Club run reports - 30th March

Category 6 ride led by Ian Bailey

The club’s visits to Thremhall Park form a chequered history. On the one hand, it’s in a good location for a number of routes, circling Hatfield Forest on good lanes. The food is generally pretty good.

On the other hand, service has on a few occasions echoed Fawlty Towers, with rules about where to put helmets and some comically long waits and confusion (eg shouting ‘Americano’ into a room full of cyclists leading to almost everyone standing up to collect).

However, a visit in January had apparently not been too bad; and on a previous occasion one of the staff had a revelation: we could make a note of who ordered what!!

So it was that, with forecasts of sub-gale force winds no deterrence, five brave cat sixers set out to find out how it's going at Thremhall.

We made good time and arrived not long after 10.30 am. The stretch of Parsonage Lane from Green Tye was literally a breeze; at one point we were able to climb uphill without pedalling.

On arrival, the cafe was surrounded by bikes; so clearly the view of other cyclists is that the cafe is now good; or maybe the entertainment is worth the wait. There was a queue to be served. The (mainly new to me) staff were cheerful, though they seemed to have forgotten the lessons about matching orders to customers. However, customers seemed to have allowed for this and formed another queue after paying to collect their food and drink, which largely came out in the right order.

Inside was packed, but it was sunny outside and, as ride leader, I felt it appropriate to sit myself opposite three burly companions who shielded me from the worst of the wind; so overall, a pleasant stop. Maybe keep it on the schedule but only for either sunny days, when it’s OK to sit outside, or for really bad weather when few others would turn up.

Fuelled by the food and drinks, we fought our way valiantly back against the block headwind. A good morning’s ride and back home early enough to enjoy the sunny afternoon.