Close this page to return to website
Coast to Coast “Roses Ride” 12th – 14th September 2008
Day 1: The group of seven, plus support vehicle driver Mike gathered at Glasson Dock for the, now traditional photo shoot and were joined by three support riders, Alan, recent recruit Paul and Bob, who was giving his new knee a quick road test. As he was still running the knee in, Bob didn’t want to risk the climb over to Galgate so made an early exit across the flat lands. Alan and Paul carried on with the gang as we climbed through Dolphinholme and Abbeystead and up Boundary Hill, where Paul took his leave but Alan carried on to Dunsop Bridge for our first brew stop, after which he also departed.
Having dropped the hangers-on (sorry – supporters) our thoughts then turned to the remaining bunch and in particular Yvonne and Gerard. Yvonne had recently broken her collar bone in a fall but was determined to ride despite her lack of training opportunities as she, along with Ina had attracted quite a substantial amount of sponsorship money for their chosen charity. Pip assumed responsibility for escorting the ladies Yvonne, Ina and Fiona and, if you check the photos you will see this was very much a hands-on role. Gerard was an unknown quantity as we had not seen much of him since he joined the club, had been spotted on a few “C” rides but not for some time. Gordon and Phil agreed to keep an eye on him but needn’t have worried as the first job was to try to catch up with him. He shot off up every hill and by the third day we were glad to see the back of him!
After the brew stop at Dunsop Bridge we stopped for lunch at the Long Drag café at Hellifield station, now one of the club’s regular halts. Leaving Hellifield we passed through the village of Airton and, on a narrow lane met a rather large tractor with an even wider attachment coming the other way. This led to a battle for tarmac space which we cyclists were never going to win. Gerard suggested certain manoeuvres via hand signals but these were misinterpreted by the (huge) tractor driver and (I kid you not) he reversed his tractor flat out for quarter of a mile, turned and chased us up a steep hill for a further quarter mile before leaping down, with his vicious looking Jack Russell and making a few hand signals of his own. The rest of the day passed without incident and we arrived in Grassington after 49 miles in the saddle to enjoy a meal and a few drinks.
Day 2: The usual Yorkshire rain greeted us as we left Grassington but had thankfully receded as we tackled the daunting climb up Greenhow Hill to Stump Cross Caverns.
Half way up the hill Ina’s chain gave way but thankfully Mike was at hand to affect a repair, so she could complete the climb, which she would have hated to miss. A long, steep drop into Pateley Bridge followed and was not helped by encountering temporary traffic lights, after a sharp bend guarding a great chunk of missing road.
After a brew at Pateley Bridge we headed to the picturesque village of Bishop Monkton for lunch, stopping on the way to admire the stunning view of Fountains Abbey. Passing up our usual watering hole we tried an alfresco lunch in the sun at the Masons Arms but here Yvonne managed to get us barred when she decided to take over the catering concession, which didn’t go down well with the landlady (it’s back to the Lamb & Flag in future). It was here that the first of Mike’s “signs” appeared to help us on our way. These were attached to the rear bike rack to provide useful information to passing motorists, such as “Geriatric Cyclists with Carers”, “N.W Lancs Gay & Lesbian Cycling Club”, “2012 Olympic Squad”, etc – what fun we had!
At 50 miles day 2 was about average but as there is little to do or see in Raskelf, the evening destination we stopped off in Boroughbridge for liquid refreshment. It’s surprising how just a couple of drinks can affect finely-tuned athletes and, on the run-in to Raskelf we decided to pass the time by seeing who could tell the best clean joke. Gerard, being a Geordie has trouble with the English language and didn’t appear to understand the word “clean”. We therefore soon found ourselves breathing blue air in his wake as he went through his repertoire (close your eyes and you could have been cycling with Chubby Brown!).
Day 3: We left Raskelf to pass through Easingwold but, in a departure from the normal route we took a more southerly exit via Stillington, heading for the spectacular Castle Howard (why had we never been this way before?). This route took us through Bulmer where the road dropped steeply to cross a river, followed by a challenging climb out, where Mike had been at it again, this time chalking messages on the road e.g. “nearly there”. By the time we the tackled the very long, challenging climb out of Settrington later in the day we had got used to relying on these encouraging messages only to be hit by “I lied”, after a particularly reassuring “last few yards” – how we laughed!
After photos at Castle Howard we regained the usual route to have lunch in Malton and, after the last real climb at the aforementioned Settrington we regrouped for the long flat run-in to our destination at Flamborough Head. Mike had saved his best sign for the last leg, being “The Singing Cyclist” and accompanied by music from that all-time classic CD of the same name.
The distance for the day was 47 miles, making the total for the trip 146 miles as the welcome sight of the “new” lighthouse came into view. In anticipation of a grand reception we had squeezed Gerard into a spare “Garstang” jersey so all the gang were in full plumage as they crossed the finishing line. Doreen (Mrs Chairman) was there to greet us on the line and Mike was at hand to capture the moment. Pip, however was not quite finished and, still full of energy the singing cyclist himself plunged down the cliff path, stripped off and, before anyone could stop him leapt into the sea and was washed ashore shortly afterwards.
I mentioned earlier the sponsorship money to be raised by Yvonne and Ina and can now report that they made a total of £750 for the Trinity Hospice – well done those girls and thank you to all who pledged sponsorship money. Thanks also to everyone providing lifts home and to Mike for his support.
Phil Durrigan
Close this page to return to website