The long way round..

After last nights stormy weather today wasn't looking too good.  I was woken at 2am to a high wind and the sound of something sliding off the roof.  I don't know what it was but when the sun came up there was nothing to be seen.  So, it was either a slate or a bird.  I was hoping it was the latter.

Today was the club's long ride. Today we would be riding 70 miles around the stunning country lanes of Cheshire.  We would also be stopping off after 40 miles at a cafe called the "Venitian cafe".  Legend has it they have superb cakes, all the more reason to ride there.  I got dressed, ate some breakfast,  filled up the water bottles and rode up the A49 to meet everyone else at the Spire hostpital layby.

As I climbed up the road the wind really started to pick up.  By the time I had reached the Layby I couldn't let go of the bike to signal right.  If I had I would have fallen into the road and gotten squashed by a car....well, that's what I felt might happen.

We have a Plan

At 9am everyone was ready to set off.  There were two groups riding today.  One would be doing the full 70 miles and the other would be doing a 50 miler.  Both would follow the same route up until Eton where they would split off.  So, the plan was to head West from Warrington to Frodsham and Helsby, then visit Waverton and then head south to the Venitian marina.  From there we would ride to Tarporley and then Eton, where the second group would leave us.  The ride would then take us to Church Minsall then Middlewich before heading north back to Appleton.

Headway in a headwind

I have to say that the ride was a damn sight easier than Fridays.  Being in a group makes headwinds a breeze, if you pardon the pun.  The ride into Frodsham was challenging due to the hills but not too bad and our pace was pretty good. Everyone was charged up and full of energy and the pace was fast.  We arrived at the turn off on the A56 to Chester in no time.

Soon the wind started shifting direction before settling into a Westerly.  This meant that we were heading into a headwind.  The group started to fragment at this point meaning the protection of a pelaton was no longer there and riders who were now exposed were feeling the full force of nature.  I changed down, it was getting harder to pedal and I was running out of gears. Thankfully though we turned off the A56 and out of the wind which made it easier to regroup and press on.

There is no cake..

At 38 miles the talk within the group had moved from run of the mill stories about routes to cake.  By now some of the lesser experienced long distance riders were starting to feel the pinch.  We only had a few more miles to go before we reached the marina and the Venitian cafe.  There we would kick back and relax with some nice cake and a coffee.  I rounded a bend....I could see it...the sign outside said "Cafe".  This was going to be the best coffee and creamy sponge ever.

Hungry and Thirsty...

As we arrived we could immediately see that there was no sign of life.  It was closed for winter.  Excitement quickly turned to despondency.  Smiling faces wiped away by the realisation that there would be no hot drink and no cake. 

What were we going to do?  People's water bottles were already nearly drained and filling up from the canal was not an option.

Then someone mentioned that we would be passing another marina on our route, only a few miles up the road as well.  It was at this point that everyone got their second wind and we left the rubbish Ventian marina and rode up the B5074 on our quest for food.  And as promised we arrived at Aquaduct and the Galley cafe.

You aint from around here are ye

One thing that struck me about the Galley was that it was full of strange locals, all eying us up as the 13 strong group occupied the remaining tables. It reminded me of a cross between the `Slaughtered lamb` from the movie "An American Werewolf in London" and a Starbucks.

 I expected one of dodgy looking folk to advise us to not to  "leave the road".  However that didn't happen.  What did happen though was a rather nice looking lady asked me what cake I would like.

They would fail MasterChef

Now as you know I love Victoria Sponge, so as per usual I ordered a mug of coffee and a slice of VS.  I could see it on the counter and it looked rather lush, however proof would be in the tasting,  And if it tasted in anyway like it looked, I was in for a treat. The waitress smiled as she took my order and walked off.

The cake soon arrived with my mug of hot black coffee.  First impressions was that it looked good.  However upon tucking in I found the sponge to be a bit dry and the cream and jam just lacking.  All in all a wholly unsatisfying cake stop.

As we all sat there, chatting away, I had the feeling that we were all giving off some unsightly body odors.  The manager instructed one of the girls to open all of the windows.  I'm guessing that this was a prompt for us to leave.  So we all paid up and mounted our bikes for the second leg of the ride.  

Dropped

We left the Galley, full of caffeine and food.  Sounds good but boy does it make cycling again hard. My boots felt like lead.  The dense sponge I had just eaten was in my legs.  Agony.....

From here we headed up North to Middlewich.  As we rode I recognised some of the roads as ones I had ridden on previously as part of the Manchester 100.  It turns out that we were actually following the Cheshire ring. A 100 odd mile cycle route around Cheshire, and the Manchester 100 incorporates part of that.  As we entered Middlewich we passed a pub called the "Kings Locks", one of the Manc 100's stops.

Leaving Middlewich we could feel rain.  The sky had darkened and the wind was whipping around our wheels.  According to the Met Office the bad weather was to return in the evening. I checked the time on my Garmin - It was 2:30 which meant that we could potentially be about to be battered with rain and wind. It was also getting darker, so I turned on my front and rear lights.  Within minutes the front light warning charger light was flashing at me and it went dead. Feck!  I dropped back and mingled with the group...safety in numbers and all that.

There was to be no heavy rain, just a light drizzle and a fierce headwind.  The group fragmented again and as we all pushed through the gale, we could hear the faint shout of "tail".  Again part of the group was finding it hard.  We backed off.  We regrouped but the pace was just too much for some.  By the time we had reached Appleton there wasn't much left of everyone.  The 13 strong Peleton was no more.  I was left in the front with 3 others and there was no sign of the remaining 10 riders. 

Home and dry

I peeled off as we entered Appleton Thorn.  I waved goodbye and rode the last few miles back home.  This had been a great ride and I really feel that I'll be prepared for the Llanberis weekend in a few weeks time.  I got home dry and happy.  I cleaned the bike of it's mantle of mud and shit, stowed it away in the spare bedroom and relaxed with a nice hot cup of tea.

The weather this week is meant to be mixed, however the wind is supposed to be dying down a bit which means some nice commuting.

Here are my ride stats for today