2nd July 2026: Backford

 Yet again, considering the lovely weather, the turnout was unusually low with roughly 10-12 of us on what was a lovely day, but with very high winds, ostensibly from the west. Fiona & Elwyn arrived on the back of a lovely tailwind, which saw them smiling like Cheshire Cats, as I was still mopping my brow. Then Nick arrived, having also come down Wetreins Lane, directly into the wind - not sure I have ever seen him sweat before- Lol.

However, I had a wind whispering plan for the day, which convinced a few members to follow me, including Nick, after a bit of deliberation-Lol. The rest of the ‘posse’ were ‘the invisible man’ aka ‘the very nice man’ aka Kev, Clive & Chris aka last min.com.

 

As I know how good the hedge row cover is up to Aldford and Huntington, my plan was to head north across the wind and then west, under the cover of the Greenway, in order to get some good lanes in and cheat the wind of course. 

However, before we could even get mounted The Prof discovered a puncture, but insisted on us carrying on, as he would catch up. He knew exactly where we were going and he knew some short cuts, past his home. So, off we went and blow me if we didn’t get another occurrence not 2 miles into the ride, when lastmin.com tried to assassinate me, just before turning left, up around the back of Churton-Lol.  I suddenly felt a strike on my rear wheel and fearing the worse, as we were motoring, I looked over my shoulder expecting somebody to crash to the ground. I then heard  ‘the invisible man’ cry out “what a save”. 

 

One doesn’t normally feel the dreaded ‘cycling kiss’ between front and back wheels, but on this occasion, I think Lastminute.com simply decided to ram me- Lol. He has clearly got some skills to not end up face down in the road (don’t tell him I said so - Lol)

 

Anyway, we managed to turned left, still with some pace, only to come face to face with the dustbin men, which in that narrow lane meant a near emergency stop on the gravelly corner- lol. I don’t know how they get that truck down there, which probably explains why the lane appears to be well trimmed all year.

 

Double drama over, we proceed up a cracking little lane through Churton and over Aldford bridge, bearing to the left and Huntington beyond. Only 4 miles later we crossed the main drag through Chester and swung around the back of The Bike Factory, across the canal and up through the suburbs of Hoole, in order to get on to the Greenway.

 

We turned left and tapped it along for a few miles, hardly noticing that horrible headwind, until the exit at Saughall, which was a convenient quick stop for several of us. This gave me chance to try and convince Chris about my pre-existing rear wheel buckle being his fault — Lol, Lol.  Unsurprisingly, he denied all culpability. Then, by an amazing coincidence, Clive got a call from a bike shop about his buckled wheel (spooky -“there listening”- Lol). His wheel got buckled on our last ride together, when CB1 ran into him, but was less skillful than Lastminute.com, hitting the deck, fortunately only gaining a small graze. 

 

After a short uphill through Saughall, we turned left onto Lodge Lane, which allowed us to cross over what looks like the M56, but isn’t. The M56 actually comes to an end just a half mile out of sight of us. We turned east along the adjacent and unusually wide cycleway, for a mile or two towards Dunkirk, not the one with the long beach BTW- Lol. I was taking the group on a more unusual meander around to the Hospice, which is nice to be fair, if a tad exposed, but we were now with the wind as we whistled past Fox’s tea rooms, following the now narrower cycle path or most of us did. Nick and Chris chose to swing around the tea room farm, but no issue as they saw us up ahead and nothing lost. 

 

Just a mile later we crossed the highway again and picked up the cycle path parallel to the railway line that pretty much leads to Mollington. Not advisable in late summer as I imagine that cycleway will get over grown, being narrow. We turned left, barely a few hundred metres from Clive’s house and just 2 miles+ later arrive at the Hospice Cafe in Backford and just as the Prof arrived.

 

After a few hugs and kisses with the Prof we entered the very welcoming cafe, which always provides good fair at the best prices in the land.

 

That reminds me of a previous visit with Clive, who had informed us on that occasion of the funding difficulties the Hospice faces, due to only 17% of it coming from the Gov. I have therefore since made it a small mission to try and visit them as much as possible, at the risk of avoiding other cafe’s. 

The hospice cafe brings in a few extra shekels of course. Everybody in the cafe is a volunteer, including Clive’s wife at times. This is how they keep the prices down of course.  

 

So, I apologise now, if I lead future groups to the Hospice cafe more often, but I will endeavour to find even more intriguing routes - at least you’ll all save a few quid- Lol And in winter it is very warm.

 

Anyway, we grabbed a big table and got our orders in, which for some, was a 3 course meal. Conversation was varied as usual, although constantly interrupted by more food arriving- Lol. Clive even had to call his dessert back, after a well-meaning volunteer took it away- Lol.

 

I do remember Kev probing everybody for a reliable builder recommendation, after his 4 month sabbatical from CER. Clearly, he had made enough money to pay for an extension on his new house in Hambridge. So! If anybody knows of one, please let him know, as we all came up with nothing. 

 

Lunch over and probably one of our longest, due to some individuals trying eat the cafe bare- Lol'.

We got going again! Whilst still discussing the return route and some trying to decide where they would bail out. The likes of Lastminute.com, Clive , Kev and The Prof, all live in and around Chester, so the return route was more relevant this week, as we were already virtually home for them.

 

We headed out left of Backford, in the same general clockwise direction and heading towards Picton, initially on Rake Lane, but turn almost back on ourselves, just because I could, thus using a couple of lesser known lanes. We were of course meandering again, ultimately swinging around, over the motorways and heading towards Guildon Sutton and the familiar Meadow Lea cafe, which provided the first drop off for Clive and The Invisible Man, who is never quite sure of the way home. So Clive was leading him at least in the right direction and shielded from the headwind wind of course. No doubt, putting him on the right exit towards Handbridge.

 

Meanwhile The Prof was interested in catching up a few more miles, due to his puncture, not that he needed it, as he had ridden down to Holt in the first place. Anyway, now just 3 of us, Nick took that to mean he should pick up the pace and both of us chased on, now with a cross tailwind. 

It wasn’t long before we were in Waverton and I was asking which way was preferred, as Nick needed to get to Tilston and TP was just going with the flow. They decided on the canal road, which became a real dash, with Nick raising the stakes somewhat, all the way to Huxley, which stretched the lungs a bit, but not too bad, because we had assistance from the wind.

 

We passed Alison’s and TP was still with us, which is where I left them of course, TP decided to carry on with Nick, as he had nothing else to do that day, or nothing he wanted do, in his words- Lol.

 

I left them with 49 miles on the clock and an AS of 15.1 mph, which included my very slow 8 miles getting to Holt, due the stiff head winds, so I figure, as group, we must have tapped it a long very nicely at times, which means The Invisible Man put in a very good ride, after 4 months off (perhaps he’s been secretly riding with another group- Lol.) Clearly not dragging the Prof along, for the first 20 miles made a big difference- Lol, Lol,Lol.

 

I finally got home, all of 1.5 miles later, after an excellent day, with some outstanding moments and genuine laughter and little recollection of our lunch conversation.  Clearly, the more I ride the less I remember or is it the more I eat the less I remember- Lol.

 

Just had a thought, my memory can’t be food related otherwise Lastminute.com would never managed to find our CER venues- Lol, Lol.

 

Till next time gents,

WW aka Neil - Lol.