20th January 2011: Bangor on Dee

As I left Chester the sun was shining brightly through the early morning fog and although it was -4°C, I was confident the sun would burn the fog off and we would have a sunny cold day.  How wrong can you be!  The only other bright lights seen today were the car headlights in the freezing fog!  I espied Ivan ahead going towards Greenlooms on the way to the Ice Cream farm, he was cycling uncharacteristically slowly.  The reason was icy lanes around Christleton and unplanned de-bike manoeuvre.  As soon as we got into Martin’s Lane, it was clear that there was no grip and cycling would have been positively dangerous, so we walked most of it (about 1.3 miles) until it felt safe to cycle again.  By the time we arrived at the café, it was close to 10:30 but Mike M and Trevor were just getting their drinks so we agreed to relax until 11:00 when the sun would of course have burnt the fog away.  A call from Ray S came in to advise us he was not coming to the start but “where were we thinking of a lunch stop”.  The Buck Hotel in Bangor–on-Dee was chosen so off we set on a modified back lane route.  Out through Tattenhall and down to the A41, we eschewed the Bolesworth way to Brown Knowl by cutting up off the A41 into Coach Road and then across the A534 into the continuation of Coach Road and into Old Coach Road.  This normally scenic route was limited to a gloom with only 200m visibility.  Over the crossroads at Old Hampton Post, we once again hit the A41. Taking our life in our hands, we ventured across the traffic, continuing along the truncated Old Coach Road and into No Man’s Heath.  “Can we stop here” came a cry as we passed the Wheatsheaf pub – no answer from the front – just a right hand signal and down the lane towards Malpas.  Cutting left we then followed the cycle route 70 down Mastiff Lane et al until we arrived close to Worthenbury on the B5069.  It was then a short run then to the Buck Hotel.  Ten minutes later, Ray S arrives covered in hoar frost from a solo ride out from Chester.  What value for money the Buck offers in its “Over 55” menu– a two course meal plus coffee and a real ale pint for under £10 – promptly served and tasty fare.  The big news was that Ray’s Van Nicholas had been delivered but he came out on his “old bike” in case he scratched the titanium frame in an untimely de-bike activity.  Back into the cold damp gloom the route back was the familiar run of Worthenbury, Shocklach, Tilston, and Coddington. Trevor and Mike split off to go back to Tattenhall having completed a 35 mile run and the remaining three of us went back to Chester via Churton, Bruera, Saighton and Waverton having clocked up nearly 60 mile round trip from Chester.  The day was not as planned but nevertheless an enjoyable ride even though we saw very little of the Cheshire countryside.
See route map and/or gpx file download.
CA