Well the day before Steve T’s and Keiths special ride in the Peak district, the temperatures peaked (see what I did there?) at 24 deg C and wall to wall sun was enjoyed across the UK. Thus, preparation for the special ride should have been sunscreen and extra water. In reality 6 deg C and rain doesn’t quite warrant sunscreen, unless its waterproof!
So a hardy group of CER riders met at High Legh Garden Centre - a brilliant start point, thanks Keith and Steve. Mods outnumbered Shane and I by 3:1 with many of our mod plus team on hols or family duty. Of course the Whisperer cried off as he is allergic to the three known elements of today, hills rain and wind!
The Met Office and Apple were congruent in their belief that the rain would start in our theatre of exercise at 12-1pm. So, Shane and I developed a cunning plan to do a McClaren non-stop strategy and dine after 58 tough miles. Just like any plan it did not survive the first contact with the HILLS!
The route out of High Legh was on lovely Cheshire lanes with only very short A&B road sprints to re-join the lanes. The lanes through Nether Alderley and Prestbury prompted Shane to advise we should have worked harder at school. The mansions on either side of the road and the new builds are testament to the cashed-up folk who reside here.
Lidgetts Lane was continuous series of sharp
climbs and plunges; however Bull Hill Lane put pay to any thoughts of a non-stop
strategy. Bull Hill leads to Buxton New Road which is so steep it has
switchbacks on it like a Lake District pass. Shane demonstrated his
preparedness for his forthcoming Beach na Bà sportive by clearing off up the
climbs, well done Shane.
At the peak of the climb we were just shy of 2600 ft of climbing with a modest 27 miles under our wheels, then I espied The Nose Coffee! A lovely barn conversion cafe, where coffee tea and bacon or tuna butties were consumed. Well it was over two hours in and despite Shanes sentient knowledge of weather apps (which declared it was currently raining) we were still relatively dry. So a plunge into Langley was enjoyed.
The lanes of Oakgrove and Gawsworth hummed under our wheels before we entered the village of Marton and espied the trusty steeds of the mod group. Sat in the corner were the very dry and remarkably fresh-looking faces of George Keith Dave Steve & Trevor. Sausage and mash seemed to be the food of giants and we left them to enjoy their fare.
No sooner had we left the pub when we experienced the only cloudburst of the day. We were instantly soaked! However, Messuage Lane safely took us down to Congleton Rd and on to Twemlow. The very muddy Booth Bed Lane made us both appreciate our mudguards!
At Great Budworth (lanes we regularly use as a club) we headed North along a slightly busy road to cruise back to High Legh.
58.9 miles 3140 feet of climbing on new lanes was a real challenge and we both wish to thank Steve T Keith and the original creator of the ride Clive for their efforts in putting on two routes, a great starting venue and judging by the lunch a great lunch venue.
Steve H
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