It was a glorious warm evening and 15 riders gathered at the Petre Arms to start Franks run. Unfortunately the garage was surprisingly shut so some members who had been relying on getting fuel there rode off to get some fuel while the rest waited. This delay caused a delay to the start and Frank said he would probably shorten his planned route. Richard K had some trouble starting his bike, but as soon as the engine was heard Frank set off. We travelled through the lanes north of the A59 to Ribchester. At this point, unbeknown to Frank, the right turn towards Jeffrey Hill was missed by some riders due to traffic in the village who then started their own rideout! The leading party carried on to the road along the top of Longridge fell and dropped down into Longridge. Here some of us waited for a while to see if the others would arrive but realised we had lost them and decided to carry on as the missing riders had members amongst them who knew where the finish point was. The original plan would sensibly be to ride back through Hurst Green and into Whalley returning to Franks from there but as the time was getting short Richard assumed Frank would shorten the route by turning right at the Corporation Arms and lead the remaining riders back to Ribchester rather than continuing to Hurst Green and Whalley. This turned out to be correct reasoning as we caught up with the lead riders just after we had passed through Ribchester.
Arriving back at Frank’s for the corned beef hash and trifle we waited for the others to return but decided to start the food as time was passing. Eventually the others returned after their own scenic route which took in Goosnargh and Whalley I believe. So we all settled down for the delicious meal and trifle and after tea and coffee Richard proposed a vote of thanks to Frank and Barbara for organising the event and for the lovely food.
A lovely evening for a ride, great company and food as well. Motorcycling doesn’t get much better than this!