What a fantastic day! Clear blue skies, great tracks, good company, pub lunch, brilliant views and delicious cake. Rob Petit, Andy Beswick, Eleanor Underhill, Gareth Thomas, his friend Nick and me covered about 25 miles including the ascent of the Mynd 3 times.
We took the road the 2 miles to All Stretton where we headed for the hill, on road, track then challenging singletrack. Height was soon gained as we continued along some wide grass bridleways to pick up the ridge and it’s trig point at the top. We headed down the famous Milton Batch where we soon picked up speed on its twisting rollercoaster of singletrack. As Andy pointed out, you can soon lose that speed – especially if you stop yourself by engaging a rock with your knee – ouch! Still, Andy’s not the complaining type and we were soon on our way again with a lighter first aid kit.
Back up onto the ridge past the glider club where they too were making the most of such a good day, then down some fairly hairy singletrack and a few miles of road to a very nice, quick lunch at the pub in Bridges. Back over the ridge once more for some long grassy descents to All Stretton then along the road to tea and cakes. The tea shop does B&B too, so we might go back for a weekend as there is loads more to do in this area and we all loved it….watch this blog. Thanks to Andy for the use of the van to carry the bikes – especially once they were covered in mud – and Gareth for his route research.
i’ll be going down there in a van so got room for a couple of bods and a few bikes. i’ll be doing the full day if nick’s up for it. let me know via text and i’ll ring you back if you need a lift cos i’ve not always got access to t’internet. if you live in northwich i’ll pick you up – failing that i’ll meet you at hartford clubhouse. diesel contributions welcome. 07718 995791
That’s great Andy. So far there will be Gareth ( and his mate who will see us down there), Eleanor and me. If you could pick up Gareth then Eleanor’s bike, I could meet you at Eleanor’s house to give her a lift.
Can anyone else thinking of going let us know.
Rob Pettit will be meeting us down at Church Stretton.
Nick’s plan sounds good. What time should we all meet at my house then? Andy I’ll ring you with directions.
Eleanor.
i could be at gareths for 8.15 – eleanors for 8.30 – then that gives us an hour and a half for the journey.
sounds good to me. I’ll meet you all at Eleanor’s.
Great photo Nick, I made the mistake of thinking we’d got to the top of the hill when you took it, but there was still lots of climbing left: it was definitely a day of false summits!
What a great day out, unusual to have such wonderful weather for a WVCC mountain bike trip!
that was a good day Nick, some great sweeping downhill sections. although, that cut on my leg has caught up with me now and has me walking with a bit of a slant!
Hope your wounds heal soon Andy, glad you enjoyed the descents, Gareth seemed to be enjoying the climbs too!
I agree, was a great day with stunning views, and yes for once I was enjoying the climbs on that bike.
You guys should’ve seen Llandegla on the Sunday though – sheet ice at the start and end! Officially the trails were closed (bonus free parking) but that didn’t stop most people.
Cheers Nick for orgainsing it, and to Andy for the van – our new best friend! Hope your knee heals quick.
Damn, and I was secretly hoping you were going to be dissapointed with the area!. I’ll have to try and make the weekend trip then to make up for it.