How is it that I can live
the closest to Meadow Lea yet still manage to be one of the last ones to
arrive? So it was again this morning and by the time I arrived the cafe was
buzzing. Although I didn't get around to counting how many riders turned up it
seemed to me that there was a higher turnout than there had been for a long
time. I did manage to count how many mods were riding. Four including me so I
didn't even need to take my second glove off.
Andy W, George and Ray were
the ones who were following me. I had hastily downloaded a ride from the blog
that Steve Hughes had led a year ago. It was 49 miles to Overton. I was sure
that distance wouldn't go down too well with my fellow riders but because the
last bit of the ride was an out-and-back from Bangor-on Dee it was easy enough
to shorten it. A few extra diversions for his route meant that I could now call
the ride my own and not worry about accusations of 'plagiarism' from Steve.
We set off towards Guilden
Sutton and turned right into School Lane, heading towards Chester then down to
the River Dee. After crossing the river we passed through Eccleston before
turning left onto the Rossett road and left again down the Straight Mile.
Steve's route then appeared to go down a farm track but I kept us on the tarmac
as we approached Pulford. We turned left just before reaching Rossett then took
the country lanes to take us up to Hoseley Lane.
At at Borras Head we went
straight on and down to the new roundabout near Wrexham Industrial Estate. We
crossed this and found our way onto the little lane that skirts round the edge
of the estate. At the far side we got onto another new and busy road but
quickly found the old road which would take us up to the traffic lights at
Cross Lanes.
Lunch was beckoning and from
the lights its not far down the A525 to Bangor-on-Dee. We usually lunch at the
Royal Oak but I had heard a rumour that it was now closed. Sure enough, as we
cycled back over the Dee we saw the boarded up windows and the 'For Sale'
notices. I can't say I was surprised. The last couple of times that we've been
there there was only us in the place. The alternative is The Buck which is only
a couple of doors away from the Oak. I remember the Buck from years ago as a
small-roomed dark place with hundreds of teapots hanging from the beams. It has
certainly changed since then. Walls have been taken down (as have the teapots)
and it is now more open and brighter. The food was good too although Andy's
Welsh Rarebit had an odd look to it when it came.
After lunch we headed for
Worthenbury before turning for Shocklach and Farndon. Another deviation here as
we turned into Crewe Lane South to take the short cut into Farndon. We carried
on towards Aldford before passing through Saighton and Waverton. One final
deviation from Steve's route here as we returned to Meadow Lea via Wicker Lane.
This allowed us to avoid pupils leaving Christleton school and the traffic
chaos that that causes. We finally arrived back at Meadow Lea having completed
42 miles.
See route map and/or gpx file download
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