Lancashire and Cumbria Group – September Treasure Hunt organised by Tish and Jasper

And the … Winner of the Treasure Hunt 2022 for the Lancashire and Cumbria Tandem club ride is….

I randomly met Steve (our RO) on a bus some years ago whilst attending the Westmorland show.  The traffic was bad coming away from the show and so we got to chatting for about an hour.  We quickly discovered a common interest of the Tandem club and Steve was interested to hear about a ride we had recently done with our club at the time in Surrey and Sussex, the annual treasure hunt ride.  A tradition which I believe was started by the late, great, Neville Frost.  Steve said to me, “if you ever move up to Cumbria, will you do one for us?” Well today was that day!

The route was 35 miles in total, leaving Kendal and heading for Sizergh Castle for coffee.  Weaving our way steeply to The Helm, 4 tandems and a solo set off with 25 observational questions and a list of things to collect along the way.  The day was perfect with glimpses of sunshine, long views into the Yorkshire Dales and the distant Cumbrian fells.  We had styled the hunt as a pirate treas-argh!! hunt.  We asked for best dressed bike, which was won by Steve and Jeanette with a Jolly Roger flag and stickers.  Taking note of the names of pubs, churches, headstones and dates along the way, collecting feathers and heather and rings and stings!  We finished our quest at the end of the beautiful Kentmere Valley.  Back in Kendal with tea and cake at pirate HQ, we awarded points and the triumphant victors; Andy, Christine and Will left with the trophy on the long and arduous trip back towards Preston – well, the M6 was shut wasn’t it!!

It was great fun and we look forward to next year’s treasure hunt.  Thanks Neville, you welcomed us so warmly into the family that is The Tandem club all those years ago and we’ve not looked back since.

Tish