Club run reports - 24th December

Category 3 ride led by Tony Howard

And so it came to pass: the time had come to lead my first Cat 3 Ride, and I duly turned up at 09.15 at Allenburys shortly followed by Gareth, and then waited and waited. This is when I thought “Goodness Gracious Me, This Might be a Challenging First Ride To Lead” (or words to that effect, not suitable to be written here). And then in a flash 4 others turned up. Phew!

So off we set. Now, being fairly knew to the club I’ve leant that 6 people starting at Allenburys doesn’t seem to mean 6 people will finish there, so I decided in advance that as it’s Christmas we all needed to ride through “Cold Christmas” at the start, because at the end people would miss out on this muddy Christmas experience! It was at this point that Ian P did a photo shoot of the Cold Christmas sign with the said six Wheelers unevenly lined up. So having reached Much Hadham, or just after, a certain Secretary Fellow hung a sharp right muttering something about having to “Arrive Home Early Orders”.
We made it to the Hatfield Heath Tea Rooms, where Clive left us (and then there were four). Beverages and food were good, and we set off home. This is when Ian P left us (can’t blame him he had cycled from Bishops Stortford to Ware earlier) and then there was three! So after a few twists and turns Gareth W stopped for the call of nature and said I’ll catch you up! Barry and I continued on our merry way but no Gareth. Strange! So we slowed down looked back and two riders came around the corner. Was I seeing double?  No it was Gareth and Peter W (where did he come from?). Anyway now we were four. Peter duly cycled up to me and said I’ll show you a short cut! And that’s my excuse for 48 miles - Peter stole 2 miles!
Merry Christmas to all Wheelers and a Happy New Year.

Category 6 ride led by Danny Hood

Another good turn out for today's ride to Cafe Mocha, despite a few regulars missing because of the festivities. I started to notice a problem with my chain slipping as we got to Kettle Green Road and, after seeking the advice of fellow Wheelers, decided that the gears needed re-indexing or that the chain had worn out. This seemed unlikely as I ride a German built bike - Vorsprung durch Technik and all that. Four of the dozen decided that the family and Christmas duties came before the cafe stop - what's wrong with some people! - and headed off home. The remaining eight tucked into the refreshments that were as usual large of size and light on wallet. Especially Daniel Horn, have you seen the photo? Put Bruno to shame. Although it slipped all the way home, the Cube got me safely back to base. It turned out that one of the links had broken and only one side was holding it together. It was nice to see one of our old regulars return and a shame that one decided that after the Woolwich Arsenal dropped below the mighty Spurs he couldn't face the ride. You know who you are.