29th October 2026: Malpas (mod+)

 I arrived at Alison’s Café and was just parking up my bike when Ray S and Keith arrived.  With the temperature around 13°C, Ray and I immediately faced one of the great dilemmas of cycling: should we sit outside and get cold before we had even started riding, or head indoors and enjoy a little warmth while we still could?  No formal agreement was reached, no hands were shaken, and no committee meeting was required.  We simply opened the door and went inside.  Clearly, we were of one mind.

Keith, meanwhile, was still outside faffing about with his bike and therefore missed out on the decision-making process.  When he eventually joined us, he made a point of observing that we always sit outside at Alison’s.  Similar comments followed as other riders arrived.

It was another decent turnout, with three groups setting off: Dave H and George in the mod group, and everyone else split between mod+ and brisk.  Our mod+ contingent consisted of Fiona, Elwyn, Alan, Steve T, Dave N, Kevin, Keith and yours truly — eight riders in all.

Steve T and Alan had been discussing a ride to Whixhall Marina for lunch and, with Alan taking the lead, we set off to enjoy the day's cycling.  Little did we know that the route, the lunch destination and even the group itself would soon be subject to revision.

There was no gentle warm-up or leisurely leg-stretching to ease us into the day.  Although not very steep at any point, we were right into a 350ft climb up to Bolesworth Castle.  More respite now as we headed south to No Mans Heath following the roads to the west of Larkton Hill.  All was going reasonably well as we crossed back over the A41 towards Bickleywood.

Then nature called.

Fiona needed a loo stop, with Elwyn staying behind to accompany her back into the group, leaving the rest of us to continue a little further up the road where we took a right turn, coming to a halt shortly afterwards to wait for our missing companions.  However, we were too far around a right hand bend that we couldn’t be seen by Fiona and Elwyn, who continued on past the junction all the way to the A49. 

While we waited, Keith took the opportunity to remind everyone of the club rule that the last rider should hold back at junctions to prevent the group from becoming separated.  Alan and Keith rode back to look for them but, by then, Fiona and Elwyn were well down the road. Fortunately, Keith was able to telephone them — thanks Dave H for your timely distribution of the new contact list.   Fiona and Elwyn returned using the same section of road – ‘wee-cycling’ I believe it’s called - to rejoin the group.

A young lady stopped for a pee,
As her cycling pals rode off with glee.
Her hubby gave chase,
At a cracking good pace,
But they missed the right turn — W.C.!   (Will Chase 2026)

 Overall, a delay of around 12 minutes and an additional three miles for Fiona and Elwyn, a wee detour as a Scot might say.

 While waiting for our missing riders, we had further discussions about the route for the day.  We had only covered 9 miles for a planned route of about 50.  Furthermore, it was in the wrong direction for Fiona and Elwyn who had already cycled 15 miles to get to Alison’s.  We decided to re-route and head west rather than east with a lunch stop at Malpas, a better location for Fiona and Elwyn, giving them more options for returning home with a sensible overall mileage for them.

Malpas was a little too close to justify lunch so soon and so I volunteered to lead a new route and add some extra distance via Tallarn Green and Threapwood.  This meant another steady climb of around 350 feet on the road from Threapwood to Malpas but it felt so much easier than the earlier ascent to Bolesworth Castle, admittedly over a slightly longer distance but also on warmed-up legs.

Lunch at Malpas was at the Old Fire Station café, where there were two separate tables of 4 but enough to accommodate us.  Fiona wasn’t keen on going there because of how expensive it had been on a previous occasion but, for one reason or another, we ended up parking our bikes in the bike rack, the type which support just the bottom of one wheel, and which never inspire much confidence, leaving the nagging suspicion that a badly placed bike could leave you with a bent wheel.  As for lunch itself,  I can’t speak for everyone else’s meal but both Keith and I had the café’s club sandwich and were suitably impressed.

The direct route back to Tattenhall via Tilston was just 9 miles and so we headed back via Shocklach, Farndon and Churton to add a bit more distance.  Fiona and Elwyn left us at Malpas and headed home via Tilston.  We bumped into them again crossing the A534 at Farndon, with Fiona and Elwyn taking a left turn shortly after, through Farndon and Holt to return home.  A little more communication at lunchtime on our respective plans and we could have cycled together from Malpas to Farndon.  The main group wasn’t deliberately trying to avoid them anymore than we were at Bickleywood – honest!

 At Churton, rather than taking a right turn for the more direct path back to Tattenhall via Coddington as initially intended, it was still early and so we headed on to Waverton and followed the Shropshire Union Canal before heading south for the final run back into Tattenhall.  Not sure why exactly but Keith did take the right turn in Churton for the more direct route back to Tattenhall only for us to pass him going in the opposite direction as he headed back to Guilden Sutton via Waverton – something about not wanting to go through Waverton twice, firstly on our way back to Tattenhall and secondly on him returning to Guilden Sutton.  Had he stayed with us he could have gone directly to Guilden Sutton from Waverton without returning to Tattenhall.  His call, though, and maybe he had had enough of us for the day.

The route may not have gone quite as planned, but unexpected events are often part of the appeal of club cycling.  Despite a couple of hiccups, it was a good day out on the bikes, in good company and with good weather for the time of year. 

Anthony M

Some stats:  43 miles overall with 1750ft ascent.  22 miles for the hillier part of the day before lunch at an average speed of about 12mph (if the 12 minute delay is excluded).  21 flatter miles after lunch with an average speed of about 15.5mph – no wonder I was flagging towards the end!

Shocklach: a placename that Keith found amusing but then Keith has form when it comes to placenames – see the blog for the mod special ride from Chirk on 17 Sep 2026.  According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names, the village name Shocklach means 'goblin stream'.

See route map and/or gpx file download