Blackgate Lane A Group Ride – The last good weather of the year?
The group near Abbeystead
Taking advantage of the fine weather for the time of year, a large group of riders headed out from Blackgate Lane to Scorton for the one and only cafe stop of the day.
Most of us enjoyed the welcome stop for food apart from Ian who was served cold beans on toast and promptly returned them. Unfortunately he didn’t have time to get something else. Considering what lay a head it was impressive he made it through the rest of the day so strongly.
Leaving Scorton we headed into the Trough of Bowland and stopped just southeast of Abbystead to have a group picture in front of the impressive scenery that greeted us on this sunny day. After the brief stop we headed to towards some reasonably steep hills that certainly got the legs working hard.
At the Bill Bradley memorial Plaque
Stopping again to catch our breath at the Bill Bradley plaque we headed downhill towards Chipping where we thought we could stop for another break. However with the days getting shorter we decided to head home. With a slight tail wind we made good progress heading back with a welcome short stop at a shop near Preston for some extra supplies. Apart from a couple of punctures in Preston and a shoe cleat issue just before Chipping, the ride was largely incident free.
With light fading and the temperature quickly dropping we all made it back with Lindsey recording the longest distance of the day of 106 miles. This brought to an end another enjoyable Sunday ride and for some their last long ride of the year.
As well as the Scorton ride and the usual cafe run, another group taking advantage of the fine weather left the bus stop to climb Anglezarke and Belmont. Stopping at Rivington for the cafe for break before heading back. I believe the group recorded a longest distance of just over 67 miles on a day where you were spoilt for choice of where to ride.
At the Bill Bradley memorial Plaque
Which way Lindsey?
Report and pictures from Mike Lloyd
