Prees - The Long Way 23/11/13

Would you believe me if I said it was 60 plus miles from Wrexham to Prees and back? Sounds unlikely doesn't it, but expect the unexpected when Big Al's (AKA Le Patron's) creative route planning juices start flowing. Although cold by recent standards we had a pretty good turn out including Brownie, Lantern, Patron, Robbo, Beast, Craig, Ronnie, Coppi and Chrissy, the latter of whom will celebrate 50 years on two legs and approximately 48 years on two wheels next weekend! To be totally honest I haven't got a clue which way we went after Hordley as I was too busy chatting to Brownie to take any notice, but I definitely recall a stretch of the Ellesmere - Shrewsbury road, a long stretch from Myddle to Wem, and a seemingly interminable stretch with me on the front from Wem to Prees. By the time we reached the warm fug of the Raven truck stop, me and the Beast were suffering from early onset mild hypothermia and most of the lads plumped for the full breakfast, eschewing the usual 'athletic' menu choice of beans on toast. The return leg was thankfully more direct, and the predicted attacks did not materialise on the road from Worthenbury to Bangor. We split into two groups at Bangor, as the main bunch made their way back to 'the village' past The Plassey, while a breakaway trio meandered past the Dee and up to Overton past Bangor racecourse. Beast and Craig peeled off for St Martins leaving me to soft tap the last 4 miles or so back to Ellesmere. About a mile after the trotting mare I encountered a damsel in distress, or more accurately, a woman on a bike that had clearly seen better days (the bike, not the woman)'parked up' on the grass verge on one of the drags. The carrier bags dangling from her handlebars had not helped with wind resistance and she'd admitted defeat on the incline. After a quick chat to check she was OK, it transpired she was cycling to the craft fair in Ellesmere. I mused there would possibly be several more carrier bags joining them on the return leg, but on the plus side, it would be downhill on the way back. After a few moments it became apparent that her formerly 3 gear steed had somehow mutated into a fixie, and she was clearly struggling on the drags. After slurping my energy drink and pocketing my last nutrigrain she somehow found her second wind and sat on my wheel all the way into town before heading off to do her shopping. All in all this was a great day out in fine Autumn weather, and I really hope she found what she was looking for at the craft fair!

Old Horseshoe Pass, The Shelf, Bwlch Penbarras and Horseshoe pass.....again

Yes, yes I know this hasn't been updated this for ages but I promise we HAVE been out every week, Robbo, Craig and Jude even managed to sneak in trips to Mont Ventoux since the last write up!!! Anyway, today's Autumnal outing was made up of Rocket, Ronnie, Robbo, Vino, Craig and Chrissy. Le Patron decided to sit this one out as he's still recovering from a rare strain of village malaise, which left route planning duties in the capable but sadistic hands of Robbo and Chrissy. The map shows the full route and the gradients on parts of the old horseshoe and Bwlch Penbarras were rideable but just plain silly. A 15.5 average was the best we could manage on this sort of terrain, but it was bloody good fun all the same.

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10th of August 2013 - Milltir Cerrig and Aberhirnant loop

This week's route planning responsibility fell to Robbo, and anxious not to disappoint he delved deep into the crapiwheelers archive of 'character building' rides, and came up with this little beauty. Also reporting for duty were Hughesy, Tudor, Ronnie, Mike The Candle Davies, Lantern and newbie James. James had been out with us once before and it was obvious he had va va voom in abundance, which is of course to be expected when you're approximately half the age of the rest of the crapi peloton. This was however to be his longest ride to date. Always keen to encourage a fellow rider, resident sports psychologist and motivational speaker Ronnie faithfully promised James he's been sitting at home with a brew by 2 o'clock at the latest..... After the foothills of Treflach, the first proper challenge was the 4 mile climb of the Milltir Cerrig, which never seems easy whether you tackle it early or late in the day. Following an eye watering descent into Bala (Mike still denies he over-cooked the sharp left hander) beans on toast and Welsh cakes were the order of the day at the Bala cafe stop. At the cafe Mike announced he would be heading back via a more direct route, as he was to be the guest of honour / entertainment at a 'charity spin class' in Mold at 4pm. Ronnie decided to follow suit and James made similar overtures on the basis that his legs were cooked. 5 minutes later, the rest of the Crapis managed to talk James into coming back 'the hard way' through Aberhirnant, so two headed off towards Corwen and five huffed and puffed their way up the Hirnant, past lake Vyrnwy and home via Llanfyllin, Llansantffraid and Blodwell Bank. Total distance for the round trip from Ellesmere was just over 96 miles and a 15.9 mph average, whilst the Wrexham lads just nudged the ton. James eventually arrived home for his brew with the rest of his crapi companions around 5pm!

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