England : Lancashire Whalley - Glasson Dock. A scenic 103 km loop, *DATE CHANGE* SUNDAY 3rd April, 2016

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Pale Rider

Legendary Member
I'm not given to hyperbole, but that was an excellent day out on the bike.

Good company, good weather, and one of Colin's as always well-sorted routes is a hard combination to beat.

I have to give a special mention to @rusty bearing who was especially kind to me.

We set off at a pace that was a bit hot for my liking - neither me nor the ebike are built for speed.

Rusty spotted my discomfiture, and hung around at the back with me for the first few miles, listening patiently to my grumbles and offering encouraging - and wise - words.

And later in the ride he helped me sort a minor mechanical.

The only other mechanical was, perhaps inevitably given the contents of this thread, a puncture for @Accy cyclist.

By chance, I saw it happen.

He had just crested the Trough of Bowland when his front wheel crashed into a pothole - he did well not to go over the bars.

The cafe did us well, they were very busy so I was wondering if the order taking administration would foul up, but it didn't.

Only snag was they ran out of beans, which denied @Littgull his chosen snack.

Colin's mate Bill left us at this point, he did have 100 miles to complete compared to our modest 100-odd kms.

More thanks from me to Colin's (ludicrously fit) friend Carrie for waymarking a junction on the way back - I might have gone off piste had she not done so.

We got back to the start point just after 5.30pm, all together and all nicely on schedule.

All-in-all, it's hard to say how the day could have gone any better.

One pic from me from the cafe stop, looking over the bay - you can just see Heysham nuclear power station on the horizon.

I think Colin has a more interesting group pic from the top of the Trough.

Bay .1.jpg
 
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Thanks everyone - I enjoyed that ride! It was my longest since my December 2016 metric century with Littgull.

We got the day right - it would have been horrid in yesterday's wet and windy conditions. We had cool, overcast conditions when we set off but the sun came out before we got to the top of the Trough of Bowland so we were stopping and stripping off armwarmers etc.

I liked the new cafe stop so I think we will go there again on next year's ride. I'll rename the ride next time ... there has to be a good pun there, something like 'A metric century for Lune-atics' (that is the Lune estuary in the background of Pale Rider's photograph).

I got Littgull to drop me off at the layby in Cliviger Gorge. It is the beginning of a long descent to Todmorden so I got to spin my legs and nab a few easy extra kms. 109+ kms total for me today, or 68 of your imperial miles.

Nice to meet you @Accy cyclist and @Oldfentiger, and to catch up with the rest of you again.

I don't know what is up with you lot - you seem to all have ADHD or something because the 3 photos of us at the top of the Trough of Bowland all have various combinations of people staring at the ground, picking noses, turning round, fiddling with bikes etc.! :laugh:

This is probably the best one ...

Herding cats on top of Trough of Bowland.jpg


(L-R: ColinJ, Oldfentiger, 'Kevin', Littgull, 'Bill', rusty bearing, 'Carrie', Accy cyclist.)

Coming up:
  • SITD a 110 km scenic audax ride from Hebden Bridge. (Sun, 10th April, 2016.) It isn't organised by me but a bunch of us often get together for it.
  • Tour de Yorkshire sportive from Scarborough on Sunday, 1st May.
  • A 120 km forum ride from Todmorden to Rivington and back on Saturday, 7th May.
  • A flattish 200km forum ride in Cheshire on Saturday, 4th June with a fall-back of the following Saturday if the weather is bad on the 4th.

Possibly later in the year:
  • Whalley to Wray and back.
  • My Settle Dales ride.
 
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Hi Colin

Hows yourself?
Not too bad, thanks. I hope the same goes for you!

Maybe up for some of this? are these Audax or CC forum rides?
Forum rides.

I have done 2 variations of the Settle route - first one, second one. I think the second route is better so I would probably do that one again, with minor changes.

I have done the Wray ride twice as well. The first time I did it solo. Littgull did it with me last year and we both said that we would do it again and try to get more riders to join us.
 

Accy cyclist

Legendary Member
0
Thanks everyone - I enjoyed that ride! It was my longest since my December 2016 metric century with Littgull.

We got the day right - it would have been horrid in yesterday's wet and windy conditions. We had cool, overcast conditions when we set off but the sun came out before we got to the top of the Trough of Bowland so we were stopping and stripping off armwarmers etc.

I liked the new cafe stop so I think we will go there again on next year's ride. I'll rename the ride next time ... there has to be a good pun there, something like 'A metric century for Lune-atics' (that is the Lune estuary in the background of Pale Rider's photograph).

I got Littgull to drop me off at the layby in Cliviger Gorge. It is the beginning of a long descent to Todmorden so I got to spin my legs and nab a few easy extra kms. 109+ kms total for me today, or 68 of your imperial miles.

Nice to meet you @Accy cyclist and @Oldfentiger, and to catch up with the rest of you again.

I don't know what is up with you lot - you seem to all have ADHD or something because the 3 photos of us at the top of the Trough of Bowland all have various combinations of people staring at the ground, picking noses, turning round, fiddling with bikes etc.! :laugh:

This is probably the best one ...

View attachment 123757

(L-R: ColinJ, Oldfentiger, 'Kevin', Littgull, 'Bill', rusty bearing, 'Carrie', Accy cyclist.)

Coming up:
  • SITD a 110 km scenic audax ride from Hebden Bridge. (Sun, 10th April, 2016.) It isn't organised by me but a bunch of us often get together for it.
  • Tour de Yorkshire sportive from Scarborough on Sunday, 1st May.
  • A 120 km forum ride from Todmorden to Rivington and back on Saturday, 7th May.
  • A flattish 200km forum ride in Cheshire on Saturday, 4th June with a fall-back of the following Saturday if the weather is bad on the 4th.

Possibly later in the year:
  • Whalley to Wray and back.
  • My Settle Dales ride.

Why am i turning away from the camera i wonder? Maybe i'm ashamed as i had to get someone to sort my puncture out(Thank's Bill and Pale Rider)?:blush: What a pot hole it was and talking to someone down the pub tonight, they told me they'd hit it on a motorbike, just managing to stay on. A good day though, i'm looking forward to the next ride out when it comes my way! That ride took me to 207 miles for the week,maybe next time i'll do less before we ride and i'll be able to keep up with you all.:okay:
 
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Another terrific day out with great company and great scenery.

Looking forward to riding with you all again over the forthcoming weeks and months ahead.

Great account of the ride @Pale Rider and I made up for missing out on the beans at the cafe by gorging myself when i got home, washed down with a cpouple of glasses of red wine. Then fell asleep in the chair.

Really pleased with the turnout and collective enthusiasm for more of @ColinJ 's rides as he puts so much time and effort into the planning and leading.
 
Forgot to mention, nice pictures too!
 
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Really pleased with the turnout and collective enthusiasm for more of @ColinJ 's rides as he puts so much time and effort into the planning and leading.
It IS pleasing. I had been starting to get a bit fed up with an apparent lack of interest over the past year or so. (We were talking in the car about that the wonderful ride to Wray last year when you were the only rider to join me, and that there was one forum ride which I rode alone because NOBODY else turned out!)

It seems that things have improved now, which encourages me to carry on making the effort.

I'll do Spring Into The Dales next Sunday if the weather is not foul, and then start a thread about my ride to Rivington which will take place the second weekend in May.
 
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
:hello: From Worcestershire

I enjoy reading these threads. Sadly I am not a cyclist :blush: and live too far from ColinJ to join these rides. You all seem to have fun doing them.
:hello:
You ought to give serious consideration to getting an e-bike! You can see @Pale Rider's bike in the middle of my photograph above - it is the one with small wheels and a mirror catching the sunlight. It was quite expensive, but that is why it is such a high quality machine. PR carries spare batteries to extend his range enough to be able to complete rides such as this one. I'm sure that he would be happy to answer any questions that you have, either in public on the forum, or privately by PM?
 
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