11th May 2023: Gwaenesgor (mod)

 The unpredictable weather certainly did not deter a sprinkling of mod and fast riders at the Gallery Cafe, Hawarden. The new owners made us very welcome and the food and drinks were served up efficiently and quickly.

The fast lads were off on a 100 miler to Colwyn Bay. Trevor & Dave M were doing their own ride; this left ride leader Alan, Ray, Matt and Steve Hu as the fearless foursome to set off into the Welsh Hills.

The weather forecast had been particularly poor in terms of accuracy this week, however certain knowns were, it will rain at sometime today, if we go towards Mold it will rain all day.

The Eagle and Child at Gwaenesgor was selected and began with a plunge down to the river past the blue bridge. The route took us along the cycle path to the Dee which in turn threw up challenges on width restrictions for the trike. The quiet roads passed by Kelsterton College and Alan led us through an innovative way of bypassing  Flint by way of a new housing estate. By now the rain had arrived and rain jackets were donned.

 The climb past Bagilt Wood can never be described as easy , yet today complete with rain jacket it seemed “super hard”, as the Vuelta riders are fond of saying. The road climb continues to just before Whitford where we joined some lovely lanes and the temperature hit 16 deg C, a full five degree C warmer than in the rain earlier. The wild garlic was in full flower and greeted our swooping progress though the small glades and valleys. These lovely lanes skirt the hillside with panoramic views of the Wirral. Shortly the road drops into the picturesque village of Llanasa.

 The last push up to the viewing point above Gwaenesgor provided an ideal opportunity for the group photo. Lunch was then consumed at the excellent Eagle & Child.

On top of the world

Replete with fish finger / vegan or beef rolls we set off on the slightly busier road to Trelawynd, a sharp right resumes quiet lane riding as we head towards Caerwys road. A quick scoot along the cycleway parallel to the A55 results in some road side maintenance from Matt as he adjusts the tracking on his trike.

From here to Halkyn is a series of long climbs culminating with Halkyn mountain. Unfortunately, Ever Ready Ray did not live up to his monika as his battery was flat. Fortunately the back of the climbing had been broken and we dropped into Northop where Alan left us. The three musketeers headed for Ewloe where Matt set off back to Chester. By now huge dark clouds had descended, necessitating a spirited ride to Hawarden to avoid the thunder and lightning which ensued within 5 mins of the end of the ride.

Thanks Alan for planning the ride which was just 44 miles with a respectable 3000 feet of climbing.

SHu

See route map and/or gpx file download