Thanks to Kevin Campbell for this report on Sunday’s club run – I was otherwise engaged (see Bogblog for details!)
On what proved to be one of the nicest days of the summer so far, a large group of over 20 gathered at the club house. It was especially good to see Andy P making a return from injury, and hopefully he will back to full fitness very soon, and also Dave F who was able to make a full day of it for the first time in a while.
With the short run going to Holt, and the long one switched to Ruthin (Llangollen was going to be packed, and cafe selection limited), we all set off together at a brisk pace. I must admit, when we arrived at Holt and the group split I was surprised to find that there was only four of us who carried on to Ruthin, Paul (leader), Dave, Derek and me. The ride to Ruthin turned out to be a gem. We crisscrossed the usual route via Wrexham, Llandegla, lots of other hilly places in between, and finally entering Ruthin by descending the Bwlch. The choice when we got to Ruthin was “new” or “old”. Another good call was made, because the “old” cafe knocked the socks of the “new” one for both speed and choice. It was also full of other cyclists.
The journey home was just as varied as the trip out. Avoiding the climb back up the Bwlch in favour of the back lanes, and by the time we had climbed out of the valley (only 3.8 miles, but it felt a lot more) the views were fantastic, and I don’t recall seeing any traffic al all. At one point Dave pointed out the Ponderosa in the distance. The final climb of the day was up the Griffin, and then via Holt, Farndon, Willington, and Hatchmere to Hartford.
Well done to Paul for navigating without any GPS and proving that when the sun shines anything is possible.