After a wonderful few days of sunshine, the weather had
broken on Wednesday and travelling to the Chirk Tea Rooms was wet and
miserable. The forecast suggested little
better for the rest of the day. The usual brisk riders were looking for
something easier, so all eight of us set off together: Clive, Paul, Andy B,
Steve T, Keith, George, Dave H and myself. I’d picked a destination and route
off our blog which had been visited in 2015 to good reviews: the Burlton Arms
in Burlton.
We initially headed up the Ceiriog valley and, just after
the fish hatchery, turned left over the river and up a short but very steep
hill. Here disaster struck for Keith:
the hanger for his rear mech snapped off. The damage could not easily be fixed,
so sadly Keith decided to walk the couple of miles back to the café. The rest
of us continued southwards on pleasant lanes, and then headed east between
Gobowen and Oswestry before entering Whittington. Next we followed the long
straight down to the Queen’s Head and into the southerly wind, though this didn’t
seem to be a hindrance to the tandem that wizzed past at over twice our speed -
obviously serious racers.
We passed through West Felton before heading eastwards again,
through Wykey and Stanwardine, and then picking up the B-road to enter Burlton
just before the rain started. The pub
was empty but welcoming. We enjoyed reasonable
priced good food from their snack lunch menu and some excellent Robinson’s beer
for a couple of us. A pub worth visiting
again.
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| Photo by Steve T |
The afternoon ride took us through Loppington, English
Frankton and Colemere, and then I had gear problems with a jammed chain. A mix
of brute force and cunning shifted it.
After Welsh Frankton we met a flock of sheep, a tractor and a wagon blocking a
narrow lane. A couple of sheep dogs were rounding up strays – they came up to
look us over, but decided we weren’t worth bothering with. With the sheep safely in
the field, we were forced to carry our bikes along a grassy bank to pass the
vehicles. From then the journey was uneventful through Hindhead and Gobowen to
re-enter Chirk from the south, and back to the café for most of us.
Overall about 42 miles, though considerably further for Clive,
Andy and Paul who had all ridden out to Chirk. The day was good: some fine
lanes, a pub to return to, generally dry and mild and good company.
SH
Steve: very enjoyable route and lunch stop. I didn't ride out today from Chester; - feeling lazy (and read the forecast) so car-assist for me today.
ReplyDeleteSalutary tale: Whilst washing the bike I noticed a broken rear wheel spoke. Then I noticed that the rear dropout (hanger) was loose. It just needed tightening up of the two screws, but it could of turned into a "Keith" event at some point in the future.
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