4th October 2018: Holt (mod)

Jim and I had decided early in the week to give the moderate ride a miss but to ride up to the Gallery Coffee Shop in Hawarden and then cycle home. This is exactly what we did but events conspired to turn it in to the moderate ride.

I arrived at Jim’s to find that Dave H had arrived with the same intention and was delighted to find that Steve T was with him, attempting his first CER ride since his accident. We were joined soon afterwards by Mike and the five of us set off for Hawarden. We followed the Greenway as far as Blacon then dropped down Western Avenue to Sealand Road and then into Ferry Lane. We followed this to the aptly named Ferry Lane Bridge where we crossed the River Dee. We turned right towards Queensferry and followed the twisting road past the back of the Airbus factory at Broughton. After turning right at the roundabout we turned left into Rake Lane and started the inevitable ascent up to Hawarden and what would normally have been the starting point for our ride.

There were a number of other Easy Riders present but most were heading off on the brisk ride and the only addition to our group was Dave P. So six of us set off down the Wrexham Road before turning left onto the small road that would take us up the back of Bilberry Wood to the footbridge across the A55. After crossing the A55 we turned right then left into Old Hope Road and continued into Lower Mountain Road by-passing the village of Pen-y-Mynydd. Then a left and right into Sandy Lane.

From there we turned into Shordley Road. I would have turned down Cobblers Lane here and headed for Rossett but Jim suggested carrying straight on along Dark Lane. We did so and crossed the Llay road into Gegin Lane and left at the end onto Gresford Road. At the bottom of the hill we crossed the dual carriageway and turned left into Springfield Road, emerging at the bottom of Marford Hill. As we climbed the hill I was behind Jim and noticed that his rear tyre was looking a bit flat. He stopped to investigate and discovered that he had picked up a thorn somewhere along the way. The rest of us had a short break while he changed his inner tube and then we carried on up the hill and turned left into Hoseley Road. At Borras we turned left again onto Holt road. As we approached Holt the topic of conversation turned to a suitable venue for lunch and the consensus was that we would stop at Cleopatra’s.

Cleopatra’s is normally one of our starting venues but this time we were able to sample their lunch menu. Despite now being October we were still able to sit outside for our lunch although I suspect this will probably have been the last time we will be able to do that before winter sets in.

After lunch we crossed back over the River Dee into England. The Farndon Bridge has been closed for several months for repairs and resurfacing (well, it is nearly 700 years old) but fortunately was still open for pedestrians and cyclists. At Churton Steve decided that he’d had enough for his first ride out and we opted for the most direct route back. Dave P left us and headed off to get some extra miles in around Tattenhall. The rest of us headed back to our starting point via Aldford, Saighton and Christleton. Only 38 miles completed but a milestone for Steve as he continues his recovery. Well done.

See route map and/or gpx file download

TC