13 Wheelers congregated at Twelve50 Bikes on a bitter Sunday morning. A group of 8 elected to visit ‘The Mills’ on Roy’s ride. A group of 5 departed on the ‘A’, destination Wales.
Very sadly at Helsby ride leader ( and the only rider ‘in the know’ regarding the route ) took the dreaded call from work telling him he was indispensable and then there were 4. I had taken a mild interest in the route in order to announce it so we ploughed on.
The intention was to follow the ‘spirit of the route’ and incorporate a Remembrance Day Service en route. Well I think we kept more or less on the route and gave thanks for missing some mega downpours.
After a detour in a housing estate in Caergwrle and a spot of hail we started to skirt Hope mountain (unintentional) before the mother of all hailstorms left us sheltering in a bus stop in Ffrith.
We crunched onwards unable to find a service so held our own 2 minutes silence before being prevented from proceeding in Treuddyn due to traffic cones so stopped to pay our respects to the fallen.
After our cafe stop the official route eluded me but it was hilly and lovely via Cilcain, Pantymwyn, Rhosesmor. 101 miles of which 47 were solo. Great improvised fun but Chris Hanson-Jones you were missed!
Cheers
Marco
