Club Runs 12th July 2015

Cat 5 run led by Cathy P
7 riders set out from Ware to Buntingford expecting a morning of rain, but luckily the rain more or less held off.

On the outskirts of Anstey, the leader on seeing that Peter W had stopped at the side of the road and was resting his head on his handlbars,  thought he was having a quick kip.   He was using the ride as a recovery ride,  following his overnight 400k after all!   He was left with Graham and Alex and the others continued to their destination.    However, not a bit of it, he had been stung by a bee on the mouth.  Unable to remove the sting or get anyone else to remove the sting due to poor eyesight, they sought assistance from a nearby house.   One can only imagine the surprise at hearing a knock at the door to find 3 Hertswheelers standing there asking for a mirror.      Bee sting removed with aid of mirror and the 3 continued on to the cafe.

The journey back to Ware brought the average cycling speed down as the riders became entangled with a collection of horse and traps along a narrow road.   Seeing that the horses were frisky it was considered prudent to wait until they had turned off and the road was clear.  There were no other incidents after that.

Cat 6 run led by Mike E
There were two delays on the cat 6 ride. First, the ride leader was waiting at Ware at 9.25 without any takers for the ride. He learnt, to his obvious horror, that the start point was Hertford. A top speed mercy dash to Hertford and a hasty route rearrangement, meant the group departed at 9.43. There were only seven on the ride, perhaps due to the prescience of others to the forthcoming incompetence of the ride leader, perhaps due to the threat of rain. The second delay was a puncture on the outward leg. After that, no further incidents (and no rain) to Puckeridge and back. Although the scheduled start time was missed, the ride covered exactly 35 miles as advertised - so  a 50% success rate. Who can grumble at that!

Cat 3 run led by Peter B
The Cat 3 run may have been the best attended this Sunday with ten starting the ride.  Luckily the leader’s feared tiredness had cleared because it was a keen group setting off on the wind-assisted leg to Saffron Walden.  Unfortunately one member was suffering from tired legs and decided to take a shorter solo route home leaving nine to ogle the expensive bikes at Bicicletta while eating very large slices of banana cake.  The wind paid us back on the return journey but it was still a good run home for a 15.5mph average overall for the 56 miles (although one member did decide to drop back and take it a bit easier towards the end, something for the leader to take on board in future).  Apart from a couple of brief light showers the rain held off and with just one minor mechanical and no punctures things were good on the “not under our control” front.