5th January 2023 : Welshampton (brisk)

Today's ride to Alisons was 15 degrees warmer than my last visit in December when we were undertaking the ride to the CER Christmas lunch. However the recent heavy rainfalls were reflected in the high river levels in Farndon and an indicator that the lanes would be choked with debris and standing water. So it was  of little surprise that on reaching Aldersey I met Nick in the process of repairing a puncture. This required two pairs of hands to remove and refit the stubborn tyre before we were able to  carry on to Tattenhall.

There was a good turnout today with everyone obviously eager to burn off some of the Christmas excess’s.The moderate group seemed to be heading towards Wrenbury once Dave H’s saddle pack was repaired. The Brisk group comprising of Ivan, Clive ,John W and myself  headed out to The Sun Inn at Welshampton. Nick was joining us for only part of the day as he was required to be in Cheltenham later.

The route over Harthill warmed us sufficiently that a brief stop was required to remove our rain jackets . Nick left us at Cholmondeley to head home and we continued on a southerly heading through Norbury and Marbury to briefly enter Whitchurch before exiting on Ash Road and continuing onto Prees Heath.

It was here, after passing over freshly cut hedge cuttings, I picked up my first puncture of the day which was fortunately in my front wheel and quickly fixed. The predicted showers duly arrived meaning rain jackets were once more donned and stayed in place until lunch.

After crossing the A5 at Prees the rest of the morning was spent  weaving swiftly through the lanes that  link the villages of Tilstock, Quina Brook and Northwood before joining the busy B road that led us eventually to the The Sun Inn. The 58 km morning section of the ride plus the delay in repairing my puncture, meant it was  after 1 o’clock  when we arrived at the pub, so we were thankful that  our food and drink orders were taken quickly by a very efficient  barman.

Fed, watered and with rain jackets stowed away, we set off with a nice southerly breeze pushing us along all the way into Hanmer where we stopped for a photoshoot.

At Hanmer Mere

A kilometre further on and I picked up another puncture which unfortunately took slightly longer to fix and involved  Ivan donating a spare tube. (Many thanks Ivan.) Back on the road we continue our journey through Tallarn Green, Threapwood, and Shocklach, where Ivan, Clive and John turned off to follow the route back to Tattenhall  whilst I carried on towards home. 

The route today was 83km with 723 mtrs of ascent ridden on very wet and dirty roads; my ride today was over 100km with Ivan and John recording nearer 120km.

Thanks guys for all your help and patience today.

See route map and/or gpx file download

KP