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Lancashire and Cumbria Group
Organisers Contact: Stephen Webb, Tel: 07940372433, Email: stephen.webb001@gmail.comWe have rides every second Sunday of the month of around 35 to 40 miles, depending on terrain and time of the year. Ride details are posted in the What's On page of this website with contact details. In 2023 we are also planning another weekend away, and this will be in Kirkcudbright in May. Again details can be found in the What's On pages of this website. If you would like to join us on one of our monthly rides and would like further information about our group then please drop me an email.
Lancashire and Cumbria Group June Tandem ride - Barbondale, Dentdale and the Lune Valley
This month's Tandem Club ride is this Sunday, 11th July, starting from Scorton Picnic Site. We will head over 'The Trough' to Dunsop Bridge and on to Chipping. It promises to be a great day out. Details are on the What's On page. Hope to see you there :-)
Lancashire and Cumbria Group - superb ride yesterday in the Forest of Bowland. Finished a great ride with an ice cream in Scorton - delicious :-)
Our August ride is on Sunday 22nd August starting from Crosby Ravensworth, 9:15 for a 9:30 am start. Paul and Jeannette will be leading a ride in the picturesque Eden Valley. It is a superb area for cycling and this promises to be a great day out. For further details see the What's On page on the website
Apologies for the short notice, but due to the weather warnings for electrical storms in the Eden Valley we have had to postpone tomorrow's planned ride in the Eden Valley.
Great News! Paul and Jeannette will be leading the re-arranged Eden Valley ride on Sunday 22nd August. See the What's On for details.
Our next group ride is on 12 September starting from Padiham Leisure Centre and will be led by Malcolm and Gillian. They have a superb route planned for us. See the 'What's On' for details. Please let Malcolm know if you are planning on joining us.
We have planned a ride to watch The Tour of Britain pass through Melmerby on Friday. It's an out and back route from Appleby. We will aim to leave the bridge at Appleby by 10:30 and cycle the 15 miles to Melmerby, getting there around midday. See the What's On for details.
The next ride of the Lancashire and Cumbria Group is on Sunday 10 October 2021 starting from the Park and Ride car park adjacent to Junction 34 of the M6.
Route: The route heads west along the cycle way through Lancaster and on to Sunderland Point. Then we head to Heysham for our coffee stop. After coffee we head along Morecambe Prom to Hest Bank, Nether Kellet and through Carnforth to Leighton Moss for our lunch stop. From there it's on to Yealand Redmayne, Priest Hutton, Borwick and Nether Kellet to cross the Lune at Halton to return to the start along the Lune Cycle Path.. Stats: 40 miles, 1800 ft climbing
Our next ride is on Sunday 14th November from Beetham to Grange Over Sands. Hope to catch the last of the autumn colours. For details see the What's On page.
24 members of the Lancashire and Cumbria Group enjoyed their Festive Lunch at the Crooklands Hotel today (12th December). Lots of ideas for 2022. Look out for the Rides Programme in January :-)
Our next group ride in on Sunday 13 February starting from Carnforth railway station and heading to Kirkby Lonsdale for coffee. We then head to the coast at Arnside and Silverdale. See the What's On for details.
Our next group ride is on Sunday 13th March starting from outside the Hightown Hotel, Hightown L38 0BA, 09:15 for 09:30. 35 miles on the plains of Lancashire calling in at Formby and Rufford. See the 'What's On' for details.
It's less than 2 weeks to the April ride in the North Lakes on Sunday 10th April 2022. We'll be departing from the car park in Greystoke which is next to the village hall. We’ll aim to set off at 9:30am. The morning stop is at The Pot Place, near Plumpton which is 12 miles into the ride and the lunch stop will be at the Watermill Cafe in Caldbeck (28 miles). This is a popular place so could be busy. It's then a further 14 somewhat undulating miles back to Greystoke. Total distance is 43 miles with 2700ft of climbing. A stunning area for cycling. One not to be missed!
Only a week to go until our next group ride from Great Eccleston on Sunday 8th May, calling in at Light Ash Farm for coffee before skirting the Forest of Bowland and dropping into Scorton at lunchtime. An easier afternoon ride on the Fylde back to the start. See the What's On for further details.
Two of our group, Lisa and her son Matt, are cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats to raise money for 2 charities, Guide Dogs for the Blind and Motor Neurone Disease (MNDA). Here is a press release issued by North Lancashire's Beyond Radio.
https://www.beyondradio.co.uk/news/local-news/lancaster-driving-instructor-to-cycle-length-of-britain-for-charity/
Another great monthly ride, this time is south Cumbria, on Tish and Jasper's Treasure Hunt. The pirates scoured the lanes of south Cumbria for treasure and collected answers to questions as they rode along. Brilliantly organised by Tish and Jasper.
Our Festive Lunch is always a chance for new members and old to get together and share cycling experiences, pass on tips and ideas and generally have a good time. This year we had 27 members returning for our fourth year to the Crooklands Hotel. And again, the food and service was first class.
We have had a good year tandeming after two ‘lean’ years due to the Covid pandemic. My role as Regional Officer is made so much easier by the help I get from our ride leaders. The leaders do all the planning of the ride, organise refreshment stops, and ensure that everyone enjoys the day out. They are all worthy of a mention; Simon and Hayley led us on a couple of beautifully scenic ‘undulating’ rides from Clitheroe and Greystoke; Peter took us on an orbital of Penrith on the hottest day of the year; Neil, Martin and Joan organised a ride in South Lancashire; Anne and John led our largest turnout of 24 riders in the Forest of Bowland and the Fylde; Paul and Jeannette took us on a mystery ride in the Arnside and Silverdale AONB; David and Caroline led their first ride for the group and, I must mention this, they performed an excellent job of back markers on our weekend of rides in the Scottish borders, and Tish and Jasper organised our first, and hopefully not the last, Pirate Themed Treasure Hunt. We’ve had a varied programme of rides with something to suit all tastes.
New members have joined the group too. We have had a total of 29 couples on tandems and 9 solo riders out at various times with 23 riders going on our weekend away in Scotland.
My thoughts have been on our programme of rides for 2023 for a couple of months now, and I still had a few gaps to fill on Sunday at the Festive Lunch, so I took the opportunity of having a captive audience to persuade/encourage/cajole members to plug the gaps. I needn’t have worried as I soon got a few willing volunteers to lead rides. With our group, as I’m sure it is the case with the other regional groups, there is always help and support for the leaders on the day of the ride from the rest of the group, which makes the day run smoothly.
I would like to thank everyone in the Lancashire Cumbria Group for all the help they have given me in 2022 and look forward to what I’m sure will be an exciting programme of rides in 2023.
Our first ride of 2023 is on Sunday 08 January 2023 starting from the public car park in Hornby adjacent to the bridge over the river Wenning, just off the A683. As you enter Hornby from the south, the A683 turns sharply left, the car park is on the left hand side of the road just before the bridge. There is an honesty box for parking at the car park.
The January ride is a short ride of around 22 miles and we plan to set off at 10.00am and cycle the 11 miles to Ingleton for a coffee and to warm up at the Country Harvest Coffee Shop on the A65! We will return via a slightly different route, calling in at Wray for lunch at the Bridge House Tea Rooms. You can choose to have a picnic and pop inside for a hot drink but we’ll be opting for some hot soup in January! Over lunch we’ll fill in the gaps in the 2023 ride programme which is gradually taking shape. There’s a lot to look forward to in 2023 with rides all across our region and, of course, our cycling weekend in Kirkcudbright in May.
Please let me know if you are intending coming on this ride. If it is icy or the weather is bad then we will head to Wray for lunch - in the car, and I’ll let those planning to go know of the change of plans. January isn’t a good month. If it isn’t wet then it could just be icy and we need to take care.
Look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Stephen
The Lancashire and Cumbria Group have an extra club ride this Saturday. It's a figure of 8 ride, centred on Kendal. You can opt for a morning ride, afternoon ride, or both. Everyone welcome.
https://tandem-club.org.uk/whatsOn?order=group
Contact: Stephen Webb Tel: 07940372433 Email: stephen.webb001@gmail.com
Contact: Stephen Webb Tel: 07940372433 Email: stephen.webb001@gmail.com
Lancashire and Cumbria Group – September Ride from Great Eccleston
On a warm September morning we gathered in Great Eccleston Square for our Tandem Club ride. It was good to welcome four members who had not previously experienced the planned ride.
Five tandems and a solo set off to our coffee stop at Light Ash Cafe, Myerscough, just half an hour’s ride away. After coffee and chat we crossed the A6 at Bilsborrow, through Claughton-on-Brock towards Bleasedale. We turned left up the fells followed by a fast descent down to Oakenclough, then a climb up to the Grizedale and Barnacre reservoirs, from which water is supplied to Blackpool and the Fylde.
The panoramic view across to the coast was not so clear as the storm clouds were gathering our way. We then ascended Harrisend Fell, followed by a long descent into Scorton village for lunch.
After lunch we re-grouped at Daisy Clough Cafe for tea/coffee and cakes, just in the nick of time to shelter from a heavy downpour. After the storm had passed over, we set off on a relatively flat route to Stakepool. Then back on the roads crossing Pilling moss, to cross the Cartford toll bridge over the river Wyre and back to Great Eccleston.
A good day was had by all, who were so lucky to have kept dry.
Anne and John Hall
South Lakes and North Lancs Annual Treasure Hunt Tandem club ride. Theme – pirates, why? Because they aargh!
What a wet and windy summer we have had here in the Lake District! It was with some trepidation that four tandems set out from Kendal Leisure centre. The forecast had been dreadful earlier in the week but we held our nerve and went ahead with the ride. We dodged a couple of deluges at the start of our treasure hunt, had a couple of showers en route but largely we missed the rain and ended in sunshine for prize giving at Wilfs café in Staveley.
Setting off along the route of the old canal, we crossed the river Kent on the new bridge by Gooseholme park. Who knew that the market place in Kendal was formerly called Cheapside and Mercer Lane and received its charter in 1189? Well we all did by the end of the day. There used to be a dungeon called ‘the black hole’ for wrong doers and Todd drew a map of Kendal in 1787.
Heading north out of Kendal, we crossed the river Sprint and rode up the beautiful and quiet valley of Longsleddale. It feels remote and the scenery is stunning as hills and vale reveal themselves. The literal translation from old English is ‘long valley valley’ – and long it is with 6 miles to the start of the gravel track over to Hawes water on the Gatescarth Pass. We retraced our steps to the church and our intrepid pirates searched for answers whilst we ate our sandwiches. Rough Fell and Swaledale sheep graze in these parts and whilst there wasn’t much sun to tell the time on the sundial war memorial, we all had a different number for ‘How many Agnes are there buried in the churchyard?’ The church was set up for ‘Champing’ with camp beds, torches and blankets for a quiet and possibly slightly spooky nights sleep. A quick google revealed it as one of only 2 churches in Cumbria that you can ‘champ’ overnight and its not cheap but what a valley! Old farms, bank barns, curious signposts and a quirky castle style garage, scribed with the signs of the zodiac mystified our intrepid pirate treasure hunters until all was revealed. Somewhere along the route we lost our paper parrot and some bits of bedraggled, waterlogged bunting. Our victorious winners Steve and Jeanette were awarded with this year’s trophy and praise for best dressed bike.
Returning to Kendal and crossing our 3rd river of the day the Mint we had covered 33 miles. It wasn’t quite the summer picnic we had planned but we were dry by the time we got back to the car park.
Keep your diary clear for next year’s treasure hunt ride!
Tish and Jasper
Levens Hall, Grange over Sands and Cartmel
Starting at Kendal Leisure Centre, six tandems and one solo left the start, to head for elevenses at Levens Hall café, around seven miles away. They serve some delicious cakes which we enjoyed. If we had more time, the Hall and gardens would be well worth a visit. The house is the home of the Bagot family who have lived there for over four hundred years. It has a topiary garden, which is made up of bushes and hedges cut into unusual shapes.
Here, another solo rider had ridden from Barrow in Furness, to meet us, a distance of over thirty miles. From Levens, we headed west towards Grange over Sands. This is a flat section of the ride for a change, with good views of Whitbarrow Scar, which is always a spectacular sight. We enjoyed quiet lanes through Meathop and then climbed through Grange to arrive at Flookburgh for lunch at Brook Supplies Café, which is situated in a garden centre. We met two more riders who had come to meet us from near Ulverston.
The route home took us to Cartmel village. The road from Cark to Cartmel, is a pretty one, running through this delightful valley. Here we had a short break to look at the priory, where we received free sticky toffee pudding and ice cream, which was very welcome, as it was getting quite warm by this time. It was “Ice Cream Sunday” at the priory. Cartmel is a most interesting old village. It has a racecourse, and, if you like fine dining, it is the home to L’enclume restaurant run by Simon Rogan.
Sadly, we had to move on, and the road home climbed steadily through Field Broughton to Lindale, where we enjoyed a fast descent. We retraced the lanes through Meathop from the morning ride. The riders were offered a refreshment stop at Gilpin Bridge, but this was declined. In hindsight, this was just as well, as it started to rain soon after reaching Kendal, around 4.30pm. 41 happy miles!
Paul Rodman
The ability to download all the rides, by a member, in a zip file will be available once the rides have been published here.
| 16/06/2021 | Misc | June 2021 Ride into Barbondale and Dentdale |
|---|---|---|
| 27/04/2021 | Misc | April Group Ride to Levens Hall and Kentmere |
| 10/03/2021 | Misc | February and March 2021 Lockdown Rides |