Everyone riding to Rose Farm had had a struggle against the
wind and rain. Maybe that’s why relatively few cyclists turned up: Clive, John
W, Ivan and myself, plus David M who was only out for a short ride. We were joined for coffee by Steve T who had
some weak excuse for not coming out. I had a route in mind to the Bhurtpore at
Aston, and so it was that three brisk riders and one moderate set out – giving me
the chance to practice leading from behind!
The start of our ride was foul: very strong gusty winds and
heavy horizontal rain. After ten minutes
this moderated to the simply unpleasant. We pressed on buffeted by a
south-westerly wind, passing through Cotebrook, Wettenhall and Nantwich. We
passed through Ravensmoor and Wrenbury, before pulling into the Bhurtpore car
park. Eagle-eyed Clive had noticed
something wrong – no lights on. He popped into the pub to discover the whole of
Aston had suffered a power cut, and we could only have cold food. A quick conference came up with the
alternative of The Swan at Marbury, which we could reach with only a short
detour.
 |
| Photo by ID/JW |
Leaving the pub we took School Lane to Gaunton’s Bank, a
filthy muddy potholed road. Thence headed north to Chorley Bank, where Ivan’s
impetuosity in the front led to him missing the turn and head for
Cholmondley. John chased after but, by
the time he was caught, they had gone so far that they decided to head directly
for home. Clive and I continued through Bunbury and past the Shady Oak. Here Clive headed home, while I passed
through Tarporley to reach our starting point with 42 miles covered.
SH
No comments:
Post a Comment