Today’s run was a steady circuitous ride in Autumn sunshine, efficiently led by Richard Munro, in the absence of Richard Calder who had an argument with some tarmac after a night on the tiles with Chris Latter. Best wishes to Richard C for a speedy recovery – maybe this will finally dissuade him from his long held belief that red wine improves his cycling!

A large crowd assembled outside the Royal British Legion in Hartford – a nice collection of the young and the less young, and the fast and the less fast. It was good to see several new faces, I hope they enjoyed their ride. Congratulations to Craig for doing such a good job selling club kit – we look much more impressive (and visible, from a safety point of view) now that we look more like a club and less like a rabble. These large groups provide quite a challenge for cars attempting to overtake, but everyone rode sensibly in twos and most drivers on a Sunday morning are considerate and careful.

We rode in a large circle around Frodsham, Alvanley, Tarvin and then split into two groups, one heading for the ice cream café and one for Summertrees, as we didn’t think we’d all get into one café given the size of the group. The riding was steady, with occasional stops at junctions to collect dropped riders, and some more serious efforts up the many “undulations” (apparently it’s overstating the case to call them hills but they felt like hard work to me).

The return route took us down hill past Oulton Park and through Whitegate where the race for home started in earnest – I was too far back to announce the winner, unfortunately, but maybe someone who was there will post the result!

Anyway thanks Richard for an enjoyable ride, and for his cyclist herding skills!

Eleanor U