The truly moderate group at Holt consisted of Mike Dodd, George, Ray, Keith, Andy Barber and myself. Andy had a broken gear cable, so reluctantly had to return to Mold. I had an idea for a route, but was wary of being too ambitious as Keith was recovering from a recent knee replacement, and I hadn’t cycled since abandoning the Anglesey ride at lunch. The health problems some of us are negotiating remind me of my two old, hot Renaults: they are still quite feisty, but sometimes yellow flashing lights appear on the dash and can be difficult to diagnose and eradicate. I decided to give the Churton to Barton loop a miss: we could always extend the route in the afternoon if desired.
Our route took us to Tilston, Duckington and Bickerton Hill. Goldford Lane across the Coach Road from Duckington is a special, lush climb with lovely properties studded in the escarpment and fabulous views. It was a treat just to be living the moment in this environment in such relaxed company on a fine day. Bryan Wade would identify cycling like this as the essence of Chester Easy Riders. We were soon heading down past Cholmondeley Castle without losing Mike Dodd this week. After crossing the A49 we took a novel diversion along the quiet little lanes down to Gauntons Bank before riding alongside the Llangollen Canal to the lift bridge at Wrenbury. We were even able to give advice to a white van man on how to circumnavigate the roadworks on Station Road. The driver was very cheerful but had made the mistake of asking Ray in the first place. Ray had told him that he didn’t know what day it was, never mind where we were or how to get to anywhere else. We cycled the back way to Aston, turning left at Pinsley Green.
The renovated Bhurty at Aston was quite busy, so the food was a little slow in coming, but it was excellent and the friendliness of the staff appreciated. Conversation was wide-ranging including quotes from ancient philosophers about leadership and Rory Stewart’s recent book and podcast. Most of the informed conversation emanated from George and Mike as usual.
We set off on our return at about 2p.m. Ray needed to get back handily, and Mike was riding to Chester, so there was no appetite for an expansive afternoon route. We headed for No Man’s Heath by way of the pleasant route through Pinsley Green, Marbury, Swanick Green and Bickley Town. We by-passed Malpas and hit the Roman road at Kidnall in order to reach Tilston. We ignored the Lost Barn with some regret having spent an indulgent last coffee and cake in the sun at the back recently. At Crewe -by -Farndon we attempted the back route to the by-pass in order to rediscover it and avoid the usual boring speed bumped slog to the top of Farndon. Keith managed to fall into the brambled bank alongside the footpath with his foot stuck in the pedal on the leg on which he had his replacement knee. Fortunately, he appeared to be unscathed. All that leadership discussion in the pub earlier had obviously not led me to cotton on about the risk of tackling a steep path to someone recovering from knee surgery. You can see the point of risk assessments when leading a group activity after all. To compensate, Keith was allowed to have the best cake left at Maggie’s, as those of us not in a hurry enjoyed a last coffee. About thirty-six miles covered, and no flashing yellow lights on our virtual dashboards, although Keith may have had a temporary red.
DH
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