Club Runs 12th April 2015

Cat 6 ride led by Danny H
16 riders set off from Ware to Theydon Bois in windy but delightfully sunny weather on perhaps the hilliest ride the " Easies " tackle. It was our usual route but done in reverse order. This would hopefully give us more miles with the wind at our backs and worked a bit!!. As seems to be par for the course lately the wheelers posse took over the cafe filling it with the sounds of intellectual small talk and joyful laughter. ( well that's what we thought) other cafe users were mentioning the word RABBLE. Great coffee and cakes served as usual by the youngest in the cube Danny family went down a treat, and the toilet was working this time, much to the delight of the ladies.

Cat 5 ride led by Sarah
10 riders set off into the sunshine with the prospect of an increasingly blustery wind.  Riding up through Ardeley and Rushden to Ashwell was very pleasant, with wind assist through Steeple Morden, Litlington and Bassingbourn to Melbourn.  Despite having arrived at the cafe at 11:30 we were told that roast lunch diners took precedence and we were invited to sit outside, with a wait for hot snack food. Luckily it was sunny and the wait wasn’t that long.  The home leg was of a rather different character than the outward one.  Setting off into the now strong SE headwind we battled our way through Fowlmere to Flint Cross.  Ascending the Col de Great Chishill wasn’t without incident as Cathy was swept off her bike into a ditch, eventually rejoining the group looking only slightly dishevelled.  Any sagging spirits were soon lifted as we were able to help a group of cyclists at Meesdon Bury stranded by being unable to get a tyre off a new wheel.  With practical advice and sturdy tyre levers dispensed we set off again, secretly relieved at a few minutes rest.  The rest of the trip through the Pelhams was uneventful, with the wind throwing everything at us from Furneux to Braughing.  Imagine how grateful the team was to arrive at Puckeridge to learn that due to the leader’s ineptitude at judging the distance they had got 10% extra mileage free.

Cat 3 ride led by Steve Mc
It was, without a doubt a fantastic day for a ride.  12 of us started out without incident with a strong tail wind driving us north to Royston.  The leader took a few wrong turns thus shaving off a few miles of the total planned route.  On the way back we decided to form a peloton and prepared battle against the head wind as we navigated south.  The group worked well together and as we became more confident picked up speed.  We kept pretty tight for the final 20 miles only braking formation when we had major intersections or challenging hills. Great ride, fantastic company.