Home safe and sound, this was my first 'mass ride.' It's possible it may be my last.
Start was slightly delayed, since the Police had requested that small groups be sent out with gaps in between, so that the junctions weren't swamped. 0830 quickly became became 0845 before I was off. I have to say that significant numbers of riders, despite being well-kitted and obviously confident, had absolutely no bloody idea how to ride safely on a main road, especially surrounded by large numbers of not-too-clever, slightly less confident riders. Traffic signals and signs appeared to be optional to these people, along with common courtesy to their fellow road users. Not a good advert for cycling, especially those who blocked
both sides of the road, and ignored the marshals when requested to stop at the lights. Maybe I've just been commuting too long.
Anyway, numpties aside, it was a fairly pleasant ride all in all. I'm just not sure I want to mix it with such a large number of cyclists again. Kudos to the unicyclist (36" wheel?) I spotted near Haigh Hall. The only downer was the combination 1-2 of a visious headwind on the way into Lytham St Anne's (expected) and the sudden attack of driving rain from the sea (less so). Still, as the coast swung round towards Blackpool, it became a quartering/tailwind and speed picked up again.
Total raised to far online + offline = £250, so not too bad for a spur-of-the-moment decision a couple of weeks ago.
Torslanda: You could ride it, but I just wouldn't recommend doing it the same day as everyone else!