Cycling UK Millennium Bridge to Brickhouse Bistro on Thursday 15 February 2024.

The weather forecast for Neil’s ride to Brickhouse Bistro in Hambleton had been pretty pessimistic all week, but when it came to Thursday morning’s departure time, it looked a bit more promising. There were 9 of us at the start including Paul arriving for his first ride with us. Welcome Paul!

We crossed Millennium Bridge and joined the cycle path towards the railway station. We rode past the station and onto Dallas Road, then Aldcliffe Lane all the way to Ashton Road. We took the right turn onto Ashton Road, taking the next left along Tarnwater Lane. This is a very appropriate name to include on this ride given the amount of enormous puddles we had already navigated. In fact some of the puddles we encountered later in the day were more like lakes, never mind tarns. Perhaps we should have brought water skis with us instead of the bikes! In spite of all the standing water, we were only bothered by the odd shower as we made our way through Galgate. Following Stoney Lane all the way through Street, we eventually took the right turn along Long Lane, then turned left towards the water ford. We reached the ford which had quite a fast running stream of water running over it, we were glad there was an alternative footbridge we could use.

We climbed the hill from the ford and took the right turn along Higher Lane. The plan was to follow Higher Lane all the way to the end, but given the fact that it wasn’t a well travelled road and crossed a couple of basically bridged streams, we instead took Tithe Barn Lane into Scorton and subsequently onto Garstang where Garstang Arts was our morning stop of choice. This is an excellent stop for bargain hunting refreshment seeking travellers. We had been pretty lucky with the rain from above at this stage, although water from below was a different matter, some of the puddles navigated saw wheel rims being completely submerged, it’s a good job for waterproof shoes and overshoes!

We left Garstang well nourished towards Nateby, taking the right turn towards Knott End. We rode through Stake Pool and found our way through Pilling Village, rejoining the A road briefly before turning right along Green Dicks Lane and continued to the outskirts of Knott End, then taking the turn towards Preesall. We took the turn onto Back Lane and followed this quiet road almost all the way to Hambleton, although we had to retrace our wheels briefly when we came across two horses who were a bit spooked by our bright coloured cycling gear. We arrived at Brickhouse to find the restaurant almost full, but luckily a threesome were happy to move from their larger table to a smaller one so we were able to sit together and place our lunch orders.

We had kept pretty dry so far but the journey back was a little wetter with the odd shower falling. It was never too heavy, so it wasn’t a problem, although the wheel rims continued to disappear in the lakes(formally referred to as puddles). We found our way to Clay Gap Lane, Union Lane, and onto Lancaster Road and as far as Stake Pool where we took the Garstang Road and then onto Winmarleigh. We joined the B road as far as Stony Lane We found our way to Potters Brook and Bay Horse, then Galgate and along the cycle path through the University campus to Scotforth where we split to go our separate ways home.

Just short of 60 miles were covered at an average speed of 11mph, or should it be knots?

We have 2 organised rides every week, Thursday and Sunday, opportunities for all! See our website for details at www.ctclancaster.org.uk.

Neil Westwell