There was a decent turnout at Maggie’s, and it was nice to catch up with some that I hadn’t chatted with for a while. Inevitably, unless you are riding with a particular group on the day, catching up is limited over morning coffee. Steve Hughes kindly came over to ask me about my recent eye treatment, and it turns out that he is something of an amateur ophthalmologist. Seriously, Steve is obviously, and helpfully, well-informed, due to his experience with an elderly family member. Nevertheless, I won’t be asking him to inject my eyeball to save me attending future Thursday clinics. For what it’s worth, my visual acuity is 6/6 in both eyes, and my treatment is successful.
I had a route to The Bhurty at Aston that was “oven ready” as Boris would say, i.e. wasn’t fully thought- through and may not turn out well. Trevor, George, Keith, Dave Matthews, Andy Barber and John Mills were prepared to risk it. It was great to have John on board, and for various reasons, Dave, George and Andy have hardly ridden with us at all for weeks. It was heartening to have their company once more. The route out was via Tilston, Duckington and Bickerton. The lovely little lane up the side of the Larkton and Bickerton hills escarpment was a bit of an ask for Dave who must keep an eye on his heart rate, but he was fine. We then turned south-east past Cholmondeley Castle before crossing the A49. I took a mileage check with Keith and Andy, but their answers differed and both underestimated the actual mileage we had covered. Nevertheless, I thought we could do with a longer loop on little, quiet lanes before lunch, so it was that we cruised around Marbury before reaching Aston via Pinsley Green. We were fortunate that workmen allowed us through a flooded section after passing a “Road Closed” sign at The Swan. Keith recalled a cold day having lunch outside The Swan in Covid times, and how that was, very sadly, the last time we spent with Erik Borg.
Lunch was a “cut above” at the refurbished Bhurtpore, and the staff were lovely. We cycled back the way we had come for a couple of miles, before heading for Wrenbury. At the lift bridge over the Llangollen Canal, Dave and Trevor chose a more easterly track home, as the rest of us went west to Gauntons Bank and then turned up to Bickley and Heatherson Green. I had to apologise for my micro navigating in this area and up to Tilston, as we stitched together a mostly narrow laned course via |Hampton Post and Edge Hall. The hard bit was climbing up from Egerton Hall to pass Michael Owen’s Manor House spread. George said that it had been a while since he had ridden this stretch, and the fact that it is an unrelented uphill slog is probably the reason we don’t often choose it. John Mills was extolling the merits of electric bikes to me; I knew that he had hired one in Tuscany and enjoyed his holiday despite his adverse health diagnosis at the time. John was on his own snazzy electric bike today, which enabled him to ride despite his treatment the day before. John’s treatment has been effective, but obviously his strength and speed have been reduced. Fortunately, I remember from a Ribble Valley special ride that John could still appreciate a slow, scenic ride even when his natural pace was much higher, and he has told me that he enjoyed today’s ride as well, which is very gratifying. For myself, I think I have got the electric bike recommendation loud and clear from a few of you over the past eighteen months, but I need to factor in if and when my right hip joint is replaced.
The last leg of our ride was from entering Tilston at Lowcross Hill to returning to Maggie’s by way of Wetreins, Crewe-by-Farndon and Farndon itself, where I thought we could see if Lewis’ was still open, or continue to Maggies. As it turned out, Andy was already ahead in Holt, so we just had a last coffee and cake there. For the record, Maggie’s is open until 9p.m. and Lewis’s only to 4p.m. We assumed that John had headed home, but I learnt later that he would have joined us if he had known. The assumption was no doubt partly due to my belief that any rider from the Fast Lads stable didn’t like to waste time eating and drinking on a Thursday. We must eradicate these last-minute misunderstandings, as it’s all grist to the mill for that sad satirist and would-be ophthalmologist from Hawarden.
DH
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