A one day coast to coast

[brother nathaneil]

Hi All,
I'm planning on a coast to coast next June, a load of my friends want to do it too so I need to be super organised! As we'll stay in a Travelodge on the Friday night before, and the Saturday night once we're done, I really want to get the basics sorted by the end of October so that I can book the rooms etc.

Here is the proposed route taking in a bit of the TdF route from York to Skipton:
Scarborough - York - Harrogate - Skipton - Preston - Lytham St Annes
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2965508

People will be on a mixture of Road bikes, Tourers and Mountain Bikes (with road tyres). I'm going to organise it so that we only travel in groups of 3 or 4 so we don't block the traffic too much, and that we stop a few times so that everyone can socialise a bit.

This is the basic schedule:
Meet at Marine Drive, Scarborough to watch the sun rise then set off in groups of 3 or 4 leaving on a staggered start basis.

The daylight lasts 17 hours and trip is 133 miles so this is NOT a race… We only need to achieve an average speed of 8mph.

The stops I am suggesting are:
1. On 42 miles – York Tesco Extra, York YO30 4XZ
2. On 80 miles at Skipton Morrisons, Skipton BD23 1RT
3. On 110 miles at Blackburn Boddington Arms - Fayre & Square, Blackburn BB2 7LE

The end will be at North Promenade, Lytham St Annes where everyone will meet up to watch the sun set.

This site was invaluable when I organised a JOGLE in 2011 and a Great Yarmouth to Bicester in 2013. Any advise with be gratefully received, be it route, stops, or whatever.

Many thanks in advance,
Nathan

[Vantage]

Why on gods green earth would you wanna go through Blackburn of all places???

I can thoroughly recommend The Carmen Rose in Ribchester instead. It's a 6 mile detour and you'll have to do a complete U-turn to get back on the route, but it's definitely worth it. It's not a huge tearoom/café but with (from memory) 5-6 tables seating 4 each, you should be fine.
https://plus.google.com/112810906559817 ... l=uk&hl=en

Best of luck to you

[The Mechanic]

Why not try the Way of the Roses route. Morcambe to Bridlington or vice versa.

[Paulatic]

Why groups of 3or 4?
I still recall the police making riders of the National 400 in Fife years ago insisting a group of 4 every couple of minutes. Imagine how frustrated drivers were with that by the time they tried to pass their twentieth group?

[Bicycler]

Why on gods green earth would you wanna go through Blackburn of all places???

My thoughts too. But looking at the route, it doesn't actually doesn't go to Blackburn. The pub is at Balderstone some way outside of Blackburn.

My comment about the Western half of the route would be that it follows the very busy A59, A583 and A584, all of which are manageable at a push but far from ideal. It also goes through Preston which is not really necessary. This would be my preferred route between Skipton and Lytham: http://goo.gl/maps/7vXa2 It is not really any further and the roads are a lot quieter and nicer (though a bit twistier and lumpier). There is more navigation involved compared to just following the A59. It would mean a change of the last pub stop but there are a good few in the Clitheroe/Longridge/Ribble Valley area which are nice.