Club run reports - 29th January

Category 6 ride led by Danny Hood
Titanic 2, Airplane 3, and Towering Inferno, Higher and Hotter are all disaster movies waiting to be made. Add to that list  'Cat Six to Stapleford Abbots Airfield'. What I thought was a group of twelve riders left Allenburys at about 9.32am today and proceeded along Ware High Street heading for today's cafe stop. By the time we had reached the end of the High St we were down in numbers by 50%. It seems the other 50% had decided that the cat five or cat three rides heading in the opposite direction were more appealing and followed them instead. We waited on the roundabout on the High St but no one showed and we headed off towards Stanstead Abbots via Holly Cross. I had been pre-warned about Amwell Lane and its sheet ice by Mark and Franco, who had both taken tumbles there earlier. As we got to the bridge over the A414 my phone went and captain Bob confirmed my fears. i.e, that six of the group were now at Fanham's Hall and the journey back to meet up was too much. We decided to make a cat five and half for the day led by Bob. Mark, who had earlier fallen and was on the correct route was struggling due to a painful hip and decided to split for home as we approached Harlow. The remaining five of us took on the mountains of Theydon and Epping, both on the outward and return legs of the journey. A two course meal for one member of the group and a mechanical for another were the only things worth a mention in the rest of the trip. Not much rain and not too cold made a change from recent weeks. 38 miles and 500m of climbing. Leadership 1/10 

Category 5 ride led by Sarah Wren
Four of us set out on a relatively warm morning by recent standards, including newbie Jacqueline Simpson.  We wended up through Barwick, where we met up with John Mac, and up through F & S Pelhams, Berden, Rickling Green and Arkesden to Clavering Lakes.  Alex and John Mac left us there to make their own way back, leaving the three of us to enjoy the delights of the newly refurbished and reopened café.  An easy ride back through Ford End, then S Pelham and down through L and M Hadhams to home.