Today’s mod+ ride was planned to follow the route forged by Neil and co at the end of February this year. A gentle 30+ miler down to Bunbury. As things turned out, whilst we did pass through Bunbury, that was not to be our lunch destination. ‘We’ in this instance, comprised Steves Hu and T, Alan, Paul and Clive as Neil and Nick had decided to head for destinations west rather than east.
In the February ride report by Steve Hu, mention was made of
the high prices being charged at the time at Tilly’s and the possibility of
going to a farm shop near Calveley. So it was agreed that we’d try it out…if we
could find it, with Tilly’s as a fall back.
Our route out was the inevitable potholed road to Hatchmere.
Even before we got there, we had to stop as my rear mudguard was loose. The
problem was eventually solved by discarding the toothpicks and using a cable
tie. There followed some slightly better roads through Delamere Park to
Cuddington and Sandiway, where we crossed the A49 into Dalesford Lane. Turning
south-west we crossed the Whitegate Way at Marton and threaded our way down the
pleasant country lanes to reach Little Budworth.
As we skirted around the wall of Oulton Park, the was a cry
of ‘puncture!’ from behind. It seemed that Alan had a slow puncture which he
tried to rectify by adding some air from his canister. Although this worked for
a short while, we were soon stopped at the end of King’s Lane where the
punctured tube was replaced and the offending thorn extracted by Alan using his teeth! Him Tarzan!
As we pressed on towards Alpraham, Clive said that he knew
of a good cheese farm and café near Calveley, although it might not be the one
that Steve Hu had mentioned. So that’s where we headed, the Calveley Mill Shop and Cafe. The food was quickly
ordered and it arrived within 10 minutes of the order and the prices were extremely
competitive – for some reason they were even less than advertised on the menu!
A mixture of all day
breakfasts, toasted sandwiches tea and coffee was soon polished off and we were
soon on our way again. The route took us
through Bunbury, around Beeston Castle and past The Shady to the junction with Huxley
Lane, where Clive left us to head back to Mollington.
We rode on up the hill into Tarporley, pausing at the
junction with the A51 while Alan fiddled (again) with his seat post. A case of
too much grease, he said. Then on through Eaton and Cotebrook to arrive back at
Delamere with 31 miles covered at an average speed of 14.2 mph.
A pleasant ride on roads that were a mix of dry and muddy in
weather that started out grey and damp, but finished grey and dry. Whatever the
weather, the company was excellent and it was a pleasure to be out.
ST
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