9 (fool) hardy souls set off on the long run today to Loggerheads; Me, Carol, Chris G, Chris B, Gareth, Tim, Lee, Tony and Orbea Rob. The weather was fantastic and we went on a direct route via the forest and Tarvin towards Chester but lost Lee before Chester as he had domestic duties calling.
A relaxed and reasonable pace took us through Chester, down through Lache and up towards Mold. I was suffering at this point after spending 8 hours working in the garden over the previous couple of days (i'm getting so old).
The steady climb up to Pantymwyn was followed by a short rapid descent and up again via the tough little climb (1 in 4?) to Cilcain. After the tricky, narrow, gravelly descent to Loggerheads Rob, Tim and Gareth headed for home while the remaining 5 of us went up the main road towards Ruthin. Turning right before the bottom of the hill we then headed up towards the promised land of Moel Famau and it's 20% plus sharp bend along with the other mile of 15% hill. Tony's ascent was brought to a swift halt by a car that was struggling with the climb and started going backwards. Regrouping at the top Chris B summed the climb up well with, 'that's just not right!". We were rewarded for our efforts however with a 50 mph descent to the cafe at Loggerheads and a very well earned rest and feed.
Coming out of the cafe we were all greeted with a healthy dose of cafe legs for the climb up the Rainbow and then coming down the other side Chris B had a hairy moment when his front tyre blew out at 40mph.
The wind had risen by this time and thankfully it was a good tailwind. This meant that an excellent pace was maintained - 23 - 25 mph to Chester. Through Chester I dropped one of my bottles and, taking a swig when I retrieved it from the road I discovered the top had been broken and I was covered with sticky orange drink. The wind was perfect for the ride out of Chester which meant a steady 30 mph or so going along the A56 to Tarvin and beyond. It was during this dash that some bright spark (Tony) had the idea of putting a 'sting in the tail', the sting being a climb up Kelsall hill and over the top towards the forest. Obviously suffering from serious oxygen debt 4 of us thought this was a good idea but Chris G made the wise move of turning left before Kelsall and heading home. At the bottom of Kelsall hill, Chris B announced he'd 'gone' and slowed until he was overtaken by snails and beetles. It turns out that Chris had been to Blackpool the previous evening and had still been partying at 3 am so it's pretty amazing he made it that far.
Carol lead us up the climb and we all re-grouped at the bottom following another swift descent.
We all agreed that, as we were all so tired, there would be no race through the forest. Of course having brains like peas we all instantly forgot this and Carol started things off, Tony attacked too early and i thought i had it when i jumped after a van and car that had come past. Chris though had a miraculous resurrection and came around us all for a memorable win.
We all agreed it was an excellent and 'slightly' tough day, everyone looking after each other, riding sensibly and having fun.
I returned home with 102 miles on the clock and after around 4,800 feet of climbing. A brilliant day, legs tired beyond tired. Can't wait till next time.