Lost in Ellesmere!

I am on holiday this week, and it would have been rude not to get out and get some more miles in the bank, especially as the weather isn't too bad at the moment either.
I also took advantage of joining up with Ken, the person responsible for my obsession with Carbon, who rides most Wednesdays.
We started out later than planned, for those of you who follow Ken on Twitter, if I mention his dog you will know why he was a little late!!!
It had been a while since we last went out for a ride, and as usual, we had no plan other than to get to Eureka for lunch.
We headed out through the lanes to Hooton, then thinking I could remember one of Zel's routes I managed to get us a bit lost in Ellesmere! To say we were lost is a bit of an understatement, as we were on the wrong side of the M53, trying to find a path round the Vauxhall plant!!
We eventually found our way through the Town and down to the Boat Museum and familiar ground. I may have to invest in a new Garmin 800 with maps, second ride in a row to not be where we needed to be!

After a quick Photo stop, I showed Ken the delights of the Oil Sites road, and we even managed to avoided any altercations with the security team!

We rode on to Elton, and then had to make a decision. Left over Helsby towards Delamere, or right to Eureka. Neither of us liking hills much, we decided to head to Eureka, with a stop at Cheshire Oaks Cycles to see Phil, who wasn't there!!

It always amazes me how quickly hunger sets in when you know you are on your way to a cafe! The good thing about Eureka is that they have healthy options. 

 The Next Photo opportunity came as we came out of Capenhurst. I'm not sure why they are there but they are, along with a couple of Emu's!

We arrived at Eureka and settled in for lunch. I decided on poached egg on toast (brown bread) and a healthy slice of Christmas Cake!!! ( the cafe rules applied as we were over 2/3 of the way into our ride)

The cycling world is a small place, especially on the Wirral. We sat with a guy called Dave today who when I mentioned Vita Cycles asked If I knew Carla and Ian ( My Tunnel training partners) Good luck to Dave when he rides the "Cheshire Cat sportive" and battles up Mow Cop climb on the 25th March

To work off the Toast, we rode through the lanes via Puddington, Burton and Ness, including the infamous Denhall Lane. When we got to Parkgate the sun was out, and seeing as it was Ken;s first visit we treated ourselves to an ice cream. 

Ken was quite impressed with the view, and using his new camera captured this great panorama.

We now had to work off the ice cream, so Boathouse lane was attacked, rather than ridden up. ( I was 1 second off my best time up it too!)

We then rode through Lower Heswall and climbed up Thurstaston Road and along Telegraph Road in to Irby to see the lads at the Vita Cycles. They had some new Expensive French frames in the shop. The Cyfac frames are Custom built to order. Phil took one out for a spin, kited out with Ultegra Di2 electronic shifters. A bizarre but not nasty experience apparently.  Frank was also there picking up some new kit, expect an interesting Blog update from him soon.

After wasting time talking bikes in the second shop of the day, I rode to Birkenhead with Ken, then headed back home Via Moreton.

It was a nice change to go out and not have to "Lead" a ride, and to take our time stopping to take Photo's, eat ice cream and have a laugh, not that I don't enjoy the club riding, but sometimes it's good just to have a change.