close to it, so I guided everyone through newly redeveloped St Annes square where numerous Zebra crossings, temporary traffic lights and diversions made it an awful route. However the riders did get to see the sea but apparently the ride home from Lytham for many was even worse as the road was being resurfaced at Warton and the traffic in Preston was apparently horrendous so Tony didn’t get home until 5:30.
Overall though it was a great run and many thanks must go to Alan and Shenna for organising it.