10 year birthday picnic and awards ceremony!

June 2008, and I ran the first Five miles to Fabulous ride.  The full story can be found on the history tab.

To mark ten years of the Fab Ladies, we arranged a series of rides, meeting at Tattenhall for a get together, picnic and prossecco.  38 ladies booked in for the event, many resplendent in our anniversary tops for 2018.

Cake samples before we even started - Ruth brought some previews for her daughter's second cake cook book, Fuelled by Cake.

 Alex and her faster group set off first

....closely followed by Linda with her ladies.

Jane and Gill took the next group

which left me with these lovely ladies.


We set off via Christleton and Waverton, where we met a stag baywatch party (I should've got a selfie!) 

Linda's groups also stopped for a photo,
by the Shady Oak, if I am not mistaken!

Hadn't noticed this lovely cast iron gate before, not far from the Ice Cream Farm.

Couple of nice quiet lanes to bring us round to drop in to Tattenhall.

 What a wonderful spread at Alison's!!!  There was plenty to go round, and it was just right!!

The weather was just nice to sit out in, in the front garden which although is on the main street is also a little raised, so away from street level.

A leader line up, sporting new tops - and of course a back view.  Our top designer, Ellen, joined us for some cake; she is in the photo under our back view...

And then - presentations!  Not planned in at first, but Welna had brought with her certificates for all the leaders, and I was able to look back and recall when they first came out, and it was an opportunity to thank them for the help they have given over the years.  We had a good laugh remembering!

Thanks to Angela C who captured some of these presentations.















But then...

Lowri, our secretary from Chester and North Wales Cycling UK Member Group, brought a certificate from the Committee, in a frame (she cycled in from Ruthin with it, cos she is more amazing than me!!)




















But there is more...

Linda presented me with flowers, a mug (Psychlepath), a card made with many photos from over the years, and some Wiggle vouchers!  They really spoiled me, and it was a wonderful surprise!  Thank you to all the ladies who join us over the years, and stay with us!

The cake was shared, the prosecco finished, so it was time to go, and people made their way home. I had a small group, and kind offers of taking the booty home for me.  I note from photos someone even managed to have a puncture!

Big thanks to Catherine for arranging and discussing with Alison for today, buying the prosecco, and making the cake - which was gorgeous!  See you in five years!

Two for one

Post was written at the end of July, so it is mostly photos - and not all mine!

We had about 30 riders, and four new faces.  The sun was out, and shorts are appearing at last!  The long winter may now be behind us!

St Albans, Tattenhall

Rick's group

Cheryl's group, as she practices the art of over-the-shoulder photos! 

Heading out on the Greenway

A certain corner near Burton has
a gorgeous pond and black swans

Love the fox and rabbit on this thatched roof!

Sat outside at the cafe

The reason for the lack of my photos is that I had not taken many on our way out, and we had a small incident where a wheel touched the wheel in front.  This caused a spill, and some consternation.  We picked her up, and in the end I walked with her to the cafe, as we were only about a mile away.  This was we could sit safely and in comfort and await collection.

A fall will cause embarrassment, if you are not seriously hurt.  However, adrenalin kicks in, and what you think may be bruising or a sprain, may be a fracture, so it is wise not to continue riding.  However, it also highlights that the emergency contact details we ask for at the start of the ride need to be someone who can come or arrange for someone to come and pick you and bike up.

Thankfully the lady was not seriously hurt, but muscular sprains did keep her off the bike for several months.

I rode the route the week before, it was a sunny day and Cheryl was doing a reccy for her route, so a few of us joined her - here are some photos from that day - blossom and sunshine!

Beeston - in case you were wondering!

With Laura - cyclist and new owner.

And the rational behind the title for this post?  Photos from two rides combined into one post!  Tenuous, I know :-)

The ride must go on

I was away this month, to Leeds on a Swing Dance weekend.  So, I passed the reins to my fabulous leaders.

We had six leaders, twelve riders, and three groups. Unfortunately this is the only photo I have.  The route was to Hawarden Farm shop.

Spin for Smartworks - "40k of laughter"

Spring is definitely springing, and after a couple of quite turbulent weeks weatherwise (although no snow in Chester, of course!) and despite it pouring at 07:00 this morning, we had a very pleasant and mild day.

Possibly due to the rain, or maybe as tomorrow is Mother's day, we had 19 riders, split nicely into three groups.  This was our second charity ride; I had been approached by Lucy from Smartworks as they were holding a 'Spin for Smartworks' fundraising challenge.  Planned in the week including International Women's day, we were one day out with our planned ride, so we offered to collect a small donation per rider; Dani from Smartworks was due to meet us at Okells.

Ready to leave, we employed a young lad from the cafe to take our photo, as Mr Rosie is recovering from an operation (meaning Rosie had the adventure of catching the train from Frodsham!).








Alex led away the faster further group, with promises (threats) of the Yeld; noted in retrospect by one of her riders that a similar route was employed last year - also to include the Yeld!   (for those of you who do not know, The Yeld is a slightly brutal straight  line climb with an arrow - it rises in front of you a bit like a wall)


No-one had signed up to the slow and steady group, so we split remaining riders between the leaders; Cheryl had a 20 mile route in total planned, and I had an idea in my head.

It was even warm enough to take a layer off!

Recent rain meant lots of roadside water, and this final flood just before the cafe.

Okells had not been able to save us seats together, but we managed to commandeer enough spaces for bottoms, and a variety of snacks were obtained.  I'll say one thing for us, we know how to dine well!

We were joined by Dani Novick from Smartworks, to tell us a little bit about the project, and to hand over the money raised by riders (small donation to ride today); we raised £65 for the charity.

Smart Works is a UK charity that provides high quality interview clothes, styling advice and interview training to women in need.  We give women the confidence, the self-belief and the practical tools they require to succeed at interview and start a new chapter of their life.

We not only gave the donation, but offers of quality clothing and volunteer time I believe was also offered.  You can read more about the charity here.

Another flood, this time nearly home on the Greenway.  











Why the title '40k of laughter'?  Well, one lady riding was out for the first time, and just enjoyed the company and conversation so much, I could hear her laughing all morning.  She said it was 40k of laughter, so I thought that would be a good title for the blog!