Manchester to Blackpool Bike Events 10th July 2011

We left the house for Manchester at 7am Sunday morning with the bike on the roof rack, not surprisingly the roads were empty. However upon reaching Old Trafford we were met with thousands of like-minded people. Thankfully the weather seemed calm, at this point anyhow. I left Lady S., who kindly once again had dropped me off at the start. I joined the queue filtering toward the start line. With only seconds to spare I managed a quick photo before we were off.

I've never cycled in a large group before and I estimate there were 7 thousand plus riders participating, given the race numbers I spotted en route. The first 5 miles were slow due to the numbers but we soon strung out and I was able to get up a head of steam, albeit for a few miles. Some great sights amongst riders, some in fancy dress , some club riders on very expensive steeds and some very brave souls who appeared to have found their bike in the canal and jumped on it to ride 62 miles. I followed one guy for a bit who's back wheel was like a 50p piece, remarkable effort !
It would have been folly to think I could have made it without getting a soaking. I was right, as we reached the area of Standish and Chorley the heavens opened and I got proper wet along with several hundred others.

Tree cover here was at best sparce and the covered bus stops were full of cyclists gazing hopefully up to the heavens. I stopped breifly to put on a waterproof but ploughed on regardless. Within 3 miles I'd past the downpour and was approaching Preston when I hit some broken sunshine.
Up until this point there had been little wind, but as I left Preston I felt the wind pick up, a sure sign of nearing the coast. 50 miles in with a headwind I felt the recent holiday start to kick in. Very slow at Lytham due to the traffic and narrow roads, but as I got beyond that I hit the GPS tracker on the iphone and rode on. The first sight of The Big One & The Tower greeted me a couple of miles out as I neared the finish line. The crowd swelled and sun came out, the last mile felt great.

Lifted by the number of people there to wave us on I was tempted with a sprint finish, but decided it could all go wrong infront of thousands. So I free-wheeled in and crossed the line to be given a Certificate,Soreen loaf, bottle of water, Kendal Mint Cake,energy drink gel,shampoo & joint rub.I have no idea what condition they expected the riders to be in when they finished to supply them with these goodies ? Couldn't have been more different to last month when I finished Hadrian's Cycle with no one there other than a stray dog.
Lady S. had tried to be there to greet me, but due to the numbers had been forced to park several streets away and missed my finish. 62 miles in 4hrs 33 minutes.( with stops ) I cycled to meet her at The Sand Castle, South Shore and celebrated with and ice cream from Pablo's opposite. The obligatory photo , during which I kind woman who'd noticed my t-shirt asked my time and if I was cycling for MNDA . Then gave me a donation of £5 bless her.