Six of us (Liz & Martin, Jim, Brian, Andy and I) debated the likely weather patterns and noted the wind was stiff and a westerly, so going east from Manley would mean all the way home with the wind on our front wheel. Where to go – Jim offered Whitchurch! I had planned out a possible route to Mobberley so going to Whitchurch was contra-directional. After a prompt, that there were not so many hills, we all concurred with Whitchurch and then Brian and Jim busied themselves finding a route. Manley to Oscroft to Bunbury to Faddiley – after that Jim’s geography was vague, so I offered Larden Green to Chorley to Norbury to Marbury to Osmere to Whitchurch and the Old Town Vaults pub.
Photographs by Brian MacDonald
The weather was cool with lots of cloud that threatened the odd shower. The pace was brisk with Jim in the lead and the terrain “flat”. As so we busied along via Beeston where we found an “End to Ender” puzzling over his ancient low resolution road map bound for Warrington this night. I hope he made it! At Norbury there is a steady climb up towards Whitchurch followed by a short run down into the town and to the Old Town Vaults. The side gate was opened up and bikes tucked out of sight of the road. We all went for the Senior Citizen’s Special, which for two basic courses plus a hot drink with a pint of Joules IPA (one of the other seven real ales) was under £10. Liz of course was ineligible for this menu but ate half of Martin’s apple pie and custard anyway. A promptly delivered meal that was tasty and very welcome – but as before, a smile from the owner would have completed the experience.
The way back was plotted over lunch and via Wirswall we ran roughly parallel with the route in to Whitchurch before picking up the NCR 45 to Bickerton. Jim did not fancy Harthill, so Reading Room Lane took us into Brown Knowl and across the A534 past Bolesworth Castle and the usual route to the Ice Cream Farm for tea and cake. As Liz, Martin and Brian had to get back to Manley, we all set off for Huxley with Jim peeling off towards Waverton. The roads here were wet after a recent downpour and although it threatened a few times, all we had was a few spots of rain all day. Andy and I peeled off in Little Barrow to go Chester bound whilst the car-assist three returned to Manley with 61 miles on the clock. The Chester Three had around 75 miles.
NB: I can attest that the Motorola Defy smart phone that I use for route navigation is really tough. At one point whilst rolling down a longish downhill roughly surfaced lane the phone holder bounced off my bike and, upon hitting the road the phone split away from the holder only to be unavoidably ridden over at some speed by Martin. Not a scratch on the phone and it was still working. There are issues with the phone holder though!
CA
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