The Feizor Run 17th September.
10:30am on a wet Wednesday morning and five riders turned up for the Feizor run. The weather forecast was for improving weather through the morning so it was decided to go ahead as we were all in waterproofs. Up the A59 we rode, to the Ribchester turn off and just over the river bridge we turned off up Gallows Lane and when we reached the Longridge road we turned right to Hurst Green. Here we branched off and went past the Stoneyhurst college to get to Birdy Brow then over the Higher Hodder bridge where the river was in full spate. From here we rode to Bashall Town and Waddington. A slight diversion here as the main road to Newton was being excavated but the short diversion was well signed and we soon arrived at Newton where again the road we normally take to get to Slaidburn was closed. No problem, into the town and turn right! Then on to Slaidburn Car park. There was no one there! A first in my memory and we thought the tea shop was closed as well but on examination Tony found it was open and large cake and cup of tea was purchased. After a break standing out in the rain and the cake and tea devoured we set off and rode through Gisburn Forest. This road is bad at the best of times but with all the water around it wasn’t possible to decide whether it was a pothole or just a puddle but we all made it through without mishap and headed up over the moor towards Clapham. The moor road was very wet and there was a lot of feet up riding as we encountered many large flooded areas of road but eventually we arrived at Keasdon and turned right to Austwick. We turned right and joined the A65 and shortly turned off to Feizor. The approach to the farm has a small ford across the road which is normally dry but today it was quite stream. More feet up riding! Obviously there was no one outside eating and as we were rather damp the lady invited us to sit under the covered part of the barn, which we did and were soon ordering meals and drinks. After our feasting the sky lightened and the rain stopped, for about 5 minutes!! But as it was time to leave we paid our bills and set off back through the torrent on to the A65 towards Clapham and turned off to High Bentham. Peter left us here and we headed back over the moor on Blythe Moor Road back to Slaidburn. By the time we reached Slaidburn the rain had eased and we sat on the benches with drinks watching the world go by. As we sat there a small car came slowly by making a strange noise. We could see the under engine shield had dropped down and was dragging on the road. The car stopped and a couple of pensioner ladies got out. Our hero of the day, Bob leapt into action and with the help of Tony and a penknife the guard was removed and put in the boot. Apparently the ladies had driven through a deep puddle and the force of the water had ripped the cover off. They thanked us and went on their way. By now the rain had stopped and the sun was starting to make an appearance. Hooray! Some removed waterproofs and we set off to Harrop Fold and Grindleton and joined the A59 just after Chatburn. A steady dry run back along the A59 saw Richard peel off at Mitton Fold to go home via Ribchester and Longridge whilst the others carried on to Hoghton, Euxton and Ormskirk.
Despite the rain we all had a good day out on the bikes and it was a great route prepared by John.
Photos Here : At the Bluebird and Feizor