Lymm to The Ferry Tavern approx 18miles
Sunday 26th March 09
The first of our organised training days!! Unfortunately Martin couldn't make this one. It went quite well, the weather was fantastic (which helps). It took about three hours, we were a bit suprised really but the trail was fairly busy and we were constantly slowing down or stopping. One of us struggled a bit as he is only on his fourth ride in about thirty years, however, he is getting there. A couple of beers at the Ferry Tavern were very welcome and it took some effort to leave the beer alone and head back (hope there is not to many pubs on route or we may not make it in four days).
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Broadheath to The Ferry Tavern approx 25 miles
Sunday 5th April 09
The day dawned bright with light winds as our four intrepid cyclists met up for the first time. Unfortunately, first impressions count, as Martin managed to dive off his bike within 5 minutes of setting off. Maybe it was the loose cinder surface, maybe it was the one handed juggling act with a water bottle, either way it resulted in minor skin abrasions but a major attack of wounded pride. The only saving grace was that Mel (and his handlebar mounted video camera) was in front of Martin so the event was not captured for YouTube. We made steady progress through Lymm and Warrington, managing a steady 18-20 kph, and with only the occasional navigational glitch from Mel ( "er ...... lads, when I said left back there, I actually meant right"). Progress was so good that we managed to arrive at the Ferry Tavern before it opened, which meant we had plenty of time to chat to passing cyclists. The new cycling shirts (see gallery) provoked a lot of interest, along with a completely unexpected donation of £5 and an offer of free bike spares - restores your faith in human nature. The return journey turned into a "missing persons" investigation, as Glenn disappeared following a short stop by Martin, Mel and John. We searched Penketh, Warrington and Thelwall, but he was nowhere to be found; we rang his mobile phone, but was switched off; we stopped passers by, but nobody had seen him; we even considered dredging the Manchester Ship Canal. It eventually turned out that he had ridden the 20k back to the start without realizing that we were nowhere to be seen. Glenn is now under strict orders to slow down so that we can all keep up! You may have noticed that John is the only one who managed to keep a clean sheet on this trip, but there is plenty of time yet!
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Lymm to Childwall and back. approx 40 miles
Sunday 12th April 09
One step beyond (was this Madness) from The Ferry Tavern to Childwall. Mel, Glen and John had an early start this morning. However, the skies were blue but maybe just a little chilly at the start. Once we started, it soon warmed up!! The three amigos made it to The Ferry Tavern with ease and in jolly spirits we thought the next leg would be a breeze. The weather had improved and we made good time riding from Lymm. The next part of the journey was where we hit a few obstacles. The first being the 39 steps which were steep and not very easy to carry the bikes down. The thought of having to carry them back up again was daunting to say the least. The next obstacle that we encountered was a mini marathon and where we had to weave slowly through the runners as the road was closed (great). New to Mel, Glen and myself was the attack of locusts, however, in reality it was just a swarm of midges /nats. It was at this point that we lost the signs for the trail, thus ending up at John Lennon Airport. It was then suggested by a member of the team that maybe we could fly back to Manchester. This was a very difficult decision to make due to those dreaded steps. We managed to make it back to Lymm in good time (by bike) and the only incident on the way back was that we had a faller. John came off his bike without injury.
A good time was had by all.
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Penistone to Stretford approx 45 miles
Saturday 18th April 2009
The day started with the thought of tackling our hardest training ride so far. We set off from Penistone train station and within 20 minutes we hit the first climb. Glenn had to get off and walk some of the way, it was early and his body was not ready for this so early on in the ride. After we reached the top it did not seem too bad and the down hill was great on one of the downhills the moe experienced riders managed to break 40mph (scary). We all set a good pace, even though we did have a few missed turns, however, we soon got back on track. John had a bad fall as he was going down a steep slope, his back wheel came out of its seat. Though he came out of it fairly unscathed. We had a well deserved break in Glossop a few pints to quench our thirst went down a treat and prepared us for the next stage of the ride. It was getting harder the nearer home we got, but we pulled together to make it too the end (which we did!). Glenn needed a push towards the end but Mel helped him to reach our goal. It was hard going but it was definitely well worth it in the end.
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Tandle Hill approx 11 miles
Sunday 3rd May 2009
The weather was fairly bad first thing but by the time we reached Tandle Hill Country Park it had brightened up. We picked this ride because we needed to get some hill training in and we certainly did, it was wet and muddy all the way which made the hill climbs harder. Mel gave us some words of wisdom about the rather deep puddles, then went on to show us how not to ride through them he ended up about half a meter deep in water and mud and of course he stopped and his feet went in (that will teach him). The rest of the ride went well until Glenn realised he had lost his front mudguard we are not sure why he didn't notice as it dropped!!!! Originally we were going round twice but soaking wet (especially Mel) we decided to head for the pub instead.
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Riding the Ridges – 17 miles
Sunday 10 th May 2009
During the Penistone to Stretford ride it became apparent that a little hill practise was required and Martin suggested a short jaunt that he knew in the Peak District. Our merry band met up at Teggs Nose Country Park at 8am, keen to get the ride finished before the start of the Man United v Man City match in the afternoon.
Initially, the route was downhill, a mixture of bridle path and quiet roads and pretty fast. We climbed up on to the side of Kerridge Hill, then sped down into Bollington. A couple of hills so far, but nobody was suffering too much. We took a sharp left at St John's Church and hit the first monster hill, a 1 in 4 and cobbled as well; everybody ended up pushing on that one! Having managed to catch their breath at the top some members of the team put it to Martin that he might have rather understated the difficulty of the ride. He observed that he had cycled the same route a week previously with a group of 14 year old female Explorer Scouts, who hadn't struggled too much. Manly pride was stung, stomachs were pulled in, chests puffed out and jaws were set – off we went again.
A climb and then a quick descent through Pott Shrigley and on to the Gritstone Trail. Magnificent views of the Cheshire plain and White Nancy (a hill top monument built to commemorate the battle of Waterloo). More fast off-road descents and lots of steep climbs; around this point a kangaroo court was convened and Martin was summarily banned from suggesting any further training rides. The only thing that saved him from a good thrashing was that only he knew the way back to the cars. A team photo ended up with Martin flat on his back – that's what you get for running on tarmac in studded MTB shoes after you have set the camera timer off!
A quick descent past Lamaload Reservoir, then the inevitable climb, a couple of miles on the Old Macclesfield to Buxton road then a sprint down the new road led us back to Teggs Nose Country Park. Total time – approx. 2¾ hours, which was pretty respectable (helped by it being too early for the one pub on the route to be open).
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Talacre to Penmaenmawr - 50 miles
Sunday 31st May
Everyone was in good spirits this morning, the sky was blue and the sun was blazing. It was at this point that Mel decided to let us into a little secret about a hill (or rather a mountain) called the Great Orme in LLandudno - we thought he was joking. We made fairly good time to Abergele so we decided to stop for breakfast at a nice little café on the sea front. After about twenty minutes and full bellies we were off again heading for Colwyn Bay. After about twenty five miles we came to the Great Orme. It then dawned on us that Mel wasn’t joking. We cycled on up for about three miles or maybe more and after a short walking section we were off again only to find Mel sat on a bench outside a café with three bottles of water for us and a very smug look on his face. We have got to say the view was worth the pain we had suffered to get to the top. Check out the gallery for the views. After the short water break and now that Mel had stopped laughing at us we were off again for the downhill section which I have to say was fantastic. We didn’t quite make the full ride as the heat and the Orme had defeated us so we headed back to Rhos-on-Sea about ten miles less than planned but even the Pennine ride was not as hard.
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