Last Monday 8 riders from M&L and O&A U3A’s set off from The Derby Arms to ride a circular route to Southport.  For some strange reason weather-wise Monday frequently tends to be the best day of the week and today was no exception.  In bright sunshine we cycled through Maghull, into Lunt and through to Crosby where we weaved our way through the Bank Holiday crowds.  Through Ainsdale and Freshfield we rode as the day grew warmer.  Our brew stop was at Wetherspoons where the half price offer and free refills proved a bargain.  From Southport we went our separate ways to complete this 42 mile ride.

 

August 24th    A coastal canter

 

For today’s ride, 12 Day Riders (14 actually as 2 just missed the start) from M&L and O&A U3A’s met to ride the Coastal Route to Banks and then inland to Croston.  It was good to welcome Ralph back into the fold following his summer training with  Phil’s crew. We set off in glorious weather and picked up a nice tail wind as we made our way through Ainsdale.  An added bonus was the current closure of part of the Coast Road to motor traffic.  This gave us the chance to pick up speed to Southport.  From Banks it was a sprint to our lunch stop at Sooty’s Garden Centre. Here the epicureans amongst us took full advantage of the half-price offer to carbo-load for our return journey through Croston and Ormskirk.  All returned safely from this 48 mile ride.  Next week meet at 1000hrs at The Derby Arms to ride to Ainsdale via Maghull.