The Long Push 2012 Route Plan - (First Draft)

What it says! The first draft of my proposed route...


View The LONG PUSH 2012 Route Plan - First Draft in a larger map

Starting from the Coastal Road at Birkdale in Southport, I will be heading to Preston, back up to the coast at Lytham St. Annes and through to Blackpool. Along Blackpool promenade, (possibly stopping at Big Woody's Skateboard Shop on the way through), and then onto Fleetwood where I intend to stay overnight. Any offers of somewhere to get my head down for the night will be gratefully considered! :o)

The return leg then sees me leaving Fleetwood towards Poulton Le-Fylde, and onto Kirkham, before heading back into Preston again and then back along the A565 to bring me back into Southport.

The ride has been broken down into small sectors, so that I can plan breaks and know when I'm going to be able to do little things like... get food, and when I'm not, on the way. (I'm intending to travel as light as possible.) Between now and the ride itself I'm intending to ride as many of the sectors as I can individually, to try different set-ups and get a real feel for what each sector is going to be like, and of course to work out how long each sector is going to take to complete.

At the moment this draft route works out at around 85 miles. So I need to find another 15 somewhere! Glutton for punishment that I am! I'm happy to take suggestions if anyone can come up with a way to get the extra 15 miles in without going too much off track. Also, this is only a first draft. I was out in the car on a very wet New Years Day, doing some more route planning and I came across a 2 mile stretch between Preston and Freckleton where there was no pavement and fast traffic. So I'm gonna have to yomp that bit until there's a surface I can use again. I don't mind that too much. I can live with having to get off at times, but I'd rather keep it down to 1/4 mile stretches if possible. The aim is to keep my wheels on the ground as much as I can, but not get thrown out into traffic and risk life and limb!

So far, I've only driven the route up to St. Annes. I still have to drive the rest of the route to check for other hiccups to the planned route. So things may change yet. We'll have to see.

So there you have it. First sight of the planned route. I'm resisting the little voice in my head saying "what the hell are you thinking, man???"


http://g.co/maps/uw6u4

Chris