14th December 2023: Christmas lunch ride to Gresford (mod)

There are numerous traditions associated with Christmas. Christmas trees, mince pies, turkey and Santa, of course, to name but a few. To these, CER members can add the Pant-yr-Ochain at Gresford which seems to have become the venue of choice for our annual Christmas lunch ride. We've always been pleased with the food and service there so Dave H booked it again this year but this time he booked the meal for mid-day so that we wouldn't be cycling home in the dark. This meant that there were only 2 possible starting points for a ride out which would get us there in time and since we had ridden from Alison's last year we started from Maggie's in Holt this year. 

The weather forecast was good which resulted in a good turnout for the rides. After the brisk group had departed there were 11 of us left for the moderate ride. I left heading south towards the main road followed by Alan, Andy B, Dave H, David M, Jim, Mike, Neil, Ray, Shane and Steve Hu. Its only 5 miles from Maggie's to the Pant-yr-Ochain so I'd had to devise a route to get there at the right time and not an hour early. In the end I came up with a route including 2 large circles which would get us there at about the right time. So on reaching the main road we turned left then immediately right where we were confronted with a view of the fields completely covered by water. It looked more like the Lake District than the Cheshire countryside. Steve insisted on us stopping for a photo and risked life and limb by standing in the middle of the road to get one.

Photos by Steve Hu

After the photo shoot we turned right into Francis Lane and followed it until we reached the new dual-carriageway which carries traffic to the industrial estate. We wanted the road straight across but had to follow the cycle path down to the roundabout and back up the other side. A circular tour of Clays Golf Centre brought us to another roundabout which we crossed to get to Borras Hall Lane. At the top of this lane we turned right and right again, heading towards Commonwood, and in the direction of Holt. Before we completed the circle we turned left up towards Rossett, left through Hoseley and left again into Hoseley Lane. Before completing the second circle we turned right again. Some carried on here while some of us waited for a few of the others to catch up and and it was nice to see Peter. He had ridden out to wish us a Happy Christmas but had missed us at Holt. We carried on along Vicarage Lane towards Gresford and turned into the Old Wrexham Road for the final mile to the Pant-yr-Ochain, arriving with only 12 miles done and with 10 minutes to spare.

As we enjoyed our lunch we were reminded of why we keep going back to the Pant-yr-Ochain. Great food, great service and great company.

No messing about on the way back. We took the short route back retracing our route along Old Wrexham Road, Vicarage Lane then down through Commonwood back to Holt. At 17 miles its the shortest CER ride that I've ever done But then today was more about the lunch than the ride and we certainly enjoyed that.

Many thanks to Dave H for organising the lunch and for all the work he does for the club throughout the year. Happy Christmas to him and all our readers. 

See route map and/or gpx file download

TC