Todays reliability trial was postponed until March 24th, due to freezing conditions and snow. Even so a few hard nuts tried it. Pete Smith, Mike Jones, Stephen Jackson, Andy Malbon and Chris Dale, made it as far as the Hanging Gate, where they turned back after encountering several inches of snow. Wayne Powell and Bob Norton did the short route over to Rushton Spencer and back through Bosley Wood Treatment. Phil Gayes and Rich Coghill of the Leek C.C. made it round. They are hard in Leek!
Stephen Jackson reports: “A crisp day with biting easterly wind was always going to be a challenge in the hills around Macclesfield Forest and so it was; out of Congleton, up Blackie Bank towards Rushton, via Danebridge and Wildboarclough , via Macclesfield Forest and then return to Congleton was the intended route. Everything was going fine until we climbed up from Wildboarclough before descending to the Hanging Gate pub above Sutton, and then the snow drifts on the road made cycling impossible. Cycling shoes are not snow shoes and having literally trekked through a few hundred yards of snow drift, pushing our bikes, with the bike computers reading -3 Celsius, we made the decision to head out of the hills into Sutton and via a quick café stop, back into Congleton. Andy Malbon, Pete Smith, Mike Jones and myself made it round and Mike claimed never to have cycled in the snow before on road racing tyres, so it is always good to push the envelope so to speak…”
If you fancy a hilly reliability next weekend why not try the Leek C.C. Event
The Paul Derbyshire Reliability Ride is in memory of Club Member Paul Derbyshire who tragically died last year whilst out on a Club Run. The Reliability Ride is a scenic 55 mile ride through the Peak Distrtict, which takes in some lovely lanes & challenging climbs. The ride will be followed by a Buffet & the Clubs Awards Presentation at The Den Engel Belgian Bar in Leek. The Ride will start & finish at the Den Engel Belgian Bar in Leek, signing on is from 8.00am with the riders due to start at 8.30am. Places at the buffet are limited so If you are interested in riding the Reliability or attending the Buffet afterwards please contact the email below. membership@leekcyclistclub.co.uk
Prices for the event are:
Ride only : £4
Buffet only : £5
Ride & Buffet : £7.50
The route is shown here.