This was to be my sort of final event for 2012 and I was really looking forward to it. Like last year, the ride was organised by Andrew from the NCC and comprised of a nice breakfast at Lower Whitley Village hall- the HQ - followed by a lovely 60 odd miles towards Alderley edge, up the Wizard and then out towards Macclesfield, followed by some steep climbing up into the peaks, around the Llamaload reservoir and down into Macc Forest before descending back across the flatish sections of the Cheshire plains to the HQ again and the North Cheshire Table of Cake.
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| Llamaload Reservoir |
The format for the ride was exactly the same as last year with the exception of a few route diversions thanks to road damage or flooding. However the same climbs were still there....waiting.
Given the weather we had been having I was half expecting the event to be called off and even last year there was a torrential downpour to contend with, however this year the weather started bad but got better and, by the time I had reached the Cat and Fiddle, it was pretty damn sunny.
The route again was near perfect, with some nice country lane sections, some wickedly fast downhills and some challenging climbs. Coupled with the "rain free" weather it was really enjoyable.
Hills
Thanks to the amount of hill climbing I had done over the last few weeks I even managed to get up Blaze Hill on this occasion - a hill that devestated my legs last year. The downhills were even better this year as well thanks to the lack of water on the roads, allowing for my brakes to work this time.
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| Time to Man the Fuck up |
I loved riding around that part of the country and thanks to all of the events I had entered this year I enjoyed them even more.
Controls
The first feed control was at the Wizard Cafe, at the top of a nice climb up from Alderley Edge. This was again manned by some fantastic ladies who all served great cake. The next feed control was at the Harrington Arms, just outside Gawsworth. This year the hall had a wedding on this year so they were unable to accommodate us. This wasn't a problem because the pub was fantastic, serving up great coffee and hot pies.
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| Tempted for a pint? |
Really Fantastic.
Time passed by really quickly and it didn't seem long before I had left the remote countryside of the peaks and I was returing back to the HQ. I stowed my bike and ordered poached egg on toast...then layed into the table of cake.
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| Pub lunch of Pies, Crisps and Coffee |
Nom.
Over for another Year
As is per usual with Clarion rides it wasn't just the route that was enjoyable, but the other people I shared this day with made it. Great fun in great company. I sat in the HQ afterwards with my cup of tea and cake just chatting to everyone, sharing our experience of the route.
You couldn't have asked for a better way to spend a Sunday. And I was a little bit sad that it was over again. This would probably be my final event for 2012 as family commitments etc always tend to bunch up towards the end of the year and the weather gets worse, which I hate. Maybe I should man up?
Growing...
I found out after the ride that we had a massive registration and big turnout for the event 80 riders had registered and 67 had turned up, which apparrently is really good for an Audax.
And plus we are also getting really close to our 200th North Cheshire Clarion member which is fantastic news. Can't believe there are that many people.
Here are my stats for the ride
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