Was it a washout? Well it had been, the Guild Wheel that is. Lancashire County Council completed the repairs following the Boxing Day floods just two weeks ago, and the route is now officially open. All the damage caused by the River Ribble in spate had been fixed. So our long delayed ride from Frenchwood up to Brockholes via Avenham Park was back on today.
Meeting on the Boulevard at 10-00am it was just a quick run down by the river to thePavilion Café in Avenham Park for our early cuppa; this venue was also the alternative meeting point at 10-15am for those riding in from West Lancashire, as it turned out there was just Ken.
It was very quiet in the café today, the Saturday Fun Run was over and almost everyone had departed. As usual, we had a good chat before leaving at 10-30am for the ride upstream.
I was feeling confident that I would be taking many pictures of the flood damage reported in the media. In actual fact I was really surprised, except for a couple of minor repairs to the Guild Wheel’s surface at Fishwick Bottoms there was nothing significant. It was evident though, that the river had been very high, I just hope no-one had their homes flooded.
The floating café at Brockholes was a little busier than usual, as was the Guild Wheel itself. There were only four of us today, Ian, Dave, Ken and I, so we didn’t exactly pack the place out.
Leaving the café our return route downstream was a gradual descent with the lightbreeze behind us it was a doddle.
See the photos here on Flickr.
As usual a nice ride in good company; I hope to see more of you out next week at Helmshore, Brian.