A strong turn out this week. There is in fact a photo enclosed of almost everybody there, bar Ivan & Clive, who were off like a shot (I guess Ivan is camera shy, does he have a secret past- Lol) .My head count captured 19 in total.
Suffice it to say there was potential for several group rides and after the usual discussions, it became clear there was a need for an easy rider group, Mod group, Mod + group and a fast group. DM was in civies, clearly there to touch base with a coffee and a chat. DH was notably absent who I believe was on holiday.
Steve T lead the Mod group, I’m not sure who lead the Easy riders. Ivan lead the fast group, which included Chris, who jumped ship at the last minute from the Mod+ group, lead by yours truly. I had a route that involved a meander of the full Sandstone Ridge and again a mix of previous routes I had ridden in the past.
I set off with the Chuckle Brothers, Toby & the ‘very nice man’ aka Kev, back from his honeymoon, after 6 weeks off the bike. The other groups all went right out of Meadow Lea so I went left , just to be different - Lol. On reaching the A51 we turned left on to the cycle path and headed for the traffic lights where we turned left up towards Great Barrow, ultimately heading for Helsby and a few small hills.
There’s always road works somewhere and our encounter was early and a complete road block, on the incline up toward Great Barrow. It didn’t look good as we approached. However, and much to the ‘chatter box’s’ surprise, my request to walk our bikes through was successful. (that road is not opening for quite some time). A diversion would have meant going right back to Meadow Lea and following the other groups.
We were soon on Nortons Ln heading for Manley Common and the first of our climbs, which was also our second stop. CB1 had a saddle issue that needed adjusting. Once over the top we descend on one of my favourites, as it is a lovely quick lane through Queen Charlotte’s Wood. After a short stretch back up we turn right toward Helsby and the slightly steeper climb up around the mount. Steve Hu shouted out ”photo”, from the back, just as we got to Helsby Quarry Park, but I was more interested in cracking on, as we had already lost time on the saddle fix and road works.
Just as we
were heading out of Helsby Steve again piped up that he was enjoying the new
lanes, to which I pointed out that he had ridden them before with me, but in
the other direction, which is a lot easier-Lol.
It must have been just a couple of miles later that another bike issue occurred when Steve threw his chain ( years of cycling and he still doesn’t know how to change gear-Lol) Only a brief hiccup and we were off again only to suffer another chain off, barely a mile down the road, on another dip down. This time it was ‘the very nice man’, so unlikely to be his fault - Lol.
We finally get into a rhythm and piece a few miles together without stopping, in fact all the way to our lunch destination, after a good few miles up and down the ridgeway, with a final easy climb up to the Crows Nest through Kelsall. Lunch was quick, good quality and good value, which seems to be the key factor these days. I also learnt something new, as I have never heard the term’batch’, which I now know is that well known name for a bap/bun-Lol.
Obviously Kev’s honeymoon, touring around Spain, was the hot subject, although most of it was about his camper van, which was of particular interest to Toby, who has put 160,000 miles on his 20+ year old camper van. CB2, in parallel to the camper van conversation had a strange fascination with my new phone ( what’s wrong with a yellow cover-Lol) I think the final comment from both of the CB’s was that there’s nothing wrong with a cheap Chinese phone, which explains why I can never get hold of them - Lol.
Lunch done we were off and straight into a light climb, which I got some grief about ( from the tarts aka CB’s). We were continuing along the ridgeline of course toward Cotebrooke and my all time favourite descent of Heaths Ln, which I decided to kick start early, in Tirley’s Ln. Toby decided to give chase, remarking at the bottom, that I had clearly done that before-Lol.
Now regrouped we set about the gentle up hill, through Cotebrooke and beyond, summiting at Rose Farm cafe. A couple of miles further on we turned into Willington Rd for an easy dash to Oscroft, before crossing the A49 and heading on down toward Walk Mill cafe. As we passed the cafe I asked who needed to get back to ML, as I preferred to head home at Waverton, if they didn’t need me. Lucky for me they all knew how to get to ML, just 4 miles north. They all needed to get back to Chester and beyond for the CB’s, who needed the Greenway, so returning to ML was perfect for them.
Half a mile later, we passed Eaton golf club and shortly afterwards I said farewell to the group, noting a respectable pace on my Garmin of 14.7mph, as it was a short hilly one of 38 miles. They turned right at the fish and chip shop in Waverton. I headed straight on for the A41 and amazingly found it traffic free, so I was in Saighton in a flash, driving the pace on for a quick finish via Bruera, Platts Ln and Tattenhall beyond.
I got home
with 51 miles on the clock, although not on my Strava -Lol.
A great day
out, with no wind and a cracking group. As usual the banter was good and we all
had a good laugh. It was nice to see the ‘very nice man back’ - Lol.
Till next
time ladies,
NT
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