Considering it was a cold, damp, slate grey miserable day, we had a respectable ten hardy souls that turned up at the Gallery in Hawarden. Alas Neil had a niggly knee, so had phoned in sick..lol
The three mods had ridden in from Guilden Sutton, so had planned a ride at lower altitude back via Gresford. Ivan had ridden in from home and had an appointment in a hostelry in Mold. No prizes for guessing which one…lol
So Steve H, Clive, Toby, Ray,
Chris,(not last minute for a change), and myself, set off for lunch in Caerwys.
Choosing the well ridden route through Northop Hall to Northop, then up Middle Mill Lane. Despite it being a long steep drag it was so cold no one was taking any layers off today. Steve left us at this point to ride solo, his gravel bike just a few kilos too heavy for the unforgiving Welsh hills.
The Halkyn hills were covered in snow
at the top but the lanes thankfully ice free. We had booked lunch at the Corner
Cafe for 12:30, but my route would have
got us there too early, so I had to add a few more miles, but this detour
provided us with our team photo location, at the 'Hilltop Haven', with its ever
growing collection of movie themed statues.
Lunch was excellent at the Corner Cafe
as always, conversation was non-specific, Clive reminded us about how his solar
panels provide enough power for half of Chester, and pay his mortgage! Lol
It had not warmed up at all as we set off again into the grayness, only 2 degrees! So, continuing to lead us from the back, I found some rough muddy lanes that Clive would be proud of, leading to Pantasaph past the Crooked Horn to Pentre Halkyn. (see below)
This was as far as my legs wanted to
go, so after sending them the wrong way up a one-way lane, (you all know the
one), I descended back home.
Great company as always, 40 miles for
me and between 50 and 60 for the hard men,
but we did miss Steve and Neil’s witty banter.
AO
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