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fussballclub
Mere 200 for me as well. A good start, I was out of the gates like a greyhound and stuck at the front most of the way to Ashley when the Sensibility Governor kicked in and I backed off the pace a fraction. I was predicting high filth levels on the lanes so headed down the A50 to Green Lane to avoid Clamhunger and Moss Lanes. A few riders followed. Decided to try out the Budworth Road instead. Yes, it means missing out a mere but it quite nice and I got a very close view of a buzzards undercarriage. Punctured in Comberbatch which was a pain as the entire ride passed me and asked if I was OK. It's hard to be polite if people keep interrupting your fod-finding efforts. I was also having a few Novice Garmin issues as the device was sure I hadn't been to the start yet and wanted to send me back.
Again, keen to avoid too much filth, I TT'd my way down the A49 to Whitchurch services. It was pretty quiet and nice to just sit on the drops for some long stretches. The weather was getting warm there to I eschewed a stop in favour of a bidon of coffee from the petrol station and making progress to Ellesmere. There was some rain forecast and a few shower clouds moving around. I didn't want to break the spell with a faceful of headwindy cold water. Quick turn around there and off to the Raven. I was slowing up getting there but 120k is also fairly close to the distance from St Quentin to Mortagne so a bit of good practice to keep moving. I'm generally going to try and keep up around 100k between proper breaks this year. Beans on toast and mug of tea and away again.
Picked my way slowly across the heath towards Burleydam but already I could feel my chain getting dry from the muck. Enjoyed the tailwind to Audlem and up to Hatherton where a large group from Liverpool caught up with me. They seemed to be having difficulty with navigation as they came passed me quite a few times between there and Redesmere. Alas their group riding skills were a little uncoordinated so they probably spurred me to drop them when they were slowed up by hills and frequent turns. Alas my navigational pride came before a fall. My Garmin decided to route me over to Alderley Edge and stick me on the A34 southbound. Having done this ride before, I really should have spotted that before it happened. After much sense of humour failing I persuaded it to take me north through Wilmslow towards the A560 and find my own way back from there. I am henceforth returning to routesheets never to return to this digital nonsense.
If you saw a tubby git in orange on a blue Planet X, that was me.