A smaller turn
out than usual for Maggie’s. No doubt most got frightened off by the weather
forecasts, which I have to admit to succumbing to on occasion- Lol. However,
a careful look at the Satellite pictures and more the pace of the clouds made
me think we might just get away with it, as long as we finished by 1:30pm at
the latest - fingers crossed- trust me I’m a Dr. -Lol.
Notable absentees
were Shane aka ‘the thief’, with a dodgy back, which must be contagious as Alan
aka CB1 had a similar problem I believe or perhaps he just chose to go and
sweep the Greenway with his other Sustrans mates- Lol. And
it was the first time I hadn’t seen Toby since he joined the club. So, my customary head count revealed roughly 10/11- ish, and amongst
those was the notable ST, back from his hols, as I missed last week, due to my
short visit to Amsterdam.
My route for the day had everything to do with the expected weather front, to which DH hit the nail on the head (in passing at the toilet queue) His prediction, of an ever decreasing circular route, prompted a chuckle from me - “How did you know?” Clearly, he was harbouring desires to be lead on such a creative meander- Lol.
I was keen to get
a sharp start, in order to beat that front, so I let everybody know I would
only be giving ‘last min.com’ 5 seconds leeway, as opposed to the usual 5 mins
for him to arrive. And he must have heard me as he arrived just as we were
walking out to our bikes-Lol.
My group for the
day was different in many ways, due to most of the usual motley crew being
absent. Only ‘the chatter box’ was present, but not for long, as we discovered
later.
The rest became
‘Rapha Ray’, Nick, then electric Clive & ‘last min.com’ - A decidedly quick
bunch, which left me feeling a tad ominous.
We set off left straight into a closed road and the workers instantly forced us to the pavement, but not an issue, which left me thinking about the next closure. ‘The chatter box’ had already warned me about heavy road works on the road up to Ecclestone, however, it didn’t take much thought to come up with an alternative, on the fly. We settled into a comfortable rhythm from the off, as there was a light tail cross wind, but the chatterbox was already on my case, as he went past setting a faster pace ( I mean! Come on) And then he tried to send us all the wrong way up Rossett Rd. “Why would I go that way” was my shout”, as I sailed straight on toward Borras “I have a plan and it doesn’t include 3 miles of cross headwind-da!-Lol. Onward, granted on a bumpy rough stretch, but with a cross tailwind leading us into our only hill of the day.
We turn right at
the top of Borras and head up and down through Horsely Ln, down Marford Hill and into Rossett. It wasn’t long before we
pass F&E’s pad and through the Welsh boarder only 200mtrs beyond-Lol. Just
as we passed the Grosvenor Hotel (lovely place BTW), Nick pulled up alongside
and informed me that ‘the chatter box’ had left us, after only 5 miles and
headed for home. He was supposed to stay with the group until Chester.
Apparently he was feeling the pace, which he triggered (I’m a wind whisperer,
not a mind reader- Lol)
Anyway, this
seemed to be a trigger point for Nick to set a nice tempo pace, or at least it
was to me, just a cruise for him and the others no doubt. I
Instantly got on his back wheel and stayed there, like a limpet on a slippery
rock -Lol. He clearly sensed I needed the help into the now slight cross
headwind. Two miles later we turned right to Ecclestone and straight away we were faced with council
workers again, but we managed to get by without dismounting, although the
others possibly did, as I had to wait and then Clive came to the front, because
he wanted us to stop and visit a tree-Lol.
The incline up through Handbridge caused me to lose the rest, prompting ‘last min.com’ to then drop back and give me his wheel to follow-bless him. Soon back on the group and down across the rapidly flowing river Dee, we turned right along the river front. I was heading for Hoole Ln, which would lead us to the A41 and Christleton beyond. At some point Chris came alongside me and lead us across said A41, immediately turning right. into a new bit of lane, for me at least. Turned out Chris rides Hare Ln almost every day- Lol. Anyway, it wasn’t long before we turned left after the pond in Christleton and briefly headed west toward Waverton.
It was around there that Nick and I decided to try ‘in-flight refuelling’, with some skilful ‘pick pocketing’. Nick managing to reach into my jacket pocket for an energy gel, which I consumed on the move - Lol. I was thankful for that, as it did allow me to hang on to their coat tails from Waverton and along the canal road into Tattenhall, as they were motoring with a slight cross tailwind and with everybody having a go at the front, except me of course-Lol. 4 miles later, I threw out the cafe option of ‘Old Ma’s’, as it was known before the new owners.
That’s a no then,
as we pulled into Alison’s- Lol.
Conversation, leading up to lunch was unusually intelligent, in the words of Clive, which forced me to comment that I had clearly been cycling with the wrong people for the past couple of years - noting that only one of the usual Mod+ riders was present- That said, I still can’t remember what the scintillating topic of conversation was, Lol,Lol......Got it! It was about Chat GPT and how it and other AI apps are replacing everyday thinking for a lot of people and of course how jobs are being lost left right and centre, as Clive’s daughter has just discovered.
I told the group
about a pod cast I had recently listened to concerning an A330 aircraft crash.
Cut a long story short; the 3 pilots effectively made the simplest mistake of
stalling the aircraft into the deck, from 37,000 ft, can you believe and all
because of the Auto Pilot. They appeared to fundamentally ignore their flying
instincts, whilst also ignoring the computer telling them they were stalling,
all the way down (all black box evidence of course, which is bright orange in
reality, to those who may not know). My point with that story was that
those pilots, in the same way as other chair bound, semi-automated workers, is
that they are forgetting to think for themselves and when the time comes to
think, because the AI has crashed, excuse the pun, there faced with a thinking
crisis.
There are several
pod casts on the phenomena. and it starts in our schools and Uni’s, as they
reckon as many as 50% use AI to write their papers etc.
Anyway, I digress slightly, although that was the crux of our short lunch conversation. Short because I wasn’t eating, preferring to stand, as my legs were tired and home was only a mile away. So I left, after a cup of tea, just as they got their food.
I got home by
12;55, with just 32 miles on the clock, after a quick 24 at an AS, I reckon, of
roughly 16+mph, as My Garmin had me at 15.5mph, due to my 8 lone miles cruising
to Maggie's of course.
Another great
morning with CER and somewhat different, but every bit as enjoyable as always,
despite missing a few regulars (won‘’I call them friends-Lol) I later
discovered Steve made it home with out incident, as I was concerned of course,
like a childless mother -Lol.
Till next time
ladies-Lol.
PS, we missed the
rain, which arrived at my place by 2pm and what a miserable afternoon it was.
Cheers Neil.
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