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| Post ride smoothie following a very hilly Chester Challenge ride |
I do declare - that is our Janet from our sister group Wirral Bicycle Belles!!!!!
Facebook chat.....
Sunday, 22 June 2014
Fabulous Fifty
This Sunday, to mark the end of Bike Week, the annual Liverpool to Chester rides take place. In the last year or so they have also offered a 50 mile round Cheshire. Some of our ladies took part...
I do declare - that is our Janet from our sister group Wirral Bicycle Belles!!!!!
Facebook chat.....
I do declare - that is our Janet from our sister group Wirral Bicycle Belles!!!!!
Facebook chat.....
I have lived in Chester all my life, and cycled here for over 25 years. It goes someway to explaining how I know my way locally without referring to a map all the time, a fact which amazes my ladies. There is a wealth of accessible lanes, tracks and routes within 10 miles of Chester, easily reached in a mornings ride. Not to mention more cafe's than you can shake a bicycle pump at! That is what the fabulous ladies is all about!
Oh, and cake!
Saturday, 14 June 2014
Hope-ful Hills
We went to Hope. There were a few hills. I have said before I am struggling to think of blog post titles!
We wended our way down to Boughton and the river - dodging boats - and crossed on the suspension bridge.
On through Handbridge, round Beeston view with a view over the allotments to the river (but I don't think you can see Beeston from there) to Eccleston; then to the main road out to Rossett and then back into the lanes.
...returning
We took a steady ascent through Golly, where we re-grouped - had not seen the others for a little while. We carried on up and then crossed the main Llay road, to climb a little bit round Caer Estyn (an iron age Celtic hill fort - opposite to Caergwrle Castle built by a Welsh Prince) - an then to drop fairly spectacularly into Hope by the bridge.
Many photos were taken by all at the cafe. A very friendly and helpful cafe, with some seats outside so we could soak up even more sun.
Here are a selection of photos:
Kath led her group off first - remember the spectacular descent I described into Hope?....they were heading up that!
We went the other way, and after a very short climb we crossed the main road again and were in the lanes near Kinnerton. Including a loooong drop to the other end of Kinnerton!
We were destined to be late back; not only did we re-group from time to time, and let the slower ones catch up and re-cooperate (not a problem - especially on such a nice day), but as we approached Balderton Crossing the lights started flashing and siren sounding.
Arriving at Chester we were faced with very busy alternatives - Chester races were on, there was a regatta on the river,the sun was shining - Handbridge became gridlocked so we 'took the bridge' - not as I intended (riding as a group to get us all over quicker) but instead single file alongside cars stuck trying to cross. Then we had a toilet stop by the river (at the toilets I hasten to add) before battling with a few cars to get up to the Canal....peace again.
23 riders, 26 miles and 29 FF miles.
Had a bit of a crisis in the week leading up to the 6th anniversary of the Fab Ladies. A lack of leaders meant I may only have two groups, a fairly far cry from 3-4 years ago, when I was still glad if anyone turned up! A last minute offer from two ladies saved the day, and with a call to CTC on the Friday afternoon, all was registered and set to go.
News had come to me of a new cafe in Hope - well, you know me (if you follow the blog) - I am a sucker for new cafes! I plotted a route - and Kath plotted a longer one!
We gathered - people signed in - I stood on the wall and read out the rules- and we sent Kath off with her group. We have had a lot of new faces in the last few months, and today seemed more newbies than ever. It is all good, but it does mean that people may not be familiar with group riding rules.
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| Everyone at the start. Who are all these people?!!!!! |
There were 13 of us left - not quite two groups, and as Claire had not been able to upload the route we decided to do one group with a significant gap in between - enough for cars to fit in but not so far as to loose sight.
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| The Suspension Bridge |
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| Climbing up over A483 near Burton |
Meanwhile......
Kath had led her group along the river I think, they certainly crossed on Saltney Ferry bridge, where they seem to have stopped for a photo shoot!
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| Collette's photo.... |
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| ...Nathalie's photo.... |
We took a steady ascent through Golly, where we re-grouped - had not seen the others for a little while. We carried on up and then crossed the main Llay road, to climb a little bit round Caer Estyn (an iron age Celtic hill fort - opposite to Caergwrle Castle built by a Welsh Prince) - an then to drop fairly spectacularly into Hope by the bridge.
Many photos were taken by all at the cafe. A very friendly and helpful cafe, with some seats outside so we could soak up even more sun.
Here are a selection of photos:
Kath led her group off first - remember the spectacular descent I described into Hope?....they were heading up that!
We went the other way, and after a very short climb we crossed the main road again and were in the lanes near Kinnerton. Including a loooong drop to the other end of Kinnerton!
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| Hope main road |
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| Short climb up Pigeon Lane |
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| Train! |
23 riders, 26 miles and 29 FF miles.
I have lived in Chester all my life, and cycled here for over 25 years. It goes someway to explaining how I know my way locally without referring to a map all the time, a fact which amazes my ladies. There is a wealth of accessible lanes, tracks and routes within 10 miles of Chester, easily reached in a mornings ride. Not to mention more cafe's than you can shake a bicycle pump at! That is what the fabulous ladies is all about!
Oh, and cake!
Saturday, 10 May 2014
Showers, Flowers and Wind
'March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers' as the saying goes - and we had all three today!
At 9:30 the sky darkened. As grey clouds slipped over the previously tantalising blue and sunny morning, the promise of a faulty weather forecast also dwindled!
As requested everyone who was planning to come had let me know (except one lady who had a new email address and therefore had not had my email, and one brand new who did not know). 21 riders assembled, signed in and then grouped under cover for the start up photo.
We sent of Alex with the regular/ furtherish group (only two leaders today, therefore only two groups) before I set off with the slow and steady. Several new faces out today which is always nice!
Using the greenway to get going, we headed to Mickle Trafford and then the A56 - a bit further than usual to include Dunham Hill (sneaky climb).
We could see the black clouds heading our way, and after a descent and being passed bythe faster group (they had had a detour!) it started to rain.
Not too bad at first, but I had to backtrack as I changed my mind about the route - and this brought us to a heavier shower.
The rain shower was very short lived and soon we were climbing the back lanes of Barrow, between deep sandstone cuttings topped with bluebells.
The cafe was very busy despite me phoning ahead and warning that 21 of us were on our way! We took over slightly (!), and even had to send the Wrexham Cafe Hoppers away (sorry guys!) as there was just not enough room (even then people were nearly sitting on each others knees!).
Just before we headed back off, I wanted to explore the bluebell woods. Barrowmore Estate is part of the Cheshire Bluebell Recovery Project.
We then regrouped and set off, with slight changes to riding groups and a nice downhill start (the sun still shining!). It was at this point I realised that,due to waitress service, I had forgotten to pay! Flo was heading back that way, so I gave her my money and she kindly offered to pop in on her way back and pay my bill (and one other lady,not just me!)
Then we had a very windy return along the A51 (footpath) to re-join the lanes and head through Guilden Sutton and Pipers Ash and back.
21 ladies, 15 and 22 miles.
At 9:30 the sky darkened. As grey clouds slipped over the previously tantalising blue and sunny morning, the promise of a faulty weather forecast also dwindled!
As requested everyone who was planning to come had let me know (except one lady who had a new email address and therefore had not had my email, and one brand new who did not know). 21 riders assembled, signed in and then grouped under cover for the start up photo.
We sent of Alex with the regular/ furtherish group (only two leaders today, therefore only two groups) before I set off with the slow and steady. Several new faces out today which is always nice!
Using the greenway to get going, we headed to Mickle Trafford and then the A56 - a bit further than usual to include Dunham Hill (sneaky climb).
We could see the black clouds heading our way, and after a descent and being passed bythe faster group (they had had a detour!) it started to rain.
Not too bad at first, but I had to backtrack as I changed my mind about the route - and this brought us to a heavier shower.
The rain shower was very short lived and soon we were climbing the back lanes of Barrow, between deep sandstone cuttings topped with bluebells.
The cafe was very busy despite me phoning ahead and warning that 21 of us were on our way! We took over slightly (!), and even had to send the Wrexham Cafe Hoppers away (sorry guys!) as there was just not enough room (even then people were nearly sitting on each others knees!).
Just before we headed back off, I wanted to explore the bluebell woods. Barrowmore Estate is part of the Cheshire Bluebell Recovery Project.
We then regrouped and set off, with slight changes to riding groups and a nice downhill start (the sun still shining!). It was at this point I realised that,due to waitress service, I had forgotten to pay! Flo was heading back that way, so I gave her my money and she kindly offered to pop in on her way back and pay my bill (and one other lady,not just me!)
Then we had a very windy return along the A51 (footpath) to re-join the lanes and head through Guilden Sutton and Pipers Ash and back.
21 ladies, 15 and 22 miles.
I have lived in Chester all my life, and cycled here for over 25 years. It goes someway to explaining how I know my way locally without referring to a map all the time, a fact which amazes my ladies. There is a wealth of accessible lanes, tracks and routes within 10 miles of Chester, easily reached in a mornings ride. Not to mention more cafe's than you can shake a bicycle pump at! That is what the fabulous ladies is all about!
Oh, and cake!
Saturday, 12 April 2014
Brakes, Bridges and Blossom
My 100th Fab ladies blog post!
I arrived at the cafe a little later than the 1/2 past I had intended - to find everyone sitting down nice and quietly (it can sometimes get a bit hectic on a Saturday as everyone arrives!). Kath and Welna led the further faster group off, followed by myself and Jo-Anne with the regular pace - Nicky and Gill had a few slow and steady riders.
Regular ride - we set off up Kingsway/Mannings Lane, to cross at the lights and have a nice downhill. We had a short stretch of A56 (quite a quiet main road usually) but one new rider appeared to be struggling. After we turned into the lanes I invited her to ride 'up front' as this can help to set a pace a slower rider can manage but also is not as demoralising, trying to catch up a group. But we could hear something rubbing, and realised that her brakes were catching - and she was effectively riding with her brakes on! We stopped, and I loosened off the brakes (sounds scary, but as long as you tighten the nut after loosening the cable all should be good!) and much improvement was noted!
I picked a slightly circuitous route via Ashton and Kelsall, with a couple of climbs - but this also gives smashing views across Cheshire to the Welsh Hills. Then we dropped to Duddon and came in the back of Okells.
Wow! New cafe! - we have been here a couple of times before, but last Wednesday they opened their now extended cafe. Very nice, and very efficient (which was a good job as I only managed to phone them that morning!!)
Suitably refreshed, the further faster lot went off, and I took the regulars along the Gowy bridges (as it had been dry but this route also offers shelter from the slight headwind). Mandatory stop for photos on the bridge - not actually my idea, I must add! The steady group caught up with us, so more pics!
A lovely spring feel to the air, trees in blossom Rape fields just coming out. And a nice warm up for the Spring 50 tomorrow (see Chester CTC Blog)
I arrived at the cafe a little later than the 1/2 past I had intended - to find everyone sitting down nice and quietly (it can sometimes get a bit hectic on a Saturday as everyone arrives!). Kath and Welna led the further faster group off, followed by myself and Jo-Anne with the regular pace - Nicky and Gill had a few slow and steady riders.
Regular ride - we set off up Kingsway/Mannings Lane, to cross at the lights and have a nice downhill. We had a short stretch of A56 (quite a quiet main road usually) but one new rider appeared to be struggling. After we turned into the lanes I invited her to ride 'up front' as this can help to set a pace a slower rider can manage but also is not as demoralising, trying to catch up a group. But we could hear something rubbing, and realised that her brakes were catching - and she was effectively riding with her brakes on! We stopped, and I loosened off the brakes (sounds scary, but as long as you tighten the nut after loosening the cable all should be good!) and much improvement was noted!
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| Heading through Kelsall |
I picked a slightly circuitous route via Ashton and Kelsall, with a couple of climbs - but this also gives smashing views across Cheshire to the Welsh Hills. Then we dropped to Duddon and came in the back of Okells.
Wow! New cafe! - we have been here a couple of times before, but last Wednesday they opened their now extended cafe. Very nice, and very efficient (which was a good job as I only managed to phone them that morning!!)
Suitably refreshed, the further faster lot went off, and I took the regulars along the Gowy bridges (as it had been dry but this route also offers shelter from the slight headwind). Mandatory stop for photos on the bridge - not actually my idea, I must add! The steady group caught up with us, so more pics!
A lovely spring feel to the air, trees in blossom Rape fields just coming out. And a nice warm up for the Spring 50 tomorrow (see Chester CTC Blog)
I have lived in Chester all my life, and cycled here for over 25 years. It goes someway to explaining how I know my way locally without referring to a map all the time, a fact which amazes my ladies. There is a wealth of accessible lanes, tracks and routes within 10 miles of Chester, easily reached in a mornings ride. Not to mention more cafe's than you can shake a bicycle pump at! That is what the fabulous ladies is all about!
Oh, and cake!
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