Midsummer Madness
A ride from Morcambe to Scarborough to Morcambe at Midsummer.
A few riders expressed interest in the Midsummer Madness ride following a notice in LCCNews. Several had to back out due to various commitments but a select group of four riders (Andy Creevy, Trevor Dodgson, Bob Muir and Tim Norton) set out from the clock tower on Morecambe prom at 6pm. on the 24th June heading for Scarborough.
After a request in the "Citizen" Booker's Cash and Carry of White Lund had provided a van and driver as back up for the event and even provided the diesel. Andrew Dalton, the driver from Booker's, looked somewhat bemused when the four of us loaded our spares and supplies for the 24 hour trip. Spare wheels, bags of fresh cycling kit, flasks and umpteen bags of food soon filled the Transit and to his disbelief we managed to clear most of the food plus some more bought on the way in the course of the ride.
The plan was for Andrew to give us an hour head start then catch us up, probably between Clapham and Settle on the A65, for the first feed stop. By the time we had reached Gargrave and the van hadn't appeared we were getting quite worried so a halt was called outside the chippy and we refuelled on pie and chips while we waited for Andrew. He eventually arrived in a panic thinking he has missed us and told his tale of woe. After leaving us a Morecambe he found he had a flat tyre on the van and had to go back to the depot to change the wheel and pinch a new spare off one of the other vans.
Dark clouds were rolling in as we left Gargrave with lights on and warm clothes for the night. Typically the hardest part of the journey out was over Bluberhouses Moor and this coincided with one of the most spectacular (and wet) thunderstorm any of us had experienced. Andrew caught us up again just outside Harrogate and half an hour was spent in the back of the van sheltering from the tail end of the storm. On through Harrogate, (first puncture to Trevor) Knaresborough and York by-pass then across the plains to Scarborough.(second puncture to Andy and a crash when I was riding the wrong way up the metre line of a dual carriageway in the dark with no front light - but that's another story) Due to the weather and stopping to eat too many times during the night we were later than planned reaching Scarborough and by the time we had a full cooked breakfast it was 9am. before we left.
That left us only 11 hours to complete the return journey inside 24 hours and the route home, although prettier, was harder than the outward journey. A long climb out of Scarborough and then undulations brought us to Sutton Bank (going up the easy side !!) then on for a brew stop at Masham, famous for Theakstons ales, and up Wensleydale to Hawes. Up over the tops to Ribblehead and then down to Ingleton brought us back down the Lune valley to eventually reach Morecambe and the welcoming crowds at 8pm. We missed our target of 24 hours but the resulting total of 260 miles in 26 hours had a nice ring about it and we were well pleased with our achievement. After a shower in champagne courtesy of Tim (supplied by Lynne Dodgson and meant for us to toast our success) it was off home for a well earned rest. Andy and I had exhausted our sponsorships with our Land's End to John O'Groats ride in May but Trevor and Tim raised a fair bit to boost the funds to buy a wheelchair/bicycle for Beaumont College and after this ride the total raised so far is about £1,300. Other ideas toyed with for possible rides next year are Lancaster Castle to Edinborough Castle and back and a ride from Blackpool Tower to the Eiffell Tower but we are open to suggestions and help with any fundraising. Maybe next year we will go for the coast to coast and back in 24 hours again so mark it in your diaries for the weekend after longest day.