OK. There was a request for ride reports from poster Clune.
Last Saturday, 18th June 2005, I set of with my club-mates from the
Eureka Cafe, Two Mills, Wirral. I had looked at the OS maps beforehand
with an idea of where I was going to go; Farndon, Overton, Chirk and
back through Wrexham. I had looked at alternative return routes, but
even mentioning them would mean I was setting out alone.
There were six of us left when we got into Overton, some of the riders
needing to be home by lunch. I got the maps out of my pocket. This
brought looks of anxiety from the rest of them. If I've brought the maps
then we are going to places they haven't been before.
I was looking for a road to chirk that I have taken from the other end a
number of times, but unsure of which of many little turnings we should
use. With a few more stops at junctions and crossroads, we dropped into
a valley and climbed out to our intended destination.
A brief lunch stop at a cafe in Chirk while I offered them an
alternative route back to Cheshire. I had set out with the intention of
using a more or less straight ride home skirting past Wrexham. The
alternative I offered was up the Ceiriog Valley towards Glyn Ceiriog and
then over the top of the ridge and into Llangollen. I have been this way
before, but not in recent years. I knew one of the climbs here is known
as Church Hill, but that's not the one we took. We started the ascent
from Pontfadog. After a couple of minutes, I had reached boiling point.
One of the lads had 'sprinted' past me and come to a stop just up the
road. I stopped in the shade of some trees and looked round. The three
who were still behind me were walking. I tried a step or so, but look
plates were sliding back. I managed to get rolling again and carried on
to the top. One of the party was rolling back down the hill to find us
as I got close to the summit. We waited at a junction to regroup.
From the top we set off without rechecking the map, and in the wrong
direction. There were signs telling we were going in the way of
Llangollen, but it wasn't the way I intended to go when I last looked at
the map. We came to a junction where the signs indicated that we were
heading back to Glyn Ceiriog. Looking at the map I was not sure which
junction we were at so we retraced our steps and headed back north. We
came to another junction where the sign had broken off, and I worked out
that I had gone off the edge of the maps I was carrying. We headed of in
the direction that seemed to go north. It soon dropped steeply into
Llangollen and we could buy some drinks in the local shops. And most of
us thought it prudent to ring home now it was 2pm, the usual getting
home time, to let anybody expecting us that we might be a bit later than
usual.
The only route home now was over the Horseshoe Pass. Back through
Wrexham might be less strenuous, but much less pleasant.
So we start climbing. Outside the Britannia Inn, there are two riders
ahead of me and I look over my shoulder. I don't want to spend any more
energy on this hill than required of course. The chap at the back of the
group wasn't coping very well even at this early stage.
I carried on and caught one of the guys in front of me and then rode
with him to the top. The other guy had been at the Ponderosa for a
couple of minutes and we all sat on the verge while waiting for all the
others.
All the others had arrived except the one who was struggling at the
bottom. We waited another 15 minutes, then, with the chap who got to the
top first, I went down to a point on the pass from where you can see
almost to the bottom. He wasn't in sight. I asked a just-stopped
motorcyclist if he has seen a rider in a shirt like ours. He had not. We
calculated that he could have walked to the top in the time he'd had, so
wasn't coming. I wasn't going all the way back down the hill to look, so
we headed back to the top.
We got back to the others, who were enjoying a drink at the ponderosa.
We set off and proceeded over the Llandegla moors and down towards the
Cheshire Plain. We got back to The Eureka at about quarter to five. This
is pretty late and they were closing up. Fortunately were are well known
to the proprietors, and we could stock up on liquid before heading on
home. Ninety miles for me, some had further to go home.
Much later, when enjoying a BBQ at home, I rang the unfortunate chap who
was left behind. He had got to the Britannia Inn and stopped for a
drink. The ascent of the Horseshoe Pass was a bridge too far for him,
having not been out as frequently as the rest of us recently. He had
turned round and rang home for a lift. He said that he hadn't been put
of coming with us again, and I had explained that this was one of the
most demanding rides I had done this year - he shouldn't expect that
every week.
I shall make sure that anyone with us in future at least has my mobile
number, so that I shan't have to worry if they decide to go home another
way.
Andy, Birkenhead North End CC