I was out last night at a party in Lytham and got a lift there from my friend Duncan in Poulton. I had already arranged a lift back with my brother, Rather than get my mate to drive to Fleetwood to pick me up, I drove to his with the intention of riding out on the bike today.
Well I woke up with a hangover, nothing new there then, mostly because I didn’t eat that much yesterday but still had too much to drink.
I didn’t get up until 10am and had breakfast. the weather looked nice so I decided it was time to go for it. If you look back in the blogs you will see that the last time I went to Poulton was 6 months ago. On that ride I stopped several times on the way out and less on the way back. It was a sense of achievement for me to get there and almost back. Because of this I was expecting to stop on the way out and need water so I popped the pannier bag on the bike and loaded a litre of water in it.
Because of a one way street on the shortest route to Poulton I had to go round the sea front and down Beach road. I actually got into top gear on this bit, peaking at around 15 mph. Oh and there was very little wind so it was all my effort!
For the first time in about 30 years or so I rode round the roundabout on Broadway, I like the idea of riding up the inside of the traffic queue, but nearly fell foul of a car turning left across my path. It was entirely my own fault, I got a quick getaway and almost kept up with the car I was along side of, well I was just behind his rear bumper when exited the roundabout. This meant I had to slow. Keeping my cool and kept going down Fleetwood road. Just over a mile gone and feeling good.
Approaching the Broadwater shops a kid on a BMX, with his mate on the back who was carrying a fishing rod crossed the road, I slowed a little as he wobbled in the same direction as me. I passed him, giving him a fairly wide berth as I did, quite easily. As I was passing by he shouted Watch where your going, what you doin riding round at about 60mph. Honest this is what he said, no swearing. I looked at the computer as I was only doing 13mph. Anyway I got to Broadwater roundabout and managed that without stopping. 2 miles no stops.
Next came Bourne Hill. The last time I did this I remember getting to the top absolutely knackered and having to stop to get my breath back. Not this time, I just plodded up the hill and coasted down to the traffic lights. These were on red so I had to come to a stop. I powered past the garage where I had a 20 minute wait for service, through Thornton and on towards Carleton. No busses this time! The ride was going well but I had a long slow climb up to the traffic lights at Carlton and apart from traffic lights hadn’t stopped yet. I made it in time for the lights to be at green and rounded the corner towards Poulton. The road from here on has a dip, railway bridge at the bottom, with another slight coast before the final ride up to the traffic lights on Tythebarn street. I made it to 15m of the top of this hill before I finally ran out of steam. 6.3 miles. I got off, pushed the bike across the road and had a minute to catch my breath, and road the final 200m to Duncan’s house.
I enjoyed that ride, it was a shame that I was only riding one way. After a cup of tea I drove to Morrisons and did my weeks shopping, get petrol and home. I have only eaten some fruit since the 38 minute ride and overall I am pleased with the performance. I just need to keep up the riding.
