Club run reports - 24th September

Category 6 ride led by Bob Brown

Thirteen set off on a glorious Indian Summer morning via Bramfield, Datchworth, Aston and Walkern for the café stop at the very welcoming Mill End Garden Centre. Lots of baked goodies thanks to Cathy’s tip off to them that we were coming; my apple pie contained apples that had been minding their own business hanging about on the tree earlier that morning. How fresh is that?
Back home via Benington and High Elms Lane to Watton, then straight home along the A119 after we’d collected Bruno from the road up to Datchworth.
No punctures or mechanicals and no-one lost. Was good to see Lee Mason back out on his bike.

Category 3 ride led by Peter Bloomfield

Plenty of Wheelers out on club runs this weekend with twelve on the Cat 3 version. A mix of regulars and old friends we haven’t seen for a while under beautiful sunny skies we set out from Ware to The Blue Egg in Great Bardfield. 

Out through Cold Christmas and Much Hadham we managed to get round Bishops Stortford without too much uphill steepness. Stansted, Elsenham and Thaxted where we got caught up in a sportive and some of them followed us until we explained we were not on the event and turned them round and sent them in the right direction! No more excitement before Little Bardfield then Great Bardfield. 30 miles done and find a place to park your bike, all the racks were full - it’s a popular place with cyclists, and (large) motorcyclists! Even so the service was prompt and we sat in the sun dealing with the very large portions the Blue Egg serves up. 

The crosswind had been a bit troublesome on the way out and although it was still occasionally awkward as we came home it did help at times, making for a pleasant run back through Great Dunmow, Great Canfield (lots of Greats on this route!) then on to Green Tye where the “independence of spirit” of the Cat 3 crowd saw your leader’s route ignored and the party strike out through Green Tye and Perry Green before rejoining the original route just before Widford - ah well, I have to agree it was a pretty way to go… By now we were shedding riders as they peeled off to take direct routes home and eventually just three went all the way back to Allenbury’s, covering 62 miles and it was still sunny when we got there - if only it could always be like that!