Its all too much!

Things haven't settled down much since moving house. I have managed to get out on the bike, but there isn't much time for writing the blog!!

Last week Rob was down from Scotland, so a few of us headed out to Wales with him, to remind him of his cycling trips when he lived in Liverpool. Another group rode through the Tunnel and out into Lancashire to find Wiggo's Postbox, and also a great cafe, which we will be visiting to try out the cakes!!

Mmmmm Cake

Sir Bradley Wiggins Golden Postbox

There was still a Cafe spin to Eureka, which included a first for Mrs Badders and Sian as they rode through Wales to get there!

I think Ken and Kev were pointing to where they thought we were! 

Rob, Ken, Heather, Steve, Degs, Steve, Badders and me met up at Eureka and headed out into Wales. We rode up over Northop and on to Mold, where we had our first "moment of the day"!! Instead of following my trusty Garmin, we went the wrong way!! Not usually a problem, but this time it led us towards Denbigh!!

A quick re route took us up a particularly nice climb near Moel Arthur.The View was worth it though.

Waiting for Steve who took a wrong turn after a comfort break!

The descent into Ruthin was good though. Passing through the Town we saw the lads from Liverpool Mercury, coming off the descent of the Nant Y Garth which was our next climb! I have been down it a couple of times, and it is a fast descent, but to my surprise it wasn't too bad going up for 7 miles! We had a bit of closed road fun at the top, when we hopped onto the route of the Etap Cymru for about a mile. ( We did have a bit of off road earlier in the ride, when we came across a resurfacing team, but it wasn't that much fun riding next to the hot wet Tar and big plant machinery!)
The climb up to the top of the Horseshoe pass wasn't too bad either, but didn't go so well for Steve who suffered from a broken spoke. Luckily we had master mechanic Steve B with us who took the spoke out and trued the wheel while we were getting our brew at the Ponderosa Cafe.

Degs inspecting the offending Spoke!

Ready to roll

The ride back was uneventful, and fun as there is a great descent back to Hawarden. It is true that what goes up must come down! We split up at the Cycle path to the Marshes, With Ken, Rob, Steve and Degs heading back via never ending lane, and the rest of us via the Marsh track and then Heswall and Irby. A couple of the group managed 100 miles, but I had to get back for Mrs P to go to work!

The weather has finally changed from a glorious summer into a windy damp autumn. With the nights closing in and the unappealing weather I was expecting the evening rides in the week to become less popular. I couldn't have been more wrong. We are still welcoming new members every ride, and the numbers are still in the 20's.

This weekend, I organised a social spin to the cafe on Sunday, suitable for all abilities. One thing could conspire against a great turnout and that was the severe weather warning posted on Saturday for high winds and heavy showers. I wasn't expecting too many to venture out, but I was welcomed at the Twelfth man by 17 other smiling faces ready for a ride. We were joined by Jake, Andy O's 12 year old son, and our second junior member. We headed out towards Barnston and then on towards Brimstage. Unfortunately only 6 miles into the ride we lost Kev, as his front wheel developed a terminal problem,literally.
We carried on through the lanes via Thornton Hough, Raby Mere and Eastham then down the Oil Sites road before turning towards Mickle Trafford and the Greenway through Chester, where Jen suffered our only puncture of the day, and on to the Eureka Cafe for a Brew Stop. On the way up never ending lane I was discussing with Karen how it would be good if the Cafe had an app we could use to post orders as we approached, to reduce the queuing when 17 people arrive at once. I suggested this to Anne when we were at Eureka, to which she answered quite matter of factly, "just text me!"  enough said!!

 As we left The Cafe we split up and headed off in two groups, one back towards East Wirral, and the rest of us back to Greasby via Puddington, Burton, Neston, Lower Heswall and Irby.

A special mention has to go to Jake, who not only kept up with the group, he kept smiling, and even led to group for a while. His post on Facebook after the ride reminded me of why I started the club.

"Did 56 miles today, longest ride ever done. Thanks to the Palefish crew for all the support"

Jake with Dad Andy

Well done Jake.

Where were you the Day Wiggo Won the TDF?

Today didn't start off too well! To start with I slept through my alarm and then had to rush to get out to meet the lads for the Sunday spin I had planned out to Delamere. From the start of the ride something didn't sound right with the bike. We headed over to Birkenhead to meet Ken, and just as we approached the Tunnel Dave L Punctured. Phill stayed with Dave and I rode on with Dave B, and Graham to let Ken and Tim know what was happening. It wasn't too long before we restarted and my concerns over the noises emanating from my bike began to raise. We rode as far as Eastham before I decided that I needed to bail from the ride, as the last thing I wanted was to be too far from home if anything happened.
The Lads headed off and I turned back towards home, accompanied by a worrying progressively louder noise. Of course, as I turned into my road, the noise stopped! The rear wheel is booked in to be checked over by Steve at the Bike Shop in Moreton tomorrow.
The lads didn't fair much better by all accounts. As I was the only one with the route on my Garmin, they inevitably went to places they didn't plan too ( got lost) and Graham suffered from a broken Cleat and had to pedal with only one foot clipped in all the way! Graham also suffered from a severe case of " Helmet Burn" something we have not been used to this summer!!

To complete the days misfortune, while I was out getting a few more miles in this evening to make up for the shorter than planned ride this morning, I saw the Wirral Mamils, Shaun and Ade. I stopped to chat and whilst we were talking, Iain rode past and decided to stop too, but he forgot to tell the person he was riding with, who proceed to use Iain's bike as a brake! Luckily they both managed to stay upright and didn't damage their bikes too much! We didn't laugh too much, well actually we laughed a lot! Once our composure was recovered I continued on a windy loop on the winter bike, without mudguards!!

Anyway, today was a very special day for anyone who follows British bike racing. I felt very proud as Bradley Wiggins stepped up to the top step of the podium to receive his yellow jersey. It has been a fantastic Tour De France this year, with Wiggo riding in yellow since stage 7, and even though he looked strong, and Team Sky were dominating the Peloton I just didn't want to get my hopes up.
I have been to some great sporting events in the past, but today was something special. The first ever British rider to Win, and also Mark Cavendish winning the final stage on the Champs-Elysees, for the fourth year in a row, and also rack up his 23rd Tour stage win. To remember the day, I have attached some Pictures from the official Team Sky website.

 We had our first club social on Friday, as well as having a great time and fantastic food, thanks Laz, we also decided on the Jersey design. Hopefully it wont be long until we are all kitted out and looking like the photo above!