Saturday 29th April 2017

Lumpy Pre-Fred. With the Fred Whitton next Sunday it was thought a good set of lumps were in order, to prep the riders mentally and physically, and to test my new titanium Reilly Gradient. So myself, Ian, Isobel, Phil, Michael, Steve plus a couple of interlopers; Alex and Hannah set off from the cobbles/Cockerham and headed out via Dolphinholme (lump #1) through Abbeystead (#2), over the Trough (#3) and then left at Dunsop Bridge to Newton. Climbing out of Newton (#4) we turned right at Ted and Marjorie's farm and up over Cow Ark (#5), then down Hall Hill to the Inn at Whitewell, where I gave the new Reilly its head to see what it had. From the Inn we turned right and then left up towards the Boar Park (#6). The plan was to posh lunch in Whalley but we were getting peckish so we decided to detour and slum it at Little Town. Numerous beans on toast, talk of cross-dressing and new Undulations routes was the order of the day. After lunch we climbed up onto Jeffrey Hill (#7) and then down past Stoneyhurst to Whalley, where we smashed the Nab (#8). Well Alex did at least. From there it was a fairly sedate trip back. We threw in Carwags (#9) and Brock Bottoms for #10, although they ain't quite HardKnott and Wrynose. After that the group started to splinter and tap away to their respective homes. The hardcore pushed on to Wallings for ice cream, of course. Next Sunday is the FWC, so keep an eye out for reports and tall tales.