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Chester Easy Riders is an independent cycling club affiliated to Cycling UK. We cycle every Thursday throughout the year with moderate and brisk day rides of 40 to 80 miles.

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Saturday 23 June 2012

14th June 2012: Llanbedr

The forecast was for sunny spells and although rain threatened several times, only a few spots fell – so I have maintained my “ability/luck” to control the weather over the last three rides!  Six of us left the Gallery Café bound for Penycloddiau pass and the Griffin pub in Llanbedr DC.  Liz D, Trevor, George, Alan, Dave B and I left behind the Tandem Duo and Martin.
Out from Hawarden, we warm up our legs over wet roads past the Ewloe quarry towards Buckley. We take the back way to Soughton to access the steady climb up to Gwernaffield.  Down the steep descent to Cilcain Bridge, we puff up the double chevron ascent and turn right towards Nannerch.

Photographs by Alan Jeffs

At the start of the long climb to Penycloddiau I suggest we meet in the car park at the top for a breather.  In the car park Alan and I enjoy the Vale of Clwyd views and the history of this Iron Age hill fort and patiently wait but no one comes until I spot Trevor who says he is the back marker.  We three set of down the lane to find the others.  A phone call from Liz advises they couldn’t find us in the car park (?) and are down the bottom at the crossroads.  “OK” I say, “be with you soon”.  However down the lane I find Alan assisting Trevor with a puncture so I freewheel all way down to the crossroads and advise Liz and Co to follow the B road to the Griffin.  I grind back up the hill and wait at the turn for the high level lane that cuts across the countryside to the pub.  
The pub is good value and we leave bound for the Nant y Garth “bypass” at Graigfechan.  We wait for Trevor at the start of the run down to Llanarmon.  He doesn’t appear, and his phone I later discover is elsewhere.  I grind back up the road to find him changing the front tyre.  At Llanarmon, we view the Welsh motte and bailey castle thinly disguised as rocky outcrop and a copse.  Up to Trueddyn, we make our way to the edge of Leeswood before turning back bound for the old Chester Road in Penyffordd and Bilberry wood. Trevor and I go back to Chester via Saltney Ferry and the others finish the 45 miles route back in Hawarden. Several other notable riders were resting today ready for their Alps sojourn next week.  I thought they might have relished a warm up over the Clwydians!
CA

1 comment:

  1. For those who missed the history lesson at the top of Penycloddiau, if you click on my pictures of the notice boards to enlarge them you can read most of the text! There's an interesting bit about a Canadian soldier visiting at the time of WW1.

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