30th April 2026: Winsford (Whitegate Way)

What a cracking sunny day at Rose Farm, with approximately 15 members keen to ride and DM in civvies. I believe 3 groups formed (2 Mod and 1 Mod+). I don’t believe there was a fast group, despite a few fast boys being there. I think the arrival of Ivan frightened them off-Lol. However, Nick was just there for coffee and Clive fancied a spin with ST’s group (once he saw Ivan arrive -Lol).

There was bike trouble before we even got started, with Keith visiting the bike shop around the corner, in order to solve a slipping seat post. Notable absentees this week were; ‘the thief’, on his hols in Scotland and TT2 ( Teflon Toby), which was particularly vexing, as I had carried a book  under my top that he had loaned me. Fortunately, if you’re reading this Toby, DM fancied reading it, so he has it now.

 

I had a real wind whisperer’s route, due to the forecast for as much as 30 Kph of wind by 1pm and it was already fairly stiff on the ride over, as F&E can  attest to, after 21 miles of cross headwinds to get to RF, just 10 for me, but yes, I did notice the SE wind- Lol.

 

My group became RR (Rapha Ray, on his new steel stead, with wireless SRAM gears and 32mm tyres) Chris (Lastminute.com), who was on time -Lol. And the CB’s of course. Before we got going and just as I was grabbing my helmet, I noticed a thin wallet on the floor, which on further investigating, was a wad of credit cards belonging to our new member, who was just mounting his bike, when I re-united him with said cards. A somewhat unusual way to introduce myself to Anthony-Lol.

 

We set off right out of RF and quickly covered the first few miles as we were running with the wind, to the NW via Willington, Oscroft and Little Barrow, in order to swing east and take advantage of the protected lanes through Manley and Delamere forest. The lane past Manley Mere, which used to be a shocking bumpy ride, has been resurfaced by the way. Despite most of the club being frightened away from Delamere last week, due to the road closure, I chose to lead my merry band through the crossroads at Hatchmere, as I had heard there was an improvised pedestrian way. The road works are massive, which are going to be there for some time, it would appear.

 

So, no problem getting through as we progressed to Norley and my usual favourite little uphill lane (Gallowsclough). It’s then only a mile or so before a rapid descent into Cuddington and a right turn into Waste Ln, where Chris and I got to practice our bunny hopping-Lol.

 

Waste Ln is the entry point onto the Whitegate Way (WW), with several speed bumps. I planned to ride WW all the way to Winsford - almost 7 miles of lovely woodland track (disused railway track in fact) and on this occasion, directly into the wind, but you would never have known it as it is shrouded in trees of course.

 

After almost a month of virtually no rain and stiff winds, it was a perfect day for it.

Roughly 4 miles later we reached the perfectly placed Station House cafe and stopped for lunch.

We parked up next to the recently established bike service station, which was a stand of tools, including track pump, all nicely secured by cables (can’t trust anybody these days-Lol)

This gave us the opportunity to have a gander at RR’s new bike, which seemed very light weight. I remarked that he must be enjoying the comfort of the steel frame and more importantly the 32mm tubeless tyres, which he confirmed with a smile.

 

Anyway lunch came quickly and at a good price for a change (clearly makes a huge difference when charity based, not sure in what way, but I think the staff are volunteers at least). Lunch conversation was varied with no major discussions about wars or AI- Lol, pretty much like an everyday coffee morning really -I won’t say women’s coffee morning, but you know what the ‘chatter box’ can be like. And true to form, it took a while to get him going, then he decided he needed the loo, after everybody had already been while waiting for him-Lol.

Lunch at Station House Cafe

We eventually got going again and continued SE on the WW, only to be brought to a halt, after a mile, by the bridge being out.  Not just because of a barrier for maintenance, but no actual road over the bridge. There were just support beams, spanning the road below, which you could see (Dalesford Ln / Whitegate Rd). This completely scuppered the ride plan. 

 

After consulting my Garmin, there was no alternative whatsoever. We couldn’t even get down off the WW into the adjacent fields. No tracks remotely nearby either. So, there was no choice but to back track to the cafe and take the usual Clay Ln, when leaving the cafe. This meant we lost the final 4 to 5 mile loop around the western suburbs of Winsford.

 

So, the next 10 miles or so I winged it on a meander to Bunbury and beyond, in an attempt to make up the mileage, which panned out fine in the end, as nobody needed to get back to RF. So, in another change to the plan we simply carried on toward Tattenhall via Beeston, as everybody either needed to get back to Waverton or Chester.

 

We eventually got going again and continued SE on the WW, only to be brought to a halt, after a mile, by the bridge being out.  Not just because of a barrier for maintenance, but no actual road over the bridge. There were just support beams, spanning the road below, which you could see (Dalesford Ln / Whitegate Rd). This completely scuppered the ride plan. 

 

After consulting my Garmin, there was no alternative whatsoever. We couldn’t even get down off the WW into the adjacent fields. No tracks remotely nearby either. So, there was no choice but to back track to the cafe and take the usual Clay Ln, when leaving the cafe. This meant we lost the final 4 to 5 mile loop around the western suburbs of Winsford.

 

So, the next 10 miles or so I winged it on a meander to Bunbury and beyond, in an attempt to make up the mileage, which panned out fine in the end, as nobody needed to get back to RF. So, in another change to the plan we simply carried on toward Tattenhall via Beeston, as everybody either needed to get back to Waverton or Chester.

 

After a regroup at the right turn to the Ice Cream farm, just a couple of miles from Tattenhall, somebody suggested that we should stop for one. I then suggested that we pulled in to the drive-through and grab a deck chair outside, around the mini lake, complete with fountain, which we duly did (see pic) .

 

After telling the guys that one simply scans the QR code on the posts all around the lake to order, they proceeded to find it not so simple- Lol. Steve Hu decided to bin it and go inside and order, only to find he still had to order from a screen -Lol. However, less than ten minutes from ordering, our ice creams were delivered to us in a refrigerated golf cart- perfect!

Quick service suited KK aka CB1 aka Alan- Lol, as he needed to get back by a specific time. 

No sooner was I beginning to enjoy my deckchair and the stunning chocolate ice cream with stickie crunchie, when the boys all decided to race off with KK, leaving me to enjoy the peace alone-Lol.

 

After 10 minutes I set off for home, just 3 miles away and got there with 53 miles on the clock and an AV speed of 14.2 MPH, which was not so bad considering my very slow 10 miles to RF in the first place. I figure the group probably averaged 14.5 MPH at least, despite the stop-start day.

 

Yet another cracking day with CER. An uneventful day, bar the route being scuppered-Lol. Great company and a novel finish to the ride, with more than a few groans from everybody trying to pay for ice cream via an app-Lol, Lol.

 

Till next time ladies!-Lol

 

Neil, aka ‘the wind whisperer’

30th April 2026: Audlem

There was a good turn out on a fine, sunny, but windy day. Once everyone had sorted themselves out, there would be three rides today: Neil was heading for Winsford (really?), so that the wind would be behind him on the return journey; Dave H was headed for The Bhurty at Aston (where else) and I had planned a ride to go to The Lord Combermere in Audlem, a venue we haven’t been to in nearly three years. I was joined on this venture by Clive, Fiona, Elwyn and Anthony.

As usual, we set off down to Cotebrook and around the Oulton Park race circuit where we could hear the roar of engines on what would be a ‘track day’. We were soon whizzing down Winsford Road through Wettenhall and Cholmondeston and across the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal. At times the gusty east wind was quite strong and so I was grateful to Clive and Elwyn for their stints at the front to take the wind off me.

As soon as we reached Nantwich, we turned away along Chester Road, but turned off at Acton to head down to Ravensmoor and Sound, where we crossed the A530 Whitchurch Road. Another five miles along the country lanes saw us arriving in Audlem at about 12.15, with 23 miles covered.

The last time we came to the Lord Combermere was July 2023 and it was a disaster. Service was slow, the guy running the place couldn’t use the card machine and Andy B couldn’t even get a cup of tea. We were all convinced that the place would close. However, when I looked on Google recently, I saw that the pub was taken over by a young couple at the end of 2023 and that they had an attractive looking lunch menu offering, amongst other things, sandwiches or wraps plus a drink for £14 which, these days, is quite good value. When we arrived, the pub was quiet. We were seated quickly and food and drink ordered. Clive and I had their sticky beef wrap and a pint of local beer, Elwyn abd Fiona went for the halloumi wrap and a large pot of tea and Anthony had the BLT sandwich which was huge! All in all, it was a great improvement on our last visit and well worth a return.

The Lord Combermere is named after Field Marshal Stapleton Cotton (14 November 1773 – 21 February 1865), a distinguished British Army officer, diplomat, and politician. As a junior officer, he participated in the Flanders campaign, the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, and helped suppress Robert Emmet's insurrection in 1803. He commanded a cavalry brigade in Sir Arthur Wellesley's Army and later took overall command of the cavalry during the latter stages of the Peninsular War. His impressive career continued as he served as Commander-in-Chief in Ireland and later in India, where he famously stormed Bharatpur—the battle that inspired the name of The Bhurtpore pub—an impressive fortress once considered impregnable.

Well fed and watered, we set off back, forgetting to take a group photo. We put this right when we reached the canal at Wrenbury.

At this point, we had to divert from our planned route, as there was major tree surgery works going on at the start of Cholmondeley Road. So we took a left and went via Gaunton’s Bank and Holtrideg before re-joining Cholmondoley Road. After that, everything went smoothly, helped in no small way by the wind being mostly behind us. Reaching Bunbury, Fiona and Elwyn decided to pick up one of Fiona’s old routes back to Lavister and home. Fiona later told me that they’d done 80 miles in the day – good training to the Bob Cliff and Vets 100 which they’ve signed up for.

Clive, Anthony and I pressed on. At Tilstone Bank, there was an unusual amount of traffic, much of it being fancy cars and SUVs. A Porsche Taycan almost had a mirror off as he squeezed past a truck and trailer and 100 yards further on came to a Mexican Stand-off with a Mercedes SUV. These lanes were built for cars more like an MG Midget or a Morris Minor than the leviathans on the road today.

Reaching Tilstone Fearnell, we braved the busy A49 for a short distance before turning right along Lodge Lane. Clive told me that a few years ago, this lane had been closed due to water damage where it crosses Wettenhall Brook. You can tell which bit has been repaired as it is smooth as a billiard table!

Reaching the top of Tarporley High Street, Clive took his leave to head home. Anthony and I carried on to Rose Farm, with the last 100 yards up John Street consuming the last dregs of our energy.

 My thanks to Clive, Fiona, Elwyn and Anthony for their company on a lovely spring/summer day. 47 miles done and a good lunch stop re-discovered.

ST

See route map and/or gpx file download

21st August 2025: Utkinton (mod+)

 Not sure of the total but I figure there was roughly a dozen attendees for today’s meet at Delamere Station cafe, all split between the Mod and Mod+ group.

There was no fast group, with just Nick without any mates, so he joined my merry band of Mod+ individuals, which also included Chris, Shane and the Chuckle Brothers of course. Before we got to discussing routes, Keith had some sad news for us in that he had dropped the chain on his brand new Di2 Cervello, which as some of us know often leads to damaging the paintwork around the bottom bracket hence, he was not on his new steed.

All tears now wiped away, we got on to discussing routes, which in my case meant something a little different, with some new lanes and territory, at least for the likes of my group. I had never ridden the full length of the Whitegate Way, which leads right into Winsford, a place I have always avoided in the past, but thought that today would be a good day to check them out, especially after such a dry summer.

 

We set of the usual way out of Delamere, all be it a bit later, which of course meant that Chris made it in time-Lol. I lead the group up and around Norley on a couple of new lanes to some, after winging a quick change, due to Sandhole Lane not looking very passable. After a few meandering miles we make it to Waste Lane, but from the other direction to the accepted norm and hurtle down the hill, which consequently meant that some overshot the left turn, near the bottom of the hill. Chris made it with some dare devil braking. I suppose I should have warned them all in advance -Lol

 

As you’d expect the Whitegate Way is currently amazing to ride, after such dry weather, although the far end bits into Winsford are a bit disjointed and not such a good surface as I found out to my very near demise. I was carrying a bit of speed when I suddenly found myself going downhill, around a bend on gravel, with the back wheel locked up, heading for a barrier gate. I had no choice but to also lock up the front as well, in an effort to stop. Fortunately, I managed to get my foot out and brace the impact on the gate, just managing to avoid going head over heels and possibly bending my front wheel in the process. Suffice it to say I copped a few comments from my fans who clearly did not appreciate the bike skills involved in staying upright-Lol.

Just a mile or so later we missed the left turn that would have lead us onto Bradford Road. This consequently lead to a bit of extra physical activity, for some impatient individuals, lifting bikes over locked gates, which was not needed or my fault-Lol. Just as CB2 and Nick had got over, I realised where the missed trail was and turned back-Lol. Eventually on the right track, literally, we avoid the road for another half mile and then join it where it became New Road.

 

We then meandered through the south west suburbs of Winsford (clearly not the wealthiest part of the town) in order to pick up a very nice series of lanes that I and most had not ridden before. After about 5 miles we joined a very familiar stretch that lead us into the boundary lanes around the south side of Oulton Park, once we had stopped for another! Energy bar. I’ve never seen anybody eat so many. You would think that CB2 would go like the proverbial Energiser Bunny, but alas not-Lol, Lol.

 

It was at this time that Chris also had his major mechanical- Lol. His bar end plug had fallen out and we were wondering how he was going to carry on. However, after a deep dive into the bowels of CB2’s fanny bag, yes you guessed it, he was carrying a spare, which lead me to wonder what does Chris carries in that rucksack, besides his lunch - more on that later-Lol. We get going again and were soon taking on our only real climb of the day, Heaths Lane, which lead us up, the easy way, onto the Sandstone Ridge only to come straight back down again via Tirley Lane, for a fast descent into Rose Farm for lunch.

 

As usual the conversation was flowing well and the food came quickly, if a little disappointing for both Nick and I. Our ‘eggs royal’ had the smallest portions of salmon I have ever seen. We both had four 1” squares of smoked salmon (cut out with scissors can you believe) It wasn’t as if it was cheap at £12.50.

 

Anyway, just as we were finished bitching about our salmon and Chris stopped laughing about the missing corner of his brownie-Lol, what he did next was even more amusing, firstly because he was half way through eating his brownie and secondly because he suddenly lifted his rucksack and pulled out a spare saddle and then proceeded to go and swap said saddle for the one on his bike. I mean, who carries a spare saddle-Lol. This caused many looks of disbelief, ironically not from Alan, who as we have come to know, doesn’t believe most things-Lol. Saddle now replaced and lunch finished we left with at least me stating that we wouldn’t return for lunch there again, as we turned right down the hill towards Oscroft. 

 

Within 2 miles we turned left, opposite Chapel Hill and both Nick and I decided to wind it up, pretty much all the way to Dave Mathews house, where we part company with Nick and Alan, who were returning to Delamere for their cars via Nicks extended route. Shane, Steve and I all rode up to Delamere, so my route never included returning, especially as Shane and Steve were on one of their 100 milers again and none of us wanted to repeat any of our route. As for Chris ,who knows, what he was going to do, as we later discovered - Lol. So, it was cheerio to them two, which gave Steve’s chance to consume his 34th energy bar – Lol.

 

We headed off past DM’s place, with a passing nod of reverence to the home of one of the regions cycling demigods.  We were soon crossing the A49 and within a few hundred mtrs we turned left towards Okells garden centre and then on past the 50p shop and Huxley beyond. We were heading for Beeston, adding another lovely meander. We turned down to the ‘The Shady’ pub and I made my usual acceleration towards the hump back bridge over the canal, when Chris suddenly shot past me. How he got round the bridge was eye popping. I thought I took it fast, but he left me standing and romped up the hill towards Beeston, never to be seen again, despite a short regroup near the right turn to the ice cream farm, where I parted company with Shane and Steve, who I had advised to miss out Tattenhall, due to the high street being resurfaced for 5 days and therefore shut. I obviously swung around the south side to avoid it as well.

 

As for Chris, who didn’t turn up at the end of Bird’s Lane, where I stopped for 2 minutes, I later found out that he suddenly decided to try and beat a mates strava time hence, he flashed by me. The trouble was, his dash was to the gates of Beeston castle, which was left at the top and not right where we went. Of course, he failed to mention anything to us about his plans-Lol.

I got home with 55 miles on the clock and a very sedate AS of 14.5mph - must have been all those energy bar stops-LOL, although we did do a few small hills.

Cracking day again with great company and some very amusing moments, some at my expense and more than a bit of banter-Lol,Lol,Lol

 

Till next time ladies

Neil.

See route map and/or gpx file download