A promise of a bright warm day contributed to a good turnout at Cleopatras. The brisk group John W, Ray, Ivan and myself, headed off to an old favourite, the Red Lion at Ellesmere, on a route devised by Ivan. We left Holt at a steady pace and headed out towards Ridleywood then followed Francis Lane into the Industrial Estate and left it via Redwither Lane, cutting through Caia Park, Marchwiel, and Sontley before arriving in Ruabon. The Ruabon to Chirk road was traffic free thanks in part to the road closure at Newbridge. This is where a landslide took a large portion of the road away in last years winter storms and consequently closed it to all traffic.
We had made excellent progress towards our lunch stop but our luck changed as soon as we left Chirk. At Black Park road we crossed over the A483 and came to the roundabout at Halton where we went straight over onto Colt Lane. (Don’t be tempted, find a detour!) This lane is narrow and steep with a very degraded surface that tests both nerves and bike handling skills. The lane started innocently enough but then as we descended became steep, muddy, and dark. Just staying upright felt like an achievement. Fortunately the T junction at the bottom of the lane provided some respite .
Crossing over the River Ceiriog we commenced the climb out of the valley on a steep incline which was in no better condition than the previous lane and was much darker due to the dense tree canopy. This punishing climb was 15% and our pace was barely at walking speed - our Strava time for this 2km section was 3kmh! 1/2 way up, in near blackout conditions, Ivan came to a halt with a rear wheel puncture. The change of tube took longer than usual to due to the conditions and once completed we then had to walk the rest of the climb. The sunshine and a real tarmac road surface at the top were bliss.
Back on tarmac we made good progress cruising through St Martins and into Ellesmere along Elson Road where I made a brief stop in order to photograph some fine tree art. The staff at the Red Lion were as welcoming and accommodating as ever allowing us to store our bikes in the rear beer garden. We all ordered food from the pensioners menu which arrived promptly and the main topic of conversation was inevitably all about the trials and tribulations of the morning.
We departed Ellesmere in the warm sunshine and started our return along the main road to Welshampton before joining quieter lanes that lead us through Penley, Cloy to Overton Bridge. At some point along here I picked up a rear puncture but we attended to this reasonably quickly - what a difference warm and dry conditions make. Our route then meandered along quiet lanes past the “Boat Inn” at Erbistock through Eyton and onto Cross Lanes. Here the pace dramatically increased and was led out by the usual culprits, Ivan and John; although I did put my nose in front a couple times to try and help but frustratingly my legs gave up just short of Holt. Outside Cleopatras the group split - Ivan and Ray making their way back home via Pulford and John accompanying me into Rossett before heading back to Chester.
Ivan’s route totaled 83 km with John, Ivan and Ray completing closer to 120km.
See route map and/or gpx file download
KP
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