Given that we’re in the middle of the holiday season, it
wasn’t a great surprise that only seven members showed up at Rose Farm on a day
that promised to be, at some stage, wet. Do you remember riding in the rain?
The last time I remember was when Steve Hughes and I aquaplaned around Delamere
and district some ten weeks ago.
Dave M was in civvies, but he’s continuing to extend his
rides from home. For the rest, we had Dave H, Keith, Chris, Toby and guest Al.
The plan was to ride to The Bhurty at Aston using an anti-clockwise route which
would avoid the slog up from Tarporley at the end of the day.
As we set off, it had started to rain a little, so we donned our rain jackets. We were soon threading our way through the mayhem that is Tarporley High Street before heading towards Brassey Green and The Shady pub. By the time we got to Beeston Castle, it had stopped raining and at Bunbury the sun had come out, so we stopped to take off our rain stuff. Brindley and Chorley soon came and went, our progress being helped by the stiff northerly tail wind and we arrived at The Bhurty in Aston soon after 12pm. As we went inside, there were dark clouds gathering from the north.
The pub was quiet and
we were soon seated with food and drinks ordered. When it came the quality was
excellent as we’ve come to expect from here, but it’s striking how expensive
eating out has become. We used to order a curry and beer here and pay just over
£10. These days it will cost you at least twice as much. It rained heavily as
we ate, but it had passed and the sun was shining again as we set off back.
As Chris, Toby and Al all wanted to go to Chester, they decided
to find their way directly from Aston, as my route would take them away from Chester
on a more easterly direction. So we said goodbye to them in Wrenbury as Dave H,
Keith and I headed off towards Ravensmoor and Nantwich. As we would now be riding
mostly into the northerly wind, Dave told Keith and I to go on ahead and he
would follow at his own pace.
We tracked through Nantwich, Cholmondelston and Wettenhall
with the skies becoming more overcast as we did so. Just as we got to Oulton
Park it started to rain, so we stopped to don our rain gear once more. For 10 –
15 minutes there was a real downpour which had us sheltering under a tree for a
few minutes until it eased off a bit. By the time we got to Cotebrook, the rain
had stopped. Keith had cycled in from home, so he headed off and I took
Utkinton Lane to return to Rose Farm. Dave arrived a few minutes after me.
38 miles covered on a day with mixed weather, but an
enjoyable ride with our ‘brisk’ friends who we don’t often get to spend time
with.
ST
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