We all looked better last night
Last night’s revelries clearly left many club members feeling fragile this morning, as there were only five of us at the Legion this morning. So – our merry crew of Kev, me, Tony, Josh and Alan set off in unpromising drizzle, picking up first Jim and then Tim, both going in the other direction on the Weaverham road – they did U turns to join us and then we were seven. We rode steadily on roads full of craters, out towards Holt, (where we had a bit of a communication breakdown over a call-of-nature stop, leaving Kev and me off the front whilst everyone else thought we were off the back!), then to Rossett, and up that horrible short steep ramp to Llay. At Cefn-y-bedd we settled in for the long climb up the B5102. We all climbed at our own pace, with Tim up first despite his hybrid tyres. We gathered at the cross roads before more climbing up to Bwylchgwyn and beyond, and then, admiring the fabulous views across the moors, we hit the rough track across to the cafe at Llandegla, which was heaving with mountain bikers who were even dirtier than us.
It’s a great cafe – quick service and good food. We didn’t hang about, and swooped back down the hill in about a tenth of the time it took us to climb up it. We benefited from a tailwind on the return ride through Holt, and took the Tattenhall/Tarporley route back – by this time we were becoming a bit of a “two speed peloton” with the elastic becoming stretched, at least for Josh and me – but the faster riders were considerate in trying to keep us all together. But, despite Alan’s tuneful whistling on the steeper hills, this was a fairly quiet ride compared to some: it was a long day in the saddle, conversation become more spasmodic as we all became more tired, but at least we got some decent miles in before Llanberis. Although as Alan reminded me, Llanberis is meant to be a training ride, not an international road race!
And so – Jim and Tim set off for Frodsham and Crowton respectively, whilst the rest of us rode home past Oulton Park. And all would then have been well, except Alan, Tony and Kev contested the climb from Whitegate up to the bridge over the A556 at Hartford, and somehow Kev, in attempting to respond to a move from Alan, who was closely followed by Tony, ended up going over his handlebars; and as I came up to him he was sprawled in the road with a dented helmet, road rash, a slightly dazed facial expression and a malfunctioning bike. He was unsure as to what happened – he didn’t make contact with anyone else, and there were no potholes at this point, so he wonders if his mudguard had caught his wheel as he’d cranked his pace up. Alan and Tony were completely unaware, as this happened behind them and they were busy trying to out-race each other, so this will be news to them: but don’t worry lads, Kev says he would have beaten you, had he stayed upright on his bike! Anyway Kev and I limped home, and Kev is OK if a bit sore. Thanks everyone for a great ride – 82 miles on the clock, and 15.7 average mph.