Crew: El Pres, PTD, Slim, 3 Sheds, Troll, Dunc, Stunt
Pub: Lee, Adrian
Route: RB, War memorial climb, Lidgetts Lane, back of Kerridge, Waulkmill wood, poachers snicket, Pott Shrigley, Bakenstondale road, Gritstone Trail, Sponds, Dale Top, quarries descent, chapel descent, Pott Shrigley, Poachers.
Conditions: Sunny and breezy
Notes:
After a day of grey skies and heavy showers, lo the clouds parted and giveth a fine evening for a ride in the hills!
Meeting at Rainbow Bridge we are even more blessed as many maybe’s turn out to yeah be’s. Troll sends us his location (parked at the Poachers) so we pop on live location for him to meet us somewhere on the back of Kerridge.
If only he had checked his phone then he would not have arrived at RB after we had left, and needed to chase us back to the Poachers!
The recent rain meant that grass was wet, and exposed muddy bits a bit greasy, but the sun was warm on the back, and glinted off the handcuffs above head height in one of the trees overhanging the path in the big field just before the gate and trods down to the Waulkmill entrance!
With it being Chelsea flowershow week, we could take the time to appreciate impressive displays of red and pink Rhodedenrons in gardens and purply/blue Wisteria on cottages.
The troll finally catches us up, and we head off for “climb on road” all the way up past the brickworks and brink farm (sporting a wonderful yellow laburum to cheer up an otherwise tired set of buildings) and onto the gritstone trail in golden evening light.
Breezy though! and past the gambolling lambs and the huge mountain of paperwaste to the Sponds trig point, there was not much hanging around!
Heading to Dale top was into the lowering sun, with deep shadows in places, making for careful line choice to avoid unexpected things!
Good views from the (suprisingly not) singing gate, although hazier than you would have thought given the strength of the wind and earlier rain. “Da holy city” was visible to the right of Fiddlers Ferry.
Scattering the rooks on the way the quarries descent made extra fun as the lower gate was open for the sheep, but danger lurked at the end with a fallen bridleway sign in the wet grass just where PTD was turning at great speed, the front wheel went, handlebars turned and down he went with the bar end wacking into his leg to boot!
Impressive bruising anticipated..
It turns out that PTD had never done the chapel descent, and Butty led the way, 3 Sheds gets bonus points for clearing the stream without epower, and we stopped at the end for PTD to pay his respect to his patron saint!
Time was running out, so route one to the poachers, where we sampled all the ales on offer between us. Cosied into the snug the usual mix of bants and hilarity, with Lee joining us as we arrived, and Adrian later on.
No axis of evil as the calls of building work or airport pickups deterred the ususal suspects!
A fine evening for being out and about.