Preston to Southport

August 7, 2025

Today our destination is Southport, a coastal seaside resort. Had we been more “seaside-oriented” I could have scheduled our trip to go through Blackpool just north of Southport - the most famous English sea resort - but we passed. We never seek out ocean or beach venues.

We took advantage of both the noon checkout and the little gym across the hall to work out for a bit in the morning before we left. As Dave said: Preston was a successful stay, even though it wasn’t scenic. We enjoyed a little urban grit in our touring and the Holiday Inn was very good. Breakfast was NOT a full cooked breakfast but a buffet, which was great for a change.

The ride's route was excellent today. There was hardly any elevation change so I worked on riding in “eco” for most of the day. Ever since my own mild knee drama in Spain in May, I generally have turned up the electricity on my bike because when I ride in eco I feel the pressure on my knee. But in the last month, when the road is flat, I have worked on riding more in eco. Today I told Dave I was going to ride in eco for the first 20 km, and I did. I ride a little slower so this strategy only works on a day when we have a shorter ride and not much elevation change. (As you can see, I can think of any excuse to turn the juice up).

Coming out of Preston we stopped at the Wallace and Gromit bench for a memorial pic and worked our way through the urban bits of the route.

"Um, excuse me, lady. Get your own paper."

We passed a number of casinos and then shops entitled “Dash for Cash” and “Cash Discount;” I guess Casinos and pawnshops go together. We then rode through a park and while we were supposed to ride along the river, the river path was closed so we had to divert and missed the river ride altogether. We did get to see some prettier parts of Preston though.

We crossed the Ribble River outside Preston, rode through a forest and then on some small roads. We were on cycle Route 62 (the Transpennine Way) which we followed all the way to Southport. I have been very impressed with the cycle signage here in both Scotland and England. They don’t have much cycling infrastructure but the cycling agencies - I think it’s mostly Sustrans - have put together many well-thought out routes. There has only been only a time or two I thought I was taking my life in my hands on the roads. Kudos to making cycling possible in a country that doesn't cycle much. (Of course, we haven’t really gotten very far south yet, so maybe I am speaking too soon….)

This trail on the outskirts of Preston was especially nice.

Soon we came across corn crops, the first we've seen since France.

We rode the whole 38 km in one fell swoop. To some degree we have gotten cycle-hardened and can now ride longer distances without feeling the need to stop and take a break. In this case I looked at midpoint stops before Southport but both teashops I had found listed in the countryside were closed - another bad sign for the British hospitality economy.

We arrived at this entrance to a path along a canal. The friendliness of the trail was diminished by this entry point. Dave actually managed to maneuver both bikes through without removing our panniers, and although effective, it wasn’t pretty.

There was also this sign suggesting if we didn’t behave the landowner would revoke permission to let us through. The conclusion I draw is that many of these cycling routes are still owned by private landowners who grant permission. That would never work in the US as our individual rights, private property mentality would preclude that.

After a fun stint on this very small path and another narrow exit point we reached a dedicated paved cycle trail along a busy road which took us the last 6 km into Southport. We could see Blackpool in the far distance to the north and we rode along an estuary. We were now going into a headwind but it was still a fun ride.

Blackpool in the distance (taken with the 10x zoom lens)

We also reveled in the fact that for the one day we would be on the coast, it was a (relatively) nice day.

Southport isn’t actually on the beach and in fact when we looked at taking a stroll on the beach later that evening after dinner, but it was getting late and it was just too far. It’s just “near” the beach. There is a large attractive promenade through the center of town that we rode through to find lunch at Lord’s Cafe before checking in at our hotel. The town is pretty attractive — not exactly San Sebastián or South Beach, but its not overly kitschy either.

Not exactly Sturgis, but the main street and sidewalk was taken over by dozens of Harley fans and their hogs.

There are a lot of older pensioners here and we noticed a massive assisted living place on the outskirts of town. There were also a number of wheelchair or mobility-assisted units around town.

We split a duck wrap at Lord’s Cafe which was quite good. The owner was from Liverpool and he wrote out a few restaurants for us to try when we arrived there. Since I had just delegated the “dining in Liverpool” task to Dave that morning he made a reservation online on the spot.

Our hotel, the Vincent, is very nice. There was even a doorman - we haven’t seen one of those for many months (San Sebastian maybe?) - who helped Dave park the bikes in a conference room. I was relieved when I found this hotel, as most of the choices looked pretty tired; this town was popular in the Victorian era and you can feel echoes of its past.

An Old Victorian Hotel - not where we stayed!

Nonetheless, despite being at the very end of the hall, our room was nice, with working a/c, a king-sized bed - which we really don’t get very often - and a small, deep, square tub.

Taking the oddly shaped tub for a dry run.

I am pretty sure the designer who chose this tub, never actually used a tub. If you were mobility challenged, you wouldn’t be able to get in or out….

We opted to eat at the Korean Kitchen, since we are getting bored with British food. We pondered that this happens near the end of every tour: we like the food wherever we are, but get bored with it. I am even getting bored with chips (fries). The bad news, such as it is: we still have another month in Britain so we have 30 more mornings of the full English (or full Welsh) ahead of us. Plus 30 more days of tea shops for lunch.

Dinner was very good in an almost empty restaurant. Food was super fresh, service was excellent and there were a total of three tables being served on a Thursday night in August. (They did have some take away orders).

We had ditched the stroll to the beach idea, but we nevertheless enjoyed the stroll back to our hotel. Tomorrow we're on to Liverpool to pick up Dave’s new glasses - we hope!

Today's ride: 38 km (24 miles)
Total: 3,377 km (2,097 miles)

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Lyle McLeodI think I spotted a typo in your description of Blackpool. I believe it should read ‘the most infamous English sea resort’ .
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