Five moderate riders turned up at Alison’s intending to take part on the day’s ride: George, Keith, Big Ray, Mike Gilbert and me. It was good to see Jim riding again, but he was returning to Guilden Sutton after coffee. Dave Matthews was also riding home.
As usual I
had a rough idea for a route, rather than a rehearsed and refined plan. As the
mods are easily led and can’t be bothered writing ride reports if they can help
it, they acquiesced to my suggestion of a circular route to Malpas and back.
Clive was leading a small brisk group elsewhere, but Neil was bereft of mod
plus companions. Evidently his intended ride was similar to my route, but if he
was riding solo he was considering refining his signature tight circular route
shtick to the ultimate: returning home to ride around inside his own garage on
a unicycle for three hours. This would have the added advantage of not needing
to strap on a helmet (a clown’s hat would suffice); he could also avoid the
wind which he normally finds so worrying. He was invited to ride with us but thought
that at our modest speeds he may not be able to stay warm; this was a realistic
judgement not an insulting one.
We started
out on the road to the A41 passing “The Rhigi” on our right. Dave Matthews had
peeled off left before this. At Chowley we turned off for Coddington, Barton
and Tilston. At Barton, George exercised his senior civil servant influence
which meant we didn’t break the rules of the one-way system as we usually do.
The result was a slow little slog on the main road with big lorries snarling up
our backsides! There’s a moral there somewhere. Below Shocklach we turned down
a small lane on a whim. It was reassuring
to have Mike’s orienteering skills at hand to verify my direction choices squinting
at my OS map through watering eyes. So it was that we reached Threapwood
without any mistakes but rejected the direct, pleasant lane to Malpas via
Oldcastle Heath. We needed a few more miles before lunch, so headed down to
Tallarn Green, and then off-piste past Tybroughton Hall and eventually running
down the gulch to Lower Wych. It had been a nice and easy flat fair-weather
cruise so far. The first challenge of the day was the slog up from Wych Brook
which seemed to cause Ray to suffer more than usual; too many cruise ships and too
much food recently I suspect. Of course, Ray is no longer an electric junkie
and also didn’t have a very small inside chainwheel like mine at his disposal,
so it was bound to be tough; It wasn’t Ventoux though. Fortunately, there was
no need to set up a shrine for him at the side of the road. Mike was able to
get through to The Old Fire Station in Malpas to ensure a table, and it was unexpectedly
empty when we arrived. The food was very good and the service friendly. The discussions at lunch were surprisingly well-informed
and covered many of the pertinent issues of the day. I was thinking of giving
Newsnight’s Paddy O’Connell a call; he could have us as a vox pop panel and
save the BBC a few bob on expensive guests.
Our return
was via Ashton’s Cross, Gallantry Bank, Peckforton and Beeston. Mike kindly took
our photograph at Beeston. Although the road surface is not great the lane on
the edge of the Peckforton Hills is very scenic, sheltered and studded with
beautiful little cottages. Despite Keith acting as my considerate carer and
reminding me to regularly drink water I wasn’t at my most frisky at Beeston, so
the option of covering a few more miles via Tiverton and Huxley didn’t appeal.
I headed back to Tattenhall by the shortest route which passes Owler Hall and Ray
accompanied me. Keith and George will have clocked thirty-seven miles, Mike
considerably more, and Ray and me a modest thirty-three. It’s a pity that
Alison’s closes so early in the afternoon, it would have been nice to end with
coffee and cake before our final departures. Nevertheless, it had been another
very pleasant day in the scenic Cheshire lanes in trusted and relaxing company.
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