Sunday Intermediate/ Easy Ride to Chester

Our annual expedition to Chester had almost perfect weather and a great turnout.

The number of riders fluctuated, and peaked at 20 at Shakerley Mere, when Alicia and I met up with the rest. Brian E headed back at that point, so we had 19 on the road to Cotebrook. The cafe at the Shirehorse centre coped well with us, but asked for some advance warning next time. Eddie joined us there to put in a guest appearance for part of the next stage of the ride, and Griff, Dan and Mark H headed back to Macc via somewhere selling ice creams! We took a slight variation on our usual route to Chester to avoid most of a very busy towpath. There was a strong headwind but we made it to the riverside in good time. The group split between various indoor and outdoor eating establishments and we managed a faster turn around than in previous years. We picked up Mr Yvonne (Phil) in Chester, so for our return journey we had Kirsten, Adele, Alicia, Sue, Jen, Janet & Geoff, Yvonne and Phil, Jim, Simon G, Gawsworth John, Paul R, Phil K, Nigel, John and me (17). We had a strong tail wind on the way back, as we got back towards Cotebrook the group ended up splitting in 2 with John and I both in the back group. The front group omitted to wait at the next junction, and you can guess what happened next. Despite some confused Garmins we did all manage to get back together at Oulton Park. The cafe at Whitegate was closed, but fortunately we made it to Shipbrook before it closed. Another good day out, 77 miles for those who started from Macc, 52 miles for Alicia and me.

Katherine