According to my radio, this was the first day of
meteological winter. It certainly was
wintry, just the same as the last few days had been, cold dry and often sunny.
Dave H and I were sitting in Cleopatra’s in Holt, preparing to join a ride with
the fast boys, when Dave P arrived with Liz, making a welcome return on the
tandem. After not much consideration
Dave H & I chickened out of a longer ride and decided to join the tandem
for an outing to The Greyhound at Street Dinas, just north of St Martins.
We travelled out southwards along the western side of the
Dee, and sped into Bangor on Dee, bumping into John M on the bridge; he had dropped out from
the brisk group still suffering for his recent bug. Our attempts to persuade him to join us
failed and we continued on through Overton. Dropping into the steep valley of
Shell Brook, we took a minor road to avoid the steep hill, and climbed up more
gently, through some ice, to pass the church in Dudleston, where Dave H & I remembered
encountering a funeral earlier in the year. I wonder how much our memory of
routes depends on who we were with and what happened.
The Greyhound was just around the corner, and we appreciated
their large fire and friendly welcome. Unfortunately
the food wasn’t quite up to scratch in this usually excellent pub. Over lunch
the conversation extended over many serious topics from youth
training and employment to recent political events across the world.
On our return route we encountered the only difficulties of
the day, a sticky mud which jammed itself under my mudguard, operating as a
very effective brake. After two stops to clear this, I tried to ignore it,
maybe helped by some of the mud shaking free as we passed over the corrugations
of Rookery Lane south of Worthenbury – is this the worst surfaced lane in our
area?
As we headed back, Dave and Liz suggested we stop for coffee
at Lewis’s of Farndon. For those, like me who hadn’t visited before, this is
the rather smart, new coffee shop you pass on the right as you head down
towards the bridge. It was a good
choice, cosy and well-priced with some tasty looking cakes. As we sipped our
drinks we reflected on an excellent winter’s ride: 33 miles of decent riding in
good conditions.
SH
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