Words by Alex, Photos by Pete & Butty
Crew: El Pres, Slim, PTD, Butty, Dunc, Slim
Route: Back Eddisbury lane, “back entrance” to Teggs, Front of Teggs descent, Leathers, across the dam & up through the woods to the lane, Hanging Gate, Ridge Hill, Fourways, A54, Croker hill, Hollin lane, Sutton Hall.
Conditions: Nasty windchill, soft ground in places.
Notes:
We lost Dan eleven years ago, strange to think he would be turning 45, so of course we have to celebrate his birthday with G&T’s on Croker hill!
True to tradition its bloomin baltic – above freezing (just) but with a biting Easterly which Buxton weather reckons means the windchill makes it feel like -6!
Our eight riders are quickly whittled down to six, with Dr S having a mechanical on Coalpit lane – brake lever falling off = early bath, and Smiffy deciding that he doesn’t have sufficient clothing to be out in this weather.
Route debate agrees that Zag into Teggs will take too long, so we head back down Backeddisbury lane to the old road and up the hill to the “back entrance” where once off the track and onto the grass we get our first view of the Croker hill mast gently backlit by the congleton glow on the lowish clouds.
Top of teggs is nice and dry, but some quite deep soft muddy bits lower down make for some unintended rear squirms!
More route debate at the car park, concluding that we are tight on time (for our 8:30 table) but that taking the road into Langley and up past the Ryles is a) a long way round, b) likely to have some fast cars on it, and c) no fun. So we stick to plan A and head up to the Smithy – being passed by a gaggle of e C#nts on the way.
Across below the dam, and the little steep climb in the trees we exit onto a rather muddy lane to head across to the Hanging gate and ridge hill road.
El Pres is putting the proverbial hammer down despite carrying the provisions, and into a bitter crosswind we crest the Ridge, and descend to Fourways and carry straight on to the A54. We are finally blessed with a tailwind and arrive at Croker with 50 minutes to play with.
Ingenious use of picnic wine glasses to impale them into the ground as an anti wind measure! Pork pies with the obligatory mustard, and a new TNR phrase…as face like they have licked with mustard spoon!
Time to head down the lumpy field, the softish ground is frosty hard in places but deep tractor ruts and boggy patches make for multiple momentum stopping sections.
Lots of team co-operation at the gates and before we know it we are amazingly ahead of time on the road at the bottom.
Sutton hall nice and warm, and quite busy…not just us with a voucher to use on it’s last possible date!
Titanic plum porter is on to our great joy, although El Pres is the turncoat all evening on aforementioned ale. Interrogation of ski trip, the can’t make it up craziness of the world at present, benefits of merino — warm, not itchy if you get the decent stuff, but prone to wearing away. Proper ribaldry eventually! and everyone is in for an AoE whisky at the end.
£6:50 a pint for the porter shocker at the end so just as well we were only on a 3 pint night!
All available layers donned for the ride home.