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

29th October 2026 : Crewe (brisk)

Await ride report

It's a  Halloween ride photo!

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22nd October 2026: Comberbach

There were lots of riders at Meadow Lea, but would any be riding with me?  The moderates were thin on the ground and Big Ray was trying to press-gang the tolerant unguarded to join us. Kindly Anthony stumbled in after having a puncture on his ride from home and was too out of breath to resist Ever Ready Ray’s blandishments. Ray was making sure that he would be seen on the roads today by wearing very large, dazzling yellow overshoes. I was struck last week how noisy it was at The Gallery Café in Hawarden as our sociable and friendly club enthusiastically engaged.  This week it was, as ever, not possible to connect with everyone but I still appreciated the camaraderie. 

Our threesome set out on a route that would be a bit different and quite hilly for a big old boy without a battery. We passed Manley Mere and were soon climbing up to the tarmac rollercoaster of New Pale, then sped down to Waterloo via Birch Hill, reaching the edge of Kingsley by crossing the Frodsham to Delamere road. I hadn’t ridden on these lanes since the club stopped meeting at the Windsurfing Centre at Manley Mere.  Anthony was familiar with riding in the area, but it was all new ground for Ray. We descended carefully down Dark Lane, navigating the ruts masked by twigs and wet leaves; it’s an Alice in Wonderland glade down here. Pretty cottages stud the lush greenery; it looks an idyllic place to live. We continued from Kingsley on narrow Roddy Lane before crossing Mill Lane and heading for the River Weaver. The little used Cliff Lane led to Acton Bridge with a testing steep bank after riding under the west coast main train line.  Cliff Lane was a first for my companions. The slightly damp start to the day had turned warmer and brighter. With the climb up from the Trent and Mersey Canal dispatched I looked forward to an easy and flat spin to lunch at the Spinner and Bergamot in Comberbach. Unfortunately, Anthony had a soft rear tyre at Little Leigh; he hadn’t been able to locate the source of his early morning puncture, and it now appeared that his replacement tube had also punctured. After a rapid pump we decided to try and sort it at the pub, less than fifteen minutes away. We took the back route into Comberbach via Cogshall Lane, passing Heath Lodge at the entrance to the hidden country estate with a listed Georgian house at its centre.

At the Spinner and Bergamot we used the former bowling green to try and fix the puncture on Anthony’s electric Boardman which had replacement new tyres which were as originally specified. I say “we”, but Ray had rapidly disappeared into the pub: just as well I suppose! Anthony successfully located a tiny, sharp stone as the cause of the problem. The tyre rubber looked soft to me, and I would be surprises if the tyres incorporated anything like a ‘SmartGuard’ layer. The innertube was patched and everything was put together. Although I did get my hands a little dirty, I was as Debbie McGee to Anthony’s Paul Daniels.  Lunch was fine although my Thai fishcakes were a bit underwhelming. Ray had a luscious looking well gravied pie, although he got served last, which serves him right for always making sure that he orders first. With all the current problems in the world, discussion over lunch was the usual poor man’s Newsnight session, although, to be grudgingly fair, Ray is interestingly well-informed.

Our return was generally more direct and faster, although I diverted through Weaverham to avoid the usual very steep climb to Acton Bridge, and to see if it was a viable alternative in the future; it wasn’t really! At Kingsley we stopped briefly at the Horseshoe Garage for me to arrange for two family cars to undergo wheel alignment the next day. The climb out of Kingsley up to Newton is quite a long slog. A few years ago, I watched a top bike race up here and it was steep, slow and narrow enough to be a great spot to see stars like Mark Cavendish close up. Ray was complaining that his legs were aching, so I told him that it was all downhill or flat from Newton: actually, there were a couple of steep banks I had overlooked; never mind! After Manley village School, Sugar Lane was supposedly closed, but we ignored it and it shouldn’t have been closed. After rounding the hairpin bend into Cob Hall Lane, we were back on our route out. We opened the throttle slightly and reached Meadow Lea just on 4.p.m. with 38 enjoyable miles covered. I didn’t really struggle, but my colleagues had to be patient here and there which I truly appreciate. Now where was I with the Ribble Cycles electric bike catalogue?

DH

See route map and/or gpx file download

22nd October 2026: Bangor-on-Dee

Meadow Lea café was crammed with CER members, but I could see the possibility of three rides based on who was there: a ‘mod’ ride for Dave H, Ray B and Anthony, a ‘brisk ride’ for Steve H, Chris, Nick, Ray S, Toby , Dave N and possibly John M. and a ‘mod+ ish’ ride for Alan, Fiona, Elwyn and myself.

As we all spilled out onto the concrete outside the café, there was a melee and it was impossible to tell who was going with who, except for Dave H and his ‘mod’ group. Steve H said to me ‘just set off and we’ll see who follows’, so that’s what I did. As we set off up School Lane through Guilden Sutton I still didn’t know how many would be on the ride. When I aske Steve H if he knew he muttered something about it being the ride leader’s responsibility to know this – cheeky sod!

So, I pressed on, heading towards Chester and the River Dee. At this point it was drizzling and we stopped to put on our rain gear. It also provided a point to do a head count and to take a photo so that I’d have ‘evidence’ of who was on the ride. Whilst we were faffing about, Steve H started talking to a lady who, it turned out is taking the same Welsh language classes as Steve and Meg. So, credit for the photo should go to Catherine.

Photo by Catherine

It was now clear that we had a blend of ‘mod+’ and ‘brisk’ in the peloton of 11 riders, so it promised to be an interesting ride down to Bangor-on-Dee and The Buck Inn, my destination for the day. We crossed the River Dee and set off up through Handbridge to Eccleston, where we picked up Rake Lane to head for Pulford and Lavister where we rode past Fiona and Elwyn’s mansion.

Turning into Darland Lane, Fiona warned that it’s used as a rat-run and as soon as she’d spoken a van came tearing around the corner. As we reached the end of the lane my Wahoo declared that I’d reached my destination! This forced us to stop to let me re-load the route. By now the rain had stopped so we took the opportunity to ditch the rain gear. I also tried to phone the pub to make sure they could handle 9 hungry cyclists (John M and Ray had left us by this time), but there was no answer.

Heading towards Holt, we took a right along a country lane to take us to Hoseley Lane. At Borras Head we went straight on and skirted the roundabout near Wrexham Industrial Estate. Picking up the small lanes that run around the outside of the industrial estate, we found our way to Cross Lanes, where we turned left at the traffic lights.

We were soon flying down Bangor Road, but approaching the slip road off to the old bridge, Chris warned that there had been hedge cutting along it and that there were a lot of thorns, so advised us to go past it and to lift the bikes over onto the grass just before the bridge.

The Buck is just past the now-closed Royal Oak and, to my relief it was open and serving food. We all piled in, except for Chris who had discovered that he had a puncture. How unfair is that, given the warning he’d given us! The Lunch Menu offered soup and a sandwich for £7 and several meal options for £10 including ham, egg and chips, salmon with broccoli and potatoes in a cream sauce and lasagne. Elwyn chose the latter and it was enormous! Great food at a highly competitive price.

Once Chris had removed the three (yes three) thorns from his tyre and fixed the puncture, we finished our food and set off home in bright sunshine. The route back was via Worthenbury, Shocklach and Farndon, where Elwyn, Fiona and Steve H left to head home. Now down to six, we pressed on through Churton, Alford and Saighton to reach Waverton. Heading straight through Brown Heath, we crossed the A51 and headed back via Guilden Sutton (where Alan left to find his car) to Meadow Lea café.

A ride which started in a degree of chaos in poor weather improved in every way as the day went on. In the end a thoroughly enjoyable ride with a great bunch of people. As usual, plenty of chat and banter over the 40 miles we covered at a mod+ ish speed of 13.4 mph.

ST

 See route map and/or gpx file download

15th October 2026: The road to Nowhere

 I had notified all that I was turning up to the venue, but would be returning home as that would be a sizeable ride for me. So I would not therefore lead the Mod+ group. However, things never turn out as expected, which that very word, can you believe, has just reminded me of a Face Time call. Just a couple of hours ago, from my son, who informed me I will become a Grandad in May 27th -OMG - Lol.

Anyway, back to the ride I shouldn’t have lead but sort of did, as several individuals decided they would follow me anyway and then find their own way-Lol.

 

This was because my route was virtually passing ‘Jack’s abode (Nick BTW-if you didn’t read last week’s blog-Lol). And Tattenhall was on a perfect circular route back to Chester, which suited tt (Teflon Toby) and RR (Rapha Ray). All 3 had also ridden to The Gallery. And so it was that I did end up leading an unexpected mini group - Lol.

 

There was a large CER contingent in The Gallery, the likes of which I didn’t fully realise until I got outside for our sharp getaway, once we had sorted who had chained bikes to who-Lol. This made me realise just how many were in the noisy cafe (all us of course). I counted 20 bikes and I don’t think there were any cycling strangers in the cafe.

 

Noteable absentees, were DH and Steve T + the Chatter Box (Steve Hu). “he was there”, I hear you say. Well he was, but in civvies. He doesn’t ride the day after giving blood. However, he couldn’t miss the opportunity to bend as many ears as possible. He was able to chat every last man and woman out of the door -Lol. 

 

As my group ride would not have a lunch stop and therefore no scintillating conversation to report on, I thought I would tell you of yet another cracking revelation that passed through my ears at The Gallery. Last time it was Clive, meeting the one and only Putin! This time it was from tt,after ‘the very nice man’ (Kev) asked me about using the Eurostar to Amsterdam. 

 

This prompted tt to recall a trip to Amsterdam with a bunch of mates where they spent most of their time in ‘the cafe’s (weed houses-Lol). After a few such cafes, they left as a group and suddenly got mugged. However, full of weed bravado, they pointed out that the mugger didn’t have a chance against 7 men, despite the knife he was wielding and proceeded to offer the mugger a few Euro’s each and told him to politely go away-Lol. They then moved on to another cafe etc and can you believe they got mugged again, but by the same guy. Suffice it to say, you know the rest (twice in one day by the same guy -Lol,Lol)

 

My reason for not wanting to lead a ride was partly predicated on the fact I had 22 miles to ride there, so simply returning home would be enough for me, which meant riding back to The Gallery was impractical. There was also a forecast for big rain coming from the south west by 1pm and everybody, by now, must know of my phobia of the wet stuff, even more so than wind-Lol. I guess after 25 years of cycling through desert land, one would get averse to a few drops of the wet stuff-Lol.

 

Keen to get going in anticipation of the rain, we set off uphill, to the top, avoiding that horrible gravelly short cut. We were soon facing the full headwind but hurtling downhill towards Kinerton and Doddleston, so not an issue. From here it was a bit more workman-like, with all of us sharing the load on the front as we pushed into the wind.

 

We were soon through Lavister and heading up Marford Hill, protected from the wind, when ‘jack’ asked to stop at Alf Jones for 2 minutes.   20+ minutes later with me moaning; “if I get wet because you were looking at cycling shoes I will not be happy”, we finally got going again, but ‘Jack’ got what he wanted-Lol.

 

Still heading into the wind, we got through Borras and on to Francis Lane, where we finally get a tailwind and again tank it downhill in to Holt. We crossed the Holt bridge and everybody decided to carry on to Wetreins Lane, tt & RR choosing not to take the shorter route back to Chester via Aldford.  After reaching the top of Wetreins Lane, Nick and RR decided they would stop for lunch at Manorwood Cafe, while tt and I continued to Tattenhall via Carden Park, deciding to actually ride through via the back entrance, eventually coming out on the other side of Manorwood cafe at Coddington.

 

After taking Dog Lane up to the business park we crossed the A41 and descended into Tattenhall, At the bottom I said goodbye to tt, as he went right at the junction and I turned into Frog Lane. I got home with exactly 50 miles on the clock and avoided the rain by 30 minutes, which meant RR and tt may well of caught a touch of the wet stuff, but in the words of ‘Jack’ I’m all right- Lol.

 

A surprisingly good day, with an unbelievable 15 degrees when I left home at 8:15 and no rain. Some great company as usual, all pulling together, even ‘Jack’ -Lol.

 

Till next time

 

Neil aka TWW 

15th October 2026 : Llandegla (brisk)

Despite the forecast of rain and strong winds, there was a good turnout at The Gallery Café .Most riders opted to follow Neil homewards via Tattenhall and  I think DH and his team of carers went to destinations unknown. Chris, Alvise (Al) and I headed out towards Llandegla and The Community Café.

Since there was no pre-planned route, we rode over Dobshill and into Pennyffordd to pick up the main Corwen road which we followed until arriving at  Treuddyn. Chris had a puncture and while he was repairing it, Steve Hughes stopped in his car. He was trying to locate Nick, who had apparently left his gilet at the café and was trying to find him and return it.

Onwards and upwards, we pass through  Treuddyn and then take a back road that leads to Rhydtalog and the long descent towards the café. Lunch was a quick affair as the café was empty and  service prompt.

Back on the bikes, we had a brief sprint on the main A525 before joining the little-used road that leads past the Landegla Mountain Bike Centre then it was all downhill through Minera to Llay and on into Hope. 

We split up here with Chris and Alan heading towards Chester and me to Rossett.
As predicted, the rain arrived on time around midday and stayed with us until I arrived home.

Today’s ride covered 31 miles with 2660ft of climbing

See route map and/or gpx file download

KP

The following (unedited) report is by our favourite Venetian, Al (Ed: keep them coming pls)

What an honour to be forced into writing about today’s events , I beg for mercy in advance 

It all started off with me having to do a 180 and run back in the house for some unwanted toilet appointment, ahhh fantastic… this made me late for the randez-vous with my associate CHRIS , and as you all know by now he is stickler about being punctual,

Unwilling to let him down we sorted a closer meeting point and off we went , we took sealand road, and in a heartbeat we were over in saltney ferry and off behind broughton park towards Deeside only at that point realising I had forgotten my gps, -the day keeps getting better- a couple of turns later we started climbing towards hawarden and the legs felt alright Chris’s rear derailleur not so much, so ignoring the sweet song of uncooperative cogs, we pushed to the cafe.

I was surprised by the turnout as it was either the biggest group I had seen since joining in the summer or maybe was the fact that the easy riders had taken over a tiny cafe , 

Having worked in hospitality, I recognised the signs of pain that 20 people showing up at the same time had inflicted on the poor lady behind the bar, so I opted for the easiest order possible. Also of note: the man known as “lastmin.com” showed up at an acceptable time when supervised 😂 

After a little chatter with Fiona, Elwynn and others it became apparent that the weather forecast had lied to me. As a result, a few opted to head home before the rain hit. Others joined Neil on his way back towards Tattenhall but a rumour that Ken was planning to go solo to llandegla tempted me and Chris to hop on his wheels and ruin his solo ride.

We rode out of hawarden towards Penyffordd and off on a classic little stint of uphill, we were quiet to begin with; I was a bit nervous about my stomach, Ken was now in charge of 2 more riders and Chris …. well its Chris. 

A few miles in we started to get chatting and Ken made sure to warn me about the amount of climbing awaiting us ahead, I was pleased as I confessed i think I enjoy the suffering. We took a turn towards Leeswood , Ken had intended a route up constitution hill (with an alleged 10%- 12% incline) so I was a bit surprised to see us riding past it. Looking over at the incline of the climb, I definitely thought to myself “that’s definitely not the suffering I would have enjoyed…”

As a punishment for my silence on the missed intended route, we were gifted a stop for a puncture on Chris’ bike.

 

As we got to work on the repair, a questionably skilled driver pulled up -at speed- behind us, hitting the curb right behind us. As he got out, we could hear him ranting “have you seen Nick?” (Or maybe it was Jack I’m not sure what the riders call him after last week). Turns out it was Steve on a mission to intercept him as he had left his gilet at the cafe.

Once all was sorted, we got back on our way and to climb we went up Pontybodkin and then towards Treuddyn on crowed road, here we started to see beautiful views of progressively darker shades of grey all around us quickly follow by mist that morphed into a light rain, making the last few miles of climbing even more interesting. 

Extra layers became unavoidable at the top but it was a good excuse to admire some more of the grey all around. Full of beautiful views, we were ready to head down into the village and have some food and a hot drink. Here Ken explained the inner workings of the fascinating llandegla community shop ,cafe run by volunteers and how it combines a shop, cafe and post office all in one, leading to a tangent about his neighbour -whom is a pro rider- never giving him even a t-shirt out of all the gear he gets by sponsors ! lol   

After lunch was literally all downhill, we went down the A525 a small detour of back roads and little off road skirting the llandegla MTB trails ,before returning to coasting downhill, for a good 10- 15 minutes of descending the smoothest roads without turning a pedal, pure bliss.

Down the hill I lost my bearings a bit , but we sure made a left turn and kept brum o to our right till we got through Hope , until we reached higher kinnerton where we said our goodbyes to Ken and thanked him for the nice ride and taking care of us before heading , towards saltney via Bretton and then a final goodbye to Chris before I got myself home . 

 

All in all we did around 65km.

No picture but imagine 3 handsome smiling chaps definitely dry and happy 😆 

Alvise B.

15th October 2026: Holt

 Today’s ride began in a strange way as most of the mods met outside Jim’s house in Guilden Sutton, I was running late so I parked in the village and caught them up later. We all headed to Hawarden to the cafe which was bristling with CER members. I’m not naming everyone as their respective tour guide will probably mention who was in attendance. Our posse consisted of Dave H, Jim,Trevor, George, Dave N , Mike Dodd and myself as nominated carer. I sometimes think I’m a cowboy wrangling this lot instead of cattle. I have the mods, making sure they have been the loo and picked everything up. Now I’ve got another wrangle trying to get certain members to stop gassing and get moving. I’m definitely not cut out for working in a care home.

The reason we met a Jim’s was due to everyone trying to get a loop in before the forecasted rain in the afternoon, which seemed to be the theme for the other groups. Once again I didn’t check the weather, as basically we live in England and it rains, but we did have a strong  headwind on the journey out so cycling along the river was a slog .

The route for us was heading to Holt for dinner via Buckley then up to Penyfordd , Hope over to Llay then Gresford then on to Holt for lunch .

This is where it got confusing as Maggies was busy, so we split into two groups. Myself Trevor, George all got seated in the café, but as normal the other suspects dithered and whatever else a bunch of doddering cyclists do and couldn’t make a decision, so they decided to eat at Cleopatras. Our little group ordered and chatted over the usual excellent fare which was served quickly and half decent as well, so we sent the CER four a photo and made a quick phone call to rub salt into their wounds, as they hadn’t even been served. So as they were stating it’s going to pour down or the way it was described to me Noah and his Ark would be required as we are going to have biblical rain and wind haha, which we didn’t as it was only a splattering of rain.

So the three of us had decided to take the longer route back to Guilden Sutton through Farndon over to Churton then headed to Coddington around the back lanes to Tattenhall. Then the usual route back to Waverton and Guilden Sutton where we encountered the biblical rain that we’d warned about. Yes, as you can guess, it wasn’t biblical and the wind had dropped much earlier. So to all the members who checked every weather app known to mankind and worried that they would be turned into soaking wet miserable cyclists, take heed, stop worrying. It’s England and it rains.

So, the three of us covered around 42 to 46 miles. The other four, well I don’t know and couldn’t care less to be honest for all the griping over the weather certain members kept telling me - Dave H you know who you are haha. Once again, all joking aside, today was another good CER day, laughing, moaning and whatever 7 cyclists do meandering around quiet country lanes talking nonsense but enjoying the moment.

KB

15th October 2026: Halkyn

 Given the weather forecast for a wet day’s cycling, there was an impressive turnout at the Gallery Café in Hawarden with CER members pretty much taking over the café.  Many discussions over coffee but obviously not so much about the routes for the day as Steve H, who wasn’t cycling, commented on a totally chaotic situation as riders assembled outside and hastily decided what groups they would join and routes they might do.

I had initially intended to join the mod group but it looked like it could be quite large and I didn’t want to add further to the group size.  Alan and Kevin had been discussing a shorter route out towards Northop and Halkyn with options to adapt the route based on the actual weather conditions.  This smaller group suited me and it would be on roads that I hadn’t cycled before, and so the three of us set off towards Northop Hall.

Alan had no set route but a good idea for the start of the route.  With his knowledge of the roads in the area, he guided us out to Northop, and on towards Halkyn, taking us left onto a road with a ‘No Through Road’ sign up hill to Midlist Farm, where we dismounted our bikes and walked past the farm on a designated public footpath. 

We had started the ride in overcast but dry conditions but now drizzle was now falling with the skies looking increasingly ominous.  We continued northwards to the east of Halkyn Mountain and up and around Holywell Common.  The drizzle had turned to rain and the gloomy and windy conditions gave no confidence in any imminent improvement, and so we decided to head back on a different route through Pentre Halkyn, Halkyn, Rhosesmor and Northop. 

We crossed many cattle grids on the route with a good number of sheep on the roads or grazing just off them.  We had also wished a fair few locals “Bore Da”.  Alan had cycled to the Gallery Café earlier and he left us at Northop to head home leaving Kevin and I to return to Hawarden where we had both left our cars.  Our round trip from Hawarden and back was just 26 miles but with 1,670ft of climbing. Alan’s mileage was higher at 33 miles and 1,800 ft of climbing.

A wet outing certainly but temperatures were mild and so we could have been a lot colder on another day.  It was still an enjoyable ride and it was good to get out even if it was a shorter route than normal.

Anthony M

See route map and/or gpx file download

8th October 2026: Whixhall Marina

It was drizzling as I drove down the M56 on my way to Holt, but the forecast was for it to dry up, although the north-westerly wind would keep the temperature down. A good crowd of Easy Riders had gathered at Maggie’s by the time it came to leave. Neil had gathered his mod+ crew and was off to who knows where, but when I cast around for a mod route offering, no-one came forward!

Fortunately, I’d emailed myself a route from a couple of years ago down to Whixhall Marina – a 40 mile round trip. But, for some reason, I couldn’t get the route to load on to my bike computer. Happily, once I’d shown the route to Mike G, he said that he knew it and that, between us, we would manage to get there.

So off we (George, Trevor, Elwyn, Fiona, Dave N, Keith, Mike G and me) set through Farndon and The Wetreins to Tilston. We were soon through Horton Green and Chorlton and Oldcastle Heath where, in 1644, Parliamentary forces defeated the Royalists during the English Civil War. So far, we had been climbing gradually, but we soon found ourselves zooming down to Lower Wych and across Wych Brook. Climbing out of the valley took us on to Whitewell, where we crossed the A525 and shortly after the A495.

The five miles down to Whixhall Marina are soon covered and we parked the bikes and headed into the café. Although they declare that breakfasts aren’t served after 12.00, an array of bacon and egg butties, sausage and egg butties and jacket potatoes with various fillings are soon being devoured by the hungry mob.

Over lunch, Fiona asked which way we were going back. On being told we’d be going through Hanmer, she objected, saying the roads there were terrible as they lie at the boundary between two local authorities, neither of whom will repair them. So Mike G offered to modify the route so that we would go via Breaden Heath instead.

Having taken the group photo, we set off with Fiona happy that we’d follow ‘her’ route. All went well until we’d crossed the A539 into a wooded area. Here the road was covered in thick mud for about half a mile. Everyone complained to Fiona, but she swore that we hadn’t taken her route correctly.

Whatever the case we were soon back on ‘proper’ roads. Not for the first time today, we ran past several places where the farmers had cut the hedges. So far we’d survived, but, just as we passed the sign for Threapwood, Fiona shouted that she had a puncture. The repair took quite a while as it proved difficult to remove the tyre from the deep rim on Fiona’s bike. Even then it took a while to find and remove the offending thorn.

A study in bicycle repair (MG)

With the tube replaced and inflated using Keith’s gas cylinder, we were soon on our way again and into Shocklach. On the five-mile sprint back to Farndon, we were overtaken by a couple of young lads going at speed and, unsurprisingly, Keith and Elwyn took off after them. When we caight up with them just outside Farndon, Elwyn told us that he’d kept up with the two lads. One of the overtook him and so he put the hammer down and saw him off, peaking at 28 mph – nice one, Elwyn!

Forty-one miles in the Cheshire, Shropshire and Welsh countryside on a dry and fine day in October with a top group of Easy Riders. Thanks to all for your company and especially to Mike G for help with the navigation.

ST

See route map and/or gpx file download

 

8th October 2026: Burwardsley

I counted 16 keen individuals at our venue, including Dave Mathews. There were a lot of notable absentee’s, namely el presidenté (DH) and the Chuckle Brothers. I know one of them was on the Isle of Wight, as for the other, who knows- Lol. Teflon Toby (TT) must have read my blog from last week as an absentee and clearly decided to turn up this week, explaining that holidays and flu had kept him away.

I believe there were 2 groups and maybe a couple doing their own thing. I had a group of 8 and there was no fast group, due to them joining my posse and they were: Shane aka ‘the thief’ (tt)  Nick aka ‘Jack’( more about that later- Lol) ‘Rapha Ray’ (RR) Clive, ‘Teflon Toby’ (TT) and Chris aka ‘Lastmin.com’ and cohort Al, who arrived just as we were mounting, which made the head count 18- Lol.

I was keen to get going sharp-ish as I knew tt had a 1:45 deadline to be home. So my route was to the east, initially to avoid the continuous showers that were tracking down over Wrexham and also to make it easier for tt to dash off quickly should lunch drag on. So I suggested the Poffee cafe, with the option of Alison’s.

There seemed to be a reluctance to get going, as conversations had spilled out onto the roadside, which I couldn’t blame ‘the chatterbox’ for, as he was an absentee- Lol. In the end I just rode off shouting “I’m not waiting” and of course they could catch up at the bridge lights. However, they caught up somewhat earlier than that, as my Garmin, yet again, ditched the route just as I set off.

I have now looked into this via AI and suffice it to say there are a myriad of reasons why the Garmin does it  and one is GPS drift while in a cafe, which I thought was a natural consequence of getting one’s ear bent by the ‘Chatter Box’- Lol.  There are solutions that I shall explore (fingers crossed)

 

So, rebooted and suited, as they say, we set off again and are soon enjoying the delightfully swift flowing lanes to Aldford and because of the tailwind and the previous days rain I forwent (can you say forwent- Lol) my usual deviations through the villages and simply headed straight through Churton on the wind, which did not go unnoticed by Nick. As for Clive, he was pleased he was now not pushing beyond his battery motors speed limit, as we briefly went upwards after the bridge over the river Gowy- Lol.

 

Just a few miles+ + later we were passing the Ice Cream Farm and again whipping along on the wind, around Beeston castle and a right turn  into Peckforton Rd.  We then followed the ridge line to the Bickerton Poacher and out on to the regrettably necessary Nantwich /Wrexham road. This delivered us into Bickerton and a bit of a charge lead by Nick, who like me, finds it difficult to resist the flow of Long Ln, aptly named as it is roughly 2 miles, ostensibly downhill and a good lane to use into a cross headwind and still get some speed. After a brief regroup and a chance for some of us to catch our breath I informed the others it was not my doing-Lol. Now it was time to gently climb up to Iceland corner, as I call it and the home of you know who of course.

 

Only a mile or two later I wooshed by Al, gaining as much zoom as I could for that horrible little kicker up behind Bolsworth estate.  “Now I know why you thrashed past me” was the comment from Al on regrouping at the top, ready for another short thrash down the other side, where we all regrouped. We now had another little climb up Harthill and across to Burwardsley via School Ln into the Poffee.

 

As luck would have it, the Poffee was empty, so a posse of 8 was welcomed warmly by Cheryl, who grouped 2 tables for us, after she heard Clive complain of being cold and clearly wanted to be inside (that’s the trouble with riding electric bikes and not doing any work- you get cold- Lol,Lol)

Specials perused and orders made it wasn’t long before Cheryl had the first orders out. As usual lunch conversation was interesting, especially as Clive was in the group, if only for the repeat sentences and or sign language to get the point across- Lol. However, with TT back in the posse, I was looking forward to some interesting facts, as I remarked to Clive about “the stuff he knows”, when Clive turned and offered me a handkerchief. “What’s that for”- “you said you had a stuffy nose”- what could I do but Lol, Lol, Lol. 

 

TT was in fact quieter than usual, as the ride had left him a little tired or perhaps he still had the remnants of flu, as it’s not like him to bring up the rear. Mind you, he may have just overloaded that shopping trolley on his handlebars- Lol. Nick showed his true colours at lunch, excuse the pun- nicking all the extra hot water and pouring it all into his tea pot. Meanwhile RR and I had none. This lead to some embarrassing chuckles and the subsequent Nick name of Jack from now on- Lol. 

Then the ultimate conversation piece was delivered by Clive. I can’t remember what triggered, but he went on to regale us all of a young Clive in St Petersburg, back before any of us were born - Lol.

While he was fronting a conference, involving a few eminent scholars, he got to meeting Putin! Can you believe- I mean come on!! That’s worthy of an After 8 mint.

 

Of course, he wasn’t the tyrannical leader we all know now, but simply the deputy mayor of St Petersburg, which explains a lot, in the words of ‘the thief, “it’s all Clive’s fault then, if he hadn’t met Putin, there wouldn’t be a war with Ukraine and all the other atrocities Putin has caused- Lol.

 

With that bomb shell story rounding off our lunch, we set off again Straight down the hill for Tattenhall which would see our first departure. TT turned right up to Chester and home, while I would forgo my usual Frog Ln home and rode on with the rest, up Rocky Ln and through Carden Park and down past Stretton Mill. We lost Nick at the back entrance to Carden Park, as he went left to Tilston.

 

Half a mile later, at the junction, we lost tt, as we could see his house, just 100 mtrs away to the left. I turned right with Lastminute.com and Al. Shortly after we past the Cock ‘O’ Barton and descended past Manor Wood cafe and just a mile further on said cheerio to them both at the church as they were taking Pump Lane back to Chester, can you believe ( terrible bit of lane) .

 

I had another 5 or 6 miles to get home and reached it after 49.9 miles and 600mtrs of ascent, which meant our AS of 15 mph was not bad at all, which also means that TT did well, considering his remnants of  man flu and all that- Lol.

 

Another cracking day of banter and character assassinations - Lol It’s so easy sometimes- got to love it- Lol.

Till next time gents,

NT aka TWW

See route map and/or gpx file download

1st October 2026 : Llay (Mod+)

Today’s venue was well attended with approximately 14 of us, that formed into 2 groups, I believe.  DH/Keith was leading the Mods and I had a Mod + group of 8, which would require careful supervision, as Keith astutely pointed out. He subsequently made it clear, to a particular pairing, that I was the nominated carer for the day- Lol. He was of course relishing the exploits of his Mod group, remarking that a day out with his local care home occupants might be an easier prospect- Lol, Lol, Lol.

There were a few fast boys in attendance, but they were only interested in joining my group. Clearly my planned route to the Rackery Farm shop cafe appealed, perhaps because once finished at the cafe, it was easy for them all to divert off home in their own way, as was later proven to be a correct assumption-Lol.

I don’t believe there were any attendees doing their own thing, which was unusual. This meant both groups were of a similar size, although I didn’t have a clue where the other group was going, as I didn’t hear any conversations on that front- Lol. A Notable absentee was ‘Teflon Toby’ again, as I have not seen him for months. Steve Hu rode in from Penyffordd, a good 20 miles at least, and was going to ride straight back home but then realised my route was actually going in the rough direction of his house, namely West, so he joined us for a good few miles.

The rest of my group became; Nick, Alan (the other half of the chuckle brothers (CB1) ‘the thief’ aka Shane, who rode in with me, RR (Rapha Ray) and last but not least, Clive on his electric bike, which we later discovered he had obtained a new frame for or was it a complete replacement bike, from Specialized????? Anyway, we eventually set off right, after a few shouts to the more infirm group members - Lol.

Before we knew it, we were braking hard after a short fast down hill in to Willington. Turning left past Willington Hall, unfortunately this meant we had to tackle that awful bit of lane, but it made for a different start to the usual departures from Rose Farm. After a few miles or so we were crossing the A41 at Waverton, heading for Holt via Saighton and Aldford beyond. I then lead the group through the village, immediately after crossing Aldford brook, which reminded me of one of the biggest floods for over 30 years, apparently, when the bridge walls were almost fully underwater, let alone the bridge- True! because I had to turn around and head back to Holt, on one of the wettest rides I have ever done-Lol.

The village of Aldford was a good excuse to slow our pace in order to take in and admire those lovely houses in this part of the Duke’s extended estate. We meandered through the village admiring what I think are some of the most outstanding decorations I have ever seen on property. All the houses in that village are so well maintained- stunning. I had intended to show the group the unusual garden, full of garden gnomes (at least a couple of hundred of them-Lol) But alas, we discovered they are all gone, which begs the question of what happened?  Did they all wonder off in the night, board of their garden existence, or was there something more sinister afoot- who knows-Lol.I made a mental note to try and find out via ‘AI’, when I got back home. However, I later decided not to bother after our lunch conversation with ‘the thief’- more about that later- Lol.

Half a mile later we were negotiating our first set of road works, as we got back on to the main drag to Farndon, which is when Nick came to the front and took the wind off me, which was now full in our face.Through Holt and now sat on the wheel of CB2 (down hill, with cross tailwind) who had decided to put his usual spurt in - I suspected he was planning to leave our merry band within a mile or so, because he only ever comes to the front when we are arriving at a lunch venue (so he can be first in the queue-Lol)

Low and behold, only a mile or 2 later, CB2 shouted out “good bye”, as we were nearing Rossett, choosing to take the lane to Lavister and thus his route home to Penymynydd / Penyffordd? Some say he left us at that point fearing the climb up to the cafe, which was a bit of a brute, but I don’t think he could be that devious, could he? - Lol. After a regroup 3/4 of the way up, ‘The Straight Mile’, which gave me a chance to catch up, we trickled in to our lunch venue in one’s and two’s, all cursing the climb, but glad of the sunshine and what is becoming our favourite table, as we have never sat anywhere else- Lol.

Lunch conversation was extremely varied, once the general chit chat about CB2 whimping out was finished. However, as much as I would loved to have left the conversation there, I did inform the group that he had to get home for an appointment about some hearing aides, which also explains a lot-Lol. There were too many conversations to remember and of course that old adversary subject of ‘AI’ came up, but despite Clive’s presence, it was not him this time. It was ‘the thief’. He had been trying to find an old colleague and friend that he had lost touch with for more than 20 years or so. Having got no where through usual channels, he decided to try ‘AI’ and subsequently typed in all the information about his pal’s career and name of course. 

After a few expectant moments it came back with an answer, which was a picture of a cartoon Duck can you believe. Well that had me and Chris almost wetting ourselves over that brilliant piece of deduction -Lol,Lol.

Lunch over, and various discussions on who was carrying on or diverting off, which saw us lose Clive heading for home, as we set off. I then asked ‘the thief’ to lead us through the housing estate, in order to avoid the annoying traffic light junction up ahead, which prompted Nick to praise ‘the thief’s’ knowledge of the estate. Now heading down hill fast, I decided to forgo the pleasure of climbing Griffin Lan,e after the bitching at lunch about ‘The Straight Mile’-Lol.

This happened Just as Lastminute.com came past me, having used up all of my zoom, I shouted out “left”, which surprised him somewhat. Clearly he was up for the very nasty climb only 50 feet in front of him (just realised that Google calls it Gresford Rd- when did that change?). Anyway, immediately before the bridge we swung left along Springfield Ln, an unusual little lane that runs parallel to and only a few feet from the infamously busy A483, for approximately a mile or so.  At the end we turned right up Marford hill heading for Borras and Francis Ln, just a mile or 2 further on.

It was somewhere up Marford hill when I learned why Chris was so surprised at Springfield Ln. It was a completely new lane for him and he thought he had seen them all-ha ha, I win-Lol. After a few miles, we hit the main drag past Holt and wind our way through the village stopping for the river Dee crossing of course (don’t think I have ever met the lights on green yet-Lol.) This did at least provide time for a quick discussion on who was leaving the group, which turned out to be everybody-Lol.

However, as CB1 preferred the shorter route up to Waverton, I decided not to follow ‘the thief’,‘ RR & Chris to Wetreins Ln, remembering that I was the nominated carer for the day (thanks Keith -Lol).So, I duly escorted CB1 to Bruera, where he could be trusted to find his way the last 3 miles to his car -Lol.

I got home after another 7 miles and a total of 53 for me, with an AS of 14.4 mph and a few good memories-Lol.The actual route ride back to Rose Farm was in fact 43 miles, but none of the group actually went back to RF, however, most did more miles than the 43.

Another cracking day out with some excellent company and plenty of sunshine. I had a thought, as I rode home, that considering the unusually dry spring and summer, there were many times when I planned routes based on the forecasted rain, so today made a nice change to not have to allow for that.

Till next time chaps.

See route map and/or gpx file download 

Neil T - aka ‘the wind whisperer’