Category: Cycling

I didn’t start out with the intention of doing a CTC ride today, it was going to be a lap around the Wirral and a logged ride through the missing ling to the Eureka Cafe.

That was the plan, the reality was I’m talking to George  by the door and trying to stuff Franks Breakfast down my gizzard to make the 10 o’clock start. Anyway I made the start but hadn’t a clue where we where going.

First off the ride list was Ruth, Mike, Jill, John, Barbara, Lusso Jacket John, Barry, Greorge and moi.
Ruth and Mike I hadn’t met before. Mike was on his first ride with the CTC  and by all accounts hasn’t done anything like this before. For your first ride out Mike you’ve done well. It is a huge step up from doing leisure rides to doing a ride with the CTC where even the old timers are doing more than you’ve ever done ever.

The ride out from the Cafe was similar to Sundays ride but  turning off before Cheshire Oaks.

I’ve classified the run as easy as it is a relatively flat run, in reality there was a stiff headwind/sidewind in places so it could be classed as medium by some.
Anyway if you follow the link at the bottom of the post you will see we had an ellevenes at  Okells Cafe inside Okells Garden Centre.

This could prove to be a decent location for a stop in future. The location is good, once they cotton on to what cyclists need/want on a ride it could be a regular call. The patio heaters inside really warmed the place up.

Okells Garden Centre is between Tarvin and Duddon on the A51 Tarporley Road.

I spoke to Mike on the ride to the Rake and Pickle and ended up giving him a card with a link to this site. Lunch at the Rake and Pickle proved to  be really good. Other groups had taken direct routes there and were by enlarge finished by the time we arrived. This was a blessing in disguise. I ended up having a Jacket potato with steak strips accompanied with a small salad. It was really good, anything more would have been too much, after all I am on a diet and it is a cycling club not a dining club.

Lunch stop was at The Rake and Pickle Inn at Huntington. If you zoom in on the map you can see where I parked my bike around the side.

After Lunch it was back to Chester via a route that was called “The Jungle” its an area that a cyclepath runs through between Huntington and Great Boughton. We were soon going around the back of the Bike Factory crossing the canal  and then a relatively troublefree crossing of Hoole road. We then jumped on the cyclepath and headed back to the Eureka. No squirrels trying to give us heart attacks this time.

A lone rider passed us as we were crossing the A5117, this proved to be the trigger for another pursuit up WoodBank Lane. I was in fine form touching 19mph going up the lane. Along the Parkgate Road I must have had the wind behind me as on the stretch just past The Yacht  I saw 26 mph on the Garmin. It was another cup of tea and a flapjack at the Eureka Cafe along with a chat to some of the other riders.

It was then time to return home via the Missing Link and give the lighting system a try. It wasn’t too bad seeing as I was only running one of the pair of lights. The rain the forecast promised arrived but it was fairly light. It was back up Rest Hill and that was the end of the ride. Thanks to all those on the ride, another good day.

Total mileage 57.64 Miles
Average Speed 12.5 MPH,Max 30.5 MPH down RestHill
3228 Calories Burnt
Average Heartate 113 BPM Max Heartrate 161BPM
Total ascent 1941 ft

Link to Google Map of CTC ride to Okells Garden Centre

This post and route may prove to be one of the most popular parts of the site .
The Eureka Cafe and the Ice Cream Farm are two of the most popular cycling destinations in Cheshire and runs like this are done by hundreds if not thousands of cyclists each year.
It is an easy, flat run and can be done  by anyone who could cycle 20 odd miles before needing a break.

I had another decent run to the start at the Eureka Cafe with the Garmin Edge 305 signaling the turns about 30 yards before they came up. This device is proving to be superb toy for the likes of me with more features coming out of it all the time.

Back to the ride, 10 o’clock sees two groups assembling across the road for the ride. I have a digital camera this week and it proves as problimatical as the phone camera I have used in the past. This shot should have been really crisp but for whatever reason it wasn’t.

Annabels group headed out down church lane to towards Ledsham and Capenhurst in the direction of Ellesmere Port and Cheshire Oaks. We were on the cycle lane and everything was OK untill we hit Cheshire Oaks. Here the Sunday morning shoppers were streaming into the estate as if they were about to miss the opening of a January sale. I had this thought that if we’d jumped on to the road at the roundabouts we would have been through there in no time and had right of way to boot. I was thinking of hot scones getting cold at the Ice Cream Farm.

The ride down past Stanlow was a bit bleak, it’s a fast road that is a lot quieter these days, with a white line for a cycle lane. Just as well the wind was blowing in the right direction . Things brightened up a bit when we turned off at the sign for The Gowy Landfill Site. We had  a stop further on to pay our respects to the dead of two world wars I’d forgotten it was Rememberance Sunday.

It was a poingant moment. The picture was taken before we observed the silence.
After the stop it was back on the bikes an onwards towards the Ice Cream Farm.
I’m starting to recognise some of the places and routes now so I have a rough idea of where I am.
I took a gamble with weather in going out on “The Toy”, it didn’t pay off as it started to rain and it was another short stop to don some rain gear. It was a drizzle that gets right through stuff that is labelled showerproof. Worse was to come, further on the road is covered with mud and slurry and there is no getting around this mess.
The fluorescent jacket gets plastered yet again and I’ve only myself to blame.
I decide to ride off the front which is where the next picture is taken from.The rain then stops.

As we get near the Ice Cream Farm I decide to have a good go at the only hill of any sorts on the route, the one over the canal. It also gave me the opportunity to take the next shot which was the group arriving at the Ice Cream Farm.

It was busy in the cafe with a lot of faces that I recognised from the visits to the Eureka Cafe and other groups from around Cheshire. Kev had made it there but without Bob or Charlie. I had a chicken tikka baguette for lunch and it was really good. Don’t know how it would fit in with the eating plan but it came with a small salad  and was washed down with a couple of cups of tea from the pot that Ray had bought. Thanks Ray.
Lunch over it was time to assemble outside  and head off back to Chester.

It was acroos the crossroads and down Newton lane towards Gatesheath, Hatton Heath and Bruera. Then it was along Chapel Lane to Saighton where it was an uncontested sprint up the hill to where the road splits. This is the same hill that George dropped  Ray and I a couple of weeks ago.

From Saighton it was down the road where we picked up the canal towpath at Waverton.
It was a bit of a juggling act trying to stay on the path whilst taking pictures but they came out better than expected. Things were going well when lo and behold Margaret picks up a puncture, our first and last of the day. It couldn’t have been Margarets lucky day again as she picked a puncture up on the Abbey Arms ride as well. We all know about trouble coming in three,s so be warned for the next run everybody. It could have been Phils fault for not getting the thorn out properly from the first puncture!

It should have been sorted in double quick time with all this help standing around.

It doesn’t get much flatter than a canal towpath. I took a couple  of pictures from the back of the group and this is probably one of the best. We also past the site of a swans nest in the summer they were quite active in protecting their young, pecking out at everything that came near. The nest was about 6 foot from the path.

 The towpath under the road near Focus DIY has had its surface leveled with tarmac and is a lot better than it used to be. It was like riding on a jackhammer originally. Once in Chester we picked up the cycle path and then it was back on a well travelled route to Woodbank. The A5117 improvement are about to start and where there was a central reservation last week there is now a 6 inch drop onto limestone foundations by the look of it. I had another go at Woodbank lane. This time it was to get in position for another picture. It didn’t come out too good as the focus was set to infinity and isn’t worth adding another 85kb to this post.
Back at the Eureka Cafe it was another cup of tea and an oat flapjack for me and a chat with the other riders. Then it was back down the Chester High Road on Phil,s wheel until the turn off for Willaston. It was back through Thornton Hough picking up Route 56 and finally up Rest Hill where the Garmin announced I was approaching the summit.
Another great day out, I even saw a couple of new places I hadn’t been before.

Google map link Eureka Cafe to Ice Cream Farm

Thanks to Annabel for leading the ride.

 This is the first route I am going to do and the easyest. There is a slight rise halfway along that might require you to change down a gear or two BEFORE you hit the bottom, not when your starting to struggle half way up.

Start: Seacombe Ferry
Finnish: New Brighton
Distance:
Start is at Seacombe Ferry and the finish is the pub at New Brighton they have been renovating for what seems like years. This is just meant to be a taster route and to let me get the hang of things.

As you can see it’s deserted at this time of the morning.
Next picture is just past the pub that overllooks the Mersey.

Youve just come down this slope, so keep pedalling. Next up is the slope I was telling you about at the start.

The next picture is the end of the route.

Now turn around and ride back to the start. That shouldn’t take too much out of you.