Today’s venue was well attended with approximately 14 of us, that formed into 2 groups, I believe. DH/Keith was leading the Mods and I had a Mod + group of 8, which would require careful supervision, as Keith astutely pointed out. He subsequently made it clear, to a particular pairing, that I was the nominated carer for the day- Lol. He was of course relishing the exploits of his Mod group, remarking that a day out with his local care home occupants might be an easier prospect- Lol, Lol, Lol.
There were a few fast boys in attendance, but they were only interested in joining my group. Clearly my planned route to the Rackery Farm shop cafe appealed, perhaps because once finished at the cafe, it was easy for them all to divert off home in their own way, as was later proven to be a correct assumption-Lol.
I don’t believe there were any attendees doing their own thing, which was unusual. This meant both groups were of a similar size, although I didn’t have a clue where the other group was going, as I didn’t hear any conversations on that front- Lol. A Notable absentee was ‘Teflon Toby’ again, as I have not seen him for months. Steve Hu rode in from Penyffordd, a good 20 miles at least, and was going to ride straight back home but then realised my route was actually going in the rough direction of his house, namely West, so he joined us for a good few miles.
The rest of my group became; Nick, Alan (the other half of the chuckle brothers (CB1) ‘the thief’ aka Shane, who rode in with me, RR (Rapha Ray) and last but not least, Clive on his electric bike, which we later discovered he had obtained a new frame for or was it a complete replacement bike, from Specialized????? Anyway, we eventually set off right, after a few shouts to the more infirm group members - Lol.
Before we knew it, we were braking hard after a short fast down hill in to Willington. Turning left past Willington Hall, unfortunately this meant we had to tackle that awful bit of lane, but it made for a different start to the usual departures from Rose Farm. After a few miles or so we were crossing the A41 at Waverton, heading for Holt via Saighton and Aldford beyond. I then lead the group through the village, immediately after crossing Aldford brook, which reminded me of one of the biggest floods for over 30 years, apparently, when the bridge walls were almost fully underwater, let alone the bridge- True! because I had to turn around and head back to Holt, on one of the wettest rides I have ever done-Lol.
The village of Aldford was a good excuse to slow our pace in order to take in and admire those lovely houses in this part of the Duke’s extended estate. We meandered through the village admiring what I think are some of the most outstanding decorations I have ever seen on property. All the houses in that village are so well maintained- stunning. I had intended to show the group the unusual garden, full of garden gnomes (at least a couple of hundred of them-Lol) But alas, we discovered they are all gone, which begs the question of what happened? Did they all wonder off in the night, board of their garden existence, or was there something more sinister afoot- who knows-Lol.I made a mental note to try and find out via ‘AI’, when I got back home. However, I later decided not to bother after our lunch conversation with ‘the thief’- more about that later- Lol.
Half a mile later we were negotiating our first set of road works, as we got back on to the main drag to Farndon, which is when Nick came to the front and took the wind off me, which was now full in our face.Through Holt and now sat on the wheel of CB2 (down hill, with cross tailwind) who had decided to put his usual spurt in - I suspected he was planning to leave our merry band within a mile or so, because he only ever comes to the front when we are arriving at a lunch venue (so he can be first in the queue-Lol)
Low and behold, only a mile or 2 later, CB2 shouted out “good bye”, as we were nearing Rossett, choosing to take the lane to Lavister and thus his route home to Penymynydd / Penyffordd? Some say he left us at that point fearing the climb up to the cafe, which was a bit of a brute, but I don’t think he could be that devious, could he? - Lol. After a regroup 3/4 of the way up, ‘The Straight Mile’, which gave me a chance to catch up, we trickled in to our lunch venue in one’s and two’s, all cursing the climb, but glad of the sunshine and what is becoming our favourite table, as we have never sat anywhere else- Lol.
Lunch conversation was extremely varied, once the general chit chat about CB2 whimping out was finished. However, as much as I would loved to have left the conversation there, I did inform the group that he had to get home for an appointment about some hearing aides, which also explains a lot-Lol. There were too many conversations to remember and of course that old adversary subject of ‘AI’ came up, but despite Clive’s presence, it was not him this time. It was ‘the thief’. He had been trying to find an old colleague and friend that he had lost touch with for more than 20 years or so. Having got no where through usual channels, he decided to try ‘AI’ and subsequently typed in all the information about his pal’s career and name of course.
After a few expectant moments it came back with an answer, which was a picture of a cartoon Duck can you believe. Well that had me and Chris almost wetting ourselves over that brilliant piece of deduction -Lol,Lol.
Lunch over, and various discussions on who was carrying on or diverting off, which saw us lose Clive heading for home, as we set off. I then asked ‘the thief’ to lead us through the housing estate, in order to avoid the annoying traffic light junction up ahead, which prompted Nick to praise ‘the thief’s’ knowledge of the estate. Now heading down hill fast, I decided to forgo the pleasure of climbing Griffin Lan,e after the bitching at lunch about ‘The Straight Mile’-Lol.
This happened Just as Lastminute.com came past me, having used up all of my zoom, I shouted out “left”, which surprised him somewhat. Clearly he was up for the very nasty climb only 50 feet in front of him (just realised that Google calls it Gresford Rd- when did that change?). Anyway, immediately before the bridge we swung left along Springfield Ln, an unusual little lane that runs parallel to and only a few feet from the infamously busy A483, for approximately a mile or so. At the end we turned right up Marford hill heading for Borras and Francis Ln, just a mile or 2 further on.
It was somewhere up Marford hill when I learned why Chris was so surprised at Springfield Ln. It was a completely new lane for him and he thought he had seen them all-ha ha, I win-Lol. After a few miles, we hit the main drag past Holt and wind our way through the village stopping for the river Dee crossing of course (don’t think I have ever met the lights on green yet-Lol.) This did at least provide time for a quick discussion on who was leaving the group, which turned out to be everybody-Lol.
However, as CB1 preferred the shorter route up to Waverton, I decided not to follow ‘the thief’,‘ RR & Chris to Wetreins Ln, remembering that I was the nominated carer for the day (thanks Keith -Lol).So, I duly escorted CB1 to Bruera, where he could be trusted to find his way the last 3 miles to his car -Lol.
I got home after another 7 miles and a total of 53 for me, with an AS of 14.4 mph and a few good memories-Lol.The actual route ride back to Rose Farm was in fact 43 miles, but none of the group actually went back to RF, however, most did more miles than the 43.
Another cracking day out with some excellent company and plenty of sunshine. I had a thought, as I rode home, that considering the unusually dry spring and summer, there were many times when I planned routes based on the forecasted rain, so today made a nice change to not have to allow for that.
Till next time chaps.
See route map and/or gpx file download
Neil T - aka ‘the wind whisperer’
