Three riders from Fylde set off to meet six riders from South Ribble and beyond at Barton grange Garden Centre where we all arrived as planned for a 9:45 start to get to Slyne Lodge. By choice we took the scenic route through Dolphinholme, Quernmore, Caton and Halton to avoid Lancaster City Centre to meet our leaders and Colin at Slyne.
So just after 10:30 twelve riders set off for Kirkby Lonsdale via Nether Kellet, Over Kellet, the pretty villages of Borwick and Priest Hutton across to Kirkby Lonsdale via Whittington. A lovely run on some very picturesque lanes. We took a break here at Devils Bridge with all the other bikers and studied the nice array of Moto Guzzi hardware that was there. Another NW rider, Steve, joined us here so now we were 13.
Off then towards Casterton and right to traverse the mountain road that follows Barkin Beck to Gawthrop and then left to Sedbergh. A lovely valley route on such a lovely day.
It was Carnival day at Sedbergh so many of us went and bought lunch from the stalls in the main street and listened to the Town Brass Band. After the break we set off towards Killington Lakes and then south via Preston Patrick to Milnthorpe. Crossing the A6 we arrived in Sandside where the tide was in when we stopped at the Ship Inn for our final rest stop. We all sat on the benches outside admiring the view of the sea, Warton Crag and the lake district mountains.
Leaving Sandside we approached Arnside but turned left to pass through Yealand Remayne and Yealand Conyers to meet the A6 just above Twin Lakes and then turned left towards Tewitfields and then right to pass back through Priest Hutton and Borwick. We had a slight problem here as we lost half the riders but after a further few miles we fortuitously all met up again on the Kirby Lonsdale road. At this point Colin was leading and he turned off back to Halton through Halton Park to get to Caton.
Here we waved goodbye to Trevor and Chris and set off up the Quernmore road. Colin led a cracking pace to Dolphinholme where he bade us farewell and Bob then led us back down to the A6. At Churchtown the Fylde riders branched off and headed for home.
Everyone thought the day was a great ride. Chris and Trevor had obviously put a lot of thought into the route and took us to many unfamiliar areas with lovely scenic views.
Thanks to Chris and Trevor and to all who participated.
Richard