Just back in from today's ride after not being able to get out yesterday due to family commitments (helping parents out again). So I was really looking forward to today's ride and no amount of ice was going to stop us or it!
We woke to clear blue skies and a harsh frost - in places the ice has stayed with us all day! There was only really one aim for today - to find some new roads and it was successful with us finding plenty of new roads and one or two climbs we knew nothing about.
Early on, it was really icy, with lack of speed being the key to survival, along with totally ignoring cars trying to overtake and staying well away from the edges of the roads which were more like an ice rink. In Winsford I realised too late that we needed to turn off the road we were on, signalling left to stop my OH, I took one look at a pub car park/ice rink and dismissed it instantly - the 'main' road would have to do and even that was more icy than I realised. I turned to check on my OH to find he had baled to the
ice ring car park and had suddenly rediscovered some childhood cycling skills... foot down and spinning the rear wheel out and the bike road inside the length of the bike...
yep mate I know what happened even if the pedestrian looked impressed!
. I dismounted and walked carefully across the icy road instead! My OH decided to blame the navigator instead!
. From Winsford it was totally new roads for us, it was just a shame about the road surface and the ice.... At one point on a slight down hill to the right, uphill to the left there were slow signs across the road, only they had a red background to highlight them - I could actually see the ice pattern, criss-crossed over the red pain! Then we had the idiot of the day: so busy trying to overtake 2 cyclists, giving them loads of room, that he (yep it was a he) failed to notice the oncoming car. The only reason we are not witnesses to an accident was that both drivers hit their brakes and literally nose-dived their vehicles into the tarmac which
just gave the idiot enough space to get back around us. I had already hit my brakes and was making up my mind if I wanted to witness this or close my eyes... how they missed each other is anyone's guess but it was clear whose 'side' the oncoming car driver was on - ours. We gave him our sympathies and parted company.
From there it was a nice ride into Nantwich via Reaseheath and lunch followed suit at the marina - benches are always nice to see and the sunshine was great. The canal towpath was amazingly busy as was the canal and I was really glad we were not cycling along it!
Lunch stop & a handy bench in the sun
Over view from the bench - this is the Shropshire Union Canal.
Somehow I managed to get a quiet moment on the canal in this picture!
I have no idea why this horse sculpture is here or what it signifies...
Soon after lunch, we needed a stop... the usual suspect and whilst I was climbing back out of the undergrowth a roadie stopped to check we were OK
I was in the process of pulling up my leg warmers and 'getting comfortable', so muttered comments about a convenience stop which brought a wry smile. We chatted for a few moments, wished him safe riding (roads were still very icy which had taken him by surprise) and went our separate ways.
A converted windmill we came across.
From here we crossed over the A49 without issue - it was surprisingly quiet and carried on into unknown territory for us. The 'magical mystery Garmin tour' as it is often known... though we have been known to ignore some instructions/directions such as one earlier in the day when it complained that I went around a large roundabout in the UK style rather than against the flow of traffic!
We found a castle further on, it may have not known it was lost, be it is now safe.... and we also found a hill around Bickerton, not to mention the only club riders we saw today... though they very nearly got taken out by a car trying to overtake them right at the really bad point, just when there was an oncoming car... it was all we could do to stop the car (that was in the right)... We had paused at the top of the hill to take some photos.
It was the whisk that caught my OH's attention! I was actually trying to work out how to get the photo below!
One thing I have not yet mentioned is that every time we found an uphill section my OH decided to sing a little ditty (related to
) Why he decided to sing it only on the uphill sections is anyone's guess - he's weird like that. I had even tried weighing him down with a pannier but it makes little difference to his climbing ability (he is the sprinter of us 2, I am the endurance side of life - on longer rides than today, I will end up with the pannier by the end of the ride to help him out!). He also has to sing it x many times - that being my age... (don't ask, its a very long story...)
From here, my OH decided he needed another pit stop, so having found a handy side road I stood in the sunshine and waited for him whilst he climbed in/out of some woodland... Whilst I was waiting, standing in the sunshine, in the middle of said junction, a car came along. No issues, I moved out of the way, but then she stopped and checked that I was OK! Talked about surprised! I nodded and gave her a thumbs up wondering whether she had spotted my OH in the woodland
thankfully I have now trained him to leave his hi-viz jacket on his bike
!
Then home through various towns and villages and into Delamere Forest where some weary legs were not interested in the climbs we still had left... nor were they particularly interested in the oncoming cars who thought they could bully said cyclist off the road - they didn't win which amused one or two mountain bikers putting bikes on their vehicles. I have to say, I am really glad that we didn't do our usual Sunday ride in Delamere Forest - it looked stunningly busy even as the sun was setting (or disappearing behind an ever growing cloud bank over North Wales - the next batch of rain is clearly on its way...)
46 miles or so on icy lanes but a lovely day was had by all.
http://www.strava.com/activities/102614169
out today but quite cold. Thanks to copious quantities of vin rouge at my cousin's last night I didn't get out until after lunch (don't know how much I had as everytime I put the glass down anywhere it magically refilled
), however I did feel surprisingly energetic so decided to get in my last Long Mynd ride of 2013.
I had to be honest and say I didn't know what it would be like and that I'd seen it in a very dangerous condition in the past.
