At 9am nine of us set off from Stretton to head towards the Welsh border towns of Wrexham. Titled "The Welsh border experience" we would be crossing over the border into Wales and hopefully sampling some nice welsh treats. The initial going was quite easy given that we had a sort of tailwind. The met office had forcast 30 mph easterlys and they were not wrong. We were heading West so the going was very very good with an average speed of about 20 mph up to Frodsham. We followed the A56 up till Dunham Hill, then veering right we past Dunham on Trent and entered the Countryside proper.
Zoom Zoom
The views around us were simply stunning. You couldn't have asked for a nicer day, albeit without the wind, and the scenery was lovely. Again the pace was very good and the nine of us were tightly packed, all chatting away and generally just enjoying the company. We joined the B5132 and soon crossed the busy A51 to enter Cotton Edmunds. From here, to our right, we could see the Welsh hills. Minera, Moel Famau, all there and all bathed in the same warm sunshine that was currently nuking our skins. The wind had abated which meant our tail wind was gone, by the time we reached Waverton our average speed had dropped to around 17.5mph.
We crossed the A41 and the wind started up again, this time whipping around us like some demented whirlwind. Passing every gate or hole in a hedge meant your bike was pushed around by a crosswind. Nasty. By now we knew we were heading closer to the Welsh border because the flatish roads we had enjoyed for the past few miles were now beginning to undulate and become hillier. However the pelaton was full of pretty strong riders and we all had a go at attacking them. Great fun.
Squashed
I took the lead just as we entered Churton and on the right hand side of the road in the distance I could see what looked like a pile of rubbish on the road. Two cars ran over the rubbish sending bits of it scattering into the air. As we drew closer I noticed that one of the bits of rubbish that had gone under the car was now flapping its wings and as I drew level I saw that it wasn't rubbish at all, but a female duck. I looked down and could see the remains of her brood, scattered over the road. It was carnage. Some ducklings were still alive but the rest had been flattened. The dazed adult duck now obviously realising all was lost took to the sky as we approached. There was nothing we could really do and left them to their fate. More cars came the otherway as we left the B5130, all heading towards the injured chicks.
We headed towards Farndon and hopefully our cafe stop. As we crossed the bridge and the Welsh/English border, not a checkpoint in sight. Dave - who had turned up dressed in full Welsh dragon riding kit - started singing the Welsh anthem. At least I think it was. The locals all staring at us as we zoomed past them and headed towards the Garden centre that would serve us our Welsh treats.
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| Welsh town...no cake! |
Turns out the garden centre cafe wouldn't open for a further 20 minutes. Damn. We could have just easily waited, but there was another cafe just a few miles further on down the road. Dave seemed to think it was called Tweeks bikers cafe or something. What ever it was it was supposed to have some nice cake and was buried deep in the Wrexham industrial estate. We pressed on.
In Wales there is no cake
We entered the industrial park. No cars, no factories open....nothing to see here. We arrived at the cafe and it was shut. For the next hour we searched for an open one and must have explored every avenue around the park. Because it was Sunday, everything was closed and the Cafes being located in an industrial estate wouldn't be open. We hunted around like a pack of hyenas and still we found nothing. Dave interrogated a guy walking his dog but alas still nothing. We left deserted industrial area behind and headed out towards Bangor on dee, there was bound to be a tea room around here. It was a quaint welsh town for gods sake.
Nope....nothing. My god didn't the Welsh have any tearooms. We stopped off at a shop and asked the woman behind the till if she knew of a cafe.
"Not really, not around here" she said.
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| You can buy the furniture as well |
Looked like this would be our cafe stop then. I bought a flapjack and a bottle of water to replace my dwindling supply. We stood outside chatting and then, an elderly coupled arrived at the shop and asked us about where we were going...etc.
"Why don't you all come to my shop and I'll make you some tea" she said when we told her about our quest for cake. She told us that they were considering setting up a tea room anyway so we might as well be the first customers. Sounded great so we followed her.
We arrived at what looked like an outdoor showroom for cane furniture. Her business was actually making furniture made from the stuff and they had arranged a few "samples" outside in a sort of tearoom configuration. We secured our bikes and consulted the map. Our next stop would be the Ice cream farm at Tattenhall so we worked out a decent route there.
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| They make bikes as well |
The old lady emerged from her kitchen with a tray full of mugs of tea and a platefull of biscuits and teacakes. This was amazing service and very very friendly people.
On our way here we encountered a lot of cyclists and told her that she would make a killing setting up a tea room here. They didn't want paying either but we managed to stow a few quid on a plate for them before we left. Nice people.
The windy way back
We now continued on through the windy Welsh roads and into a headwind. Our route now took us through Worthenbury and back over the border into England. More hills appeared as we headed North. A savage wind whirled around us and every hill felt steeper that it really was. Exhausting..... The ice cream farm was to us an oasis and we arrived knackered. However after taking full advantage of the cyclists 10% off and unlimited refills of coffee we soon felt refreshed and ready for the final stretch home.
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| Time for some English cake |
We left the farm and headed North, tracing what would be the route up to Summertrees. We passed through Kelsall and Norley, constantly fighting the damned wind. By now the group was beginning to fragment. Indeed we lost one rider, Graham, at the farm due to an injury. There were now eight riders left. By Acton bridge we lost another two. Crossing the A49 to Little leigh the lead riders again attacked the short climb up Willow green lane. This was the last time we saw them as they managed to take the wrong turn at the top. There were now four riders remaining and we continued on up to the A559 and Stretton.
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| The Welsh expedition |
This was a nice ride indeed, some great riders were out which made it invigorating. The only annoying part was the hunt for cake which didn't really arrive but still cake isn't everything....right. This weekend has been a great one for cycling with the club. However all of the rides put together pale in comparison to what one of my club mates did. His blog write up is here and I have to say it sounded brutal.
Should be a good week to get some more cycling in as the weather is supposed to be sunny for the rest of the week.
Have fun!
Here are my ride stats.
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