On a day when wind and rain were predicted, a small group of CER members gathered at Maggie’s in Holt. Dave M was adamant that he was going home after coffee to avoid the coming deluge. Jim and Ray B were planning a short ride before returning home and Nick was riding back to Tilston to meet up with his son.
That left Alan, Ray S, Dave H and yours truly. Both Dave and
I had a route down to Whixall Marina; I was keen to ride at faster pace than ‘mod’,
but that wouldn’t suit Dave, so a slower pace seemed to be likely. Just before
10.30, Dave and Liz Pipe turned up on the tandem and Dave quickly agreed to ride
with them, destination unknown.
That resolved the dilemma about a faster ride, so Alan, Ray
S and I set off for Whixall in bright sunshine, but into a blustery headwind
(or ‘cross headwind’ as the Wind Whisperer would have it). Nick came along with
us as far as Tilston as we carried on through Chorlton, past Newton Hall and in
to Lower Wych. The climb up from Wych Brook was a challenge, but was managed
without any problems.
Up to this point, although there were some big dark clouds
around, we had avoided any rain. When it
arrived, it was enough to for us to put on our rain jackets, but certainly not
the deluge that Dave M had predicted. Crossing the A525 at Eglwys Cross and the
A495 as we approached Fenn’s Bank, we saw the signpost for Whixall – 4 miles.
But we knew from the last time we’d done this route that the marina was still
at least 5 miles away.
Arriving at the marina, the rain had stopped and we left the
bikes under the cover of the outdoor seating area. The café itself was full of ‘senior
citizens’ and had stopped serving breakfasts at 12.00. So bacon and egg or
sausage and egg sandwiches were the order of the day. These were very nice
except that Ray’s egg was overcooked and so he had them do another one for him.
After the traditional group photo had been taken, we donned
our rain jackets, more to keep warm than anything else as the sky was now cloudy
and threatening rain. The first three miles back to Northwood were directly into
the wind before we turned north towards Bettisfield, where we picked up the cross
tailwind which blew us up to Bettisfield and Hanmer. Here we crossed the A539
and shortly after the A525.
By now the sun had returned, so off came the rain jackets. In
several places along the route, the roads were very wet and it was obvious that
there had been a local downpour, but, riding our luck we had avoided them all. Zooming along through Threapwood and Shocklach
we soon arrived in Farndon, where Ray headed home for Chester and Alan and I
returned to Holt and the café.
When we got there at 2.20, Dave H, Liz and Dave P were
already there enjoying a cup of coffee, having returned from their ‘marathon’
ride to Malpas.
Just under 40 miles covered at an average speed of 13.7 mph
and a modest 1400 feet climbed. The last time I did this ride with the mod+
group, my average speed was 14.4 mph, so I still have some fitness to gain; but
I’m happy with progress so far.
Thanks to Alan and Ray for their company and support and to
Dave H for his understanding.
ST
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