Tuesday 24th June
Coniston; A6 to eventually Pilling!
The bike is becoming quite quickly very secondary. I've certainly reignited my love for mountain hiking for one, but also with the demise of Mallorca, I always had a sub conscious to stay reasonably fit, to springboard on my Mallorca visits...so at least I'd do 2 or 3 bike sessions per week, indoor or out....but not anymore.
So, similarly to Scotland, the bike has been dragged around on the rear of the van, with hardly any use! So I decided to find a reasonable route from where I'd parked the van..Komoot to the rescue, a pretty good route materialised. The first half much tougher but the whole thing was spoilt by friggin gates....really don't know how many I went through but easily more than 50...for 2 hours it was OK, and then I wanted it to end!
Anyway another water dip, this time in the Lake...clean and refreshed I set off south....not really wanting to go home...why go home to an empty house, I love it in the van, especially in the evenings with my feet up, good location, reading, listening to the radio or music, and tea! (Seriously haven't had a beer for a while now, discovered the joys of a cuppa!).
I headed to Grange over Sands, I must have been there sometime in the past (in fact I recognised a nearby roundabout, the National 30mile TT Champs - VTTA Champion btw by several minutes!
Anyway, Grange, quite a delightful small resort, lovely prom but don't go to the bakers on the main drag...the pie and cake were awful!
I then decided to drive down the old pre motorway route all the way to Pilling getting close to Blackpool, overlooking the Morecambe Bay....I vaguely recall queuing at traffic lights at places like Carnforth on the way to the Lakes....the only downer was Lancaster, where I hit their rush hour plus roadworks....going slow enough to view the historical context of the city (it was the capital of traditional Lancashire), and pondering although I grew up not far away, I cannot recall spending anytime there...
Soon south of Lancaster I passed the University where in those revolutionary days of 77 and 78 I went to the occasional punk gig...Stranglers stands out and the Stiff Tour with Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and Wreckless Eric...."If it ain't stiff, it ain't worth a fvck" said the T shirts!
Seeing the spire church of Pilling brought back memories of my teenage cycle trips out to these marshes and mudflats with my Dixons binoculars....I spent the night with a few other vans close to Fluke Hall...I tried chatting to a French guy, but failing...and then we both got Google Translate out!
In the morning I had a nose around Knott End and Preesall, two more places I used to visit....then set off back to the darkside (Yorkshire)....until the next time!
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