2009 Christmas Ride
| Our Christmas Ride was from Baxenden and was fortunately on the best day for weeks - sun and no rain! Amie was too hung over and was sorely missed but no-one offered any sympathy, just malicious titters. The day concluded with soup and mince pies in our kitchen. |
8 November Fishermans
| Our November ride was from the Fishermans. Although the day was overcast it didn't actually rain. Ann White was in charge in my absence and voted a competent ride leader! |
A Bad Day at Blackpool
| What started as an enjoyable schooling exercise at the beach turned into a nightmare when a dog attacked Fly biting his belly. He went ballistic and I had a crashing fall resulting in 6 broken ribs and a ruptured lung, and a short stay in Blackpool Hospital. PS The dog needed veterinary attention as Fly booted it numerous times! Many thanks for all the Get Well cards, offers of help, and most of all the 470 text messages that kept me going during my 3 days in hospital. |
11 October - Lumbutts
| Our October Ride was from the Shepherds Rest at Lumbutts and took us round Stoodley Pike and back along the Loop. The day started wet but the sun soon came out and we had a lovely ride followed by a good lunch in the pub. |
13 September - Heptonstall
| Our September ride was from Blackshaw Head and took us around Hardcastle Crags. Only four of for this ride, and the weather was great. Unfortunately, my camera decided to play up and out of 150 pictures only 4 were any use! Interesting ride as my new horse kicked a car on the way back. The driver was trying to squeeze past on a very narrow road and there simply wasn't room, so as Dave crassly put it, Fly let fly! making a real mess of the guy's car. Not my fault but watch this space for developments! |
| Our last evening ride of the year was on 2 September from Baxenden, and was probably one of the wetter days we've experienced - hence no pictures. Fortunately we were only out one and a half hours by which time everyone was wet somewhere, except Ann, who wasn't riding as her horse needed shoeing! She kindly did the honourable thing and picked up the Chinese take away which I think everyone was glad of. | |
9 August Loveclough
| The August Ride was from the Glory in Loveclough. We were a big group again which made it rather a slow ride - no bad thing as it was quite a warm day. We eventually sat down to lunch in the sunshine at the Glory at about 3.30pm. |
July Evening Ride
| Our July evening ride was from the Kimberley Club in Stacksteads - a favourite venue for the drinkers as the beer is so cheap. We had a good turnout as usual, and it didn't rain! |
July Syke Common
| July sees us at Syke Common near Rochdale. I forgot my camera so only pictures at the beginning and end of the ride. The rain threatened but we didn't get wet and enjoyed a pleasant breeze all the way round. |
June Evening Ride Helmshore
| The first ride of the summer was from the White Horse in Helmshore. The weather was glorious and we met numerous cyclists on our trip around Holcombe Moor. We had a very welcome tea on our return - PROMPTLY served! |
14 June 2009 Barnoldswick
| For our June Ride we were invited to join a Trawden Forest BA ride from Barnoldswick which was a fund raiser for the local hospice. The countryside was beautiful but a lot of the ride was on tarmac with some busy roadwork. The weather was just right - bright and sunny but not too hot! Camera Crewe didn't manage to organise us very well at the start. Pics to follfow
|
May - Maden Road
| Our May ride was from Waterfoot and its purpose was mainly to ride Maden Road again as the people who tried to close it are still being a pain in the a__e! No-one was about when we went through on the day except their neighbours who are running Whitegates new livery yard.
|
12 April Baxenden
| Our April ride was to be from Waterfoot, but our trailer let us down at the last minutes so we re-arranged to our house. On our return we had soup and hot dogs sitting out in our garden as the weather was so nice.
|
8 March 2009 Denshaw
| Our March ride was from Denshaw where the Pennine Bridleway crosses the Ripponden Road. The Rams Head does excellent food and has a farm shop selling lovely local produce, with a cafe incorporated too. Just as we set off the weather that was forecast to snow or rain did just that! First we had snow, then we had rain interspersed with sleet. When we were 20 minutes away from the pub on the way back the sun came out. An interesting ride, particularly for Janet who managed to fall off onto a hard track and knock herself out. As we were in the middle of the moor she had no option but to get back on and continue - once she came round that is!
|
15 February 2009 Rawtenstall
| Our February ride, postponed from the 8th due to snow and ice, took place on the 15th instead, on a gloomy winters day with low cloud and mist, and on the tops, plenty of snow drifts! As the weather was so murky I didn't bother taking my camera but our resident camera man got us setting off and returning.
|
January 2009 - Tockholes
| Our January ride from Tockholes was postponed from the 11th as the forecast was bad. As it turned out it wasn't so bad and we could have gone, but as the 18th was such a nice day, it was perhaps for the best. But although the sky was blue the wind was bitterly cold.
|
| |