I was already warm after cycling up to the Gallery Coffee
Shop and the expectations for the day were high with no rain, plenty of sun and
a little breeze. This had encouraged a
good turnout of 13 moderate riders: myself, Bryan, Keith, Dave & Liz,
Charlie & Jane, John Mills, Dave H, Kate, Steve T, George and Trevor. But
where were the brisk riders? Rumours that they had worn themselves out with
their trip over the Lakeland passes last week were probably untrue. Despite the turnout no-one had a route. Reluctantly I found one to Caerwys on my
satnav, and as this was to the Piccadilly Inn our enthusiasm grew. Twelve of us set off, with Trevor deciding to
make his own way back.
The route out skirted the north of Bwcle and through Sychdyn,
and then came the grinding climb up steep hills to Rhosemor. With the hardest
work done, we crossed Halkyn Mountain and passed
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| Photo by Steve T |
On our return the group started to fragment. John wanted to try out his new satnav and
would make his own way back – we assume he made it. The rest of us headed back
up the B-road before turning left to cross the A55 at the daffodil fields, now
looking bare and ragged. We then looped round for a couple of miles on the main
road to Lloc, before taking to the lanes again through Pantasalph, and up
towards Halkyn Mountain. On the way we met a bemused motorist as we took a
short cut, the wrong way up a one way street. On the mountain Dave H realised
that he was a risk of missing his appointment in Warrington and left us speeding
ahead. When Keith noticed Dave had gone, he realised that his lift had gone
with him, and pelted off to catch him up!
Three riders down, we continued to Rhosemor and retraced our
outward route down the steep hills, meeting oncoming vehicles at just the wrong
moment. Then on to Northrop where we said goodbye to George. The eight
remaining riders crossed the A55 and said farewell to Kate, Jane and Charlie as
we headed back into Harwarden. Here Steve T and the tandem dropped off, leaving
Bryan and myself to ride back into Chester, but not without first re-fuelling
at the Hawarden Estate Farm Shop – well worth stopping at.
Overall, a total of about 42 miles with quite a few hills, a
fine day, a good pub and excellent company.
SH
Stephen, Thanks for leading the ride. It was new territory for me and included some very scenic hills. I managed use my new Garmin find my way back via Cilcain and some of the busier roads. Clearly CER leaders have a better cycling algorithm than Garmin! đ
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