Circuit of the cloud: Part II.

There’s a local saying in North Staffordshire that if you can’t see Mow Cop, its raining and that if you can see it, then it soon will be. Six hardy souls (Adele, Brian, Dave, Fred, Snowdon and yours truly) packed their passports and visas (as well as their rain jackets) yesterday before travelling over the border for the second running of our Circuit of the Cloud.

Based on the same idea as our long running Circuit of the Edge devised by our late member, Barry Hyde, the route climbs and descends a series of lanes around Bosley Cloud, packing 4000 feet of climbing into its 40 miles, without ever venturing more than 10 miles from Macclesfield. For those who find that too easy, there is also a longer version which adds 10 miles and a further 1000 feet of climbing.

As we climbed the Cloud for the first time via the ‘easy’ warm up of Pedley Lane and Red Lane, we could indeed see Mow Cop in the distance and the rain sweeping in across the Cheshire Plain. Sniffing the wind direction and looking at our route, the more experienced members of the group predicted that we would stay dry. This only goes to prove that experience isn’t always something you should rely on.

Unlike last year, the Garmins managed to track the complicated route and Brian had prepared a large scale paper backup just in case. We all stayed together, regrouping at the top of the climbs, people discovered new climbs (and probably wished that hadn’t) and everyone enjoyed themselves despite the rain.

See you next year?

David