Easy riding out of December and into 2023

Arctic weather earlier in December cancelled two of our scheduled Sunday easy rides, but as soon as the weather improved we made up for it with two pop-up rides and our scheduled Boxing Day ride.

The first pop-up ride was on the Tuesday before Christmas, with four of us riding to Barnshaw Smithy for some of their excellent bacon barms and pastries. It stayed dry and was mild enough for us to sit outside. Our route back took us past Mobberley station, there was a Drax train coming so we had to wait at the level crossing, and the manned signal box brought back childhood memories for Tim.

Ten of us were out for the Boxing Day ride to Tatton Park, 5 set off from Wilmslow, and 5 from Broken Cross. Unusually the Wilmslow riders arrived first, I had taken a short cut so I made it into the cafe just ahead of a tidal wave of walkers arriving from the Knutsford gate. The Macclesfield riders had helped to rescue a sheep which had escaped its field, then tried jumping back in, and ending up suspended upside down from a barbed wire fence. It was dry but chilly, so most of the group ate inside.

Our final pop-up ride was last Thursday from Wilmslow to Dunham Barn, with twelve of us out. John led a faster group of 8, whilst I rode with Sarah and Richard. Snowy caught us shortly after Rostherne, then decided to catch up with John. That did not take long as John’s group had stopped just after the bridge across the A556, due to Alison puncturing. She had plenty of moral support, so we carried on, with Phil B joining us. The cafe was busy, but the food was up to its usual excellent standard. We rode back in several different groups, with those of us who had been sat in the ‘open’ barn leaving first, and those sat inside leaving later (partly due to a delay in a gluten free breakfast). Another very sociable ride, and a great way to finish the year.

We are out tomorrow on New Year’s Day, and the first 3 months of scheduled Sunday easy rides are in the calendar. There will be some Thursday pop-up rides when the weather is good, these will pop-up in the calendar a day or two before hand. Congratulations to all of the riders who have reached their annual mileage targets, including Griff and Jim (4000 miles each) and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Katherine

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