Club Run Reports

Glorious weather.  Warm, not too breezy, not a cloud on the horizon.  And over 40 riders were out, spread over the four rides.  The biggest lorry was the easy group which consisted of 20 takers.  The led med to Dunstable Downs attracted 15, seduced by the option of Bison Hill.  Not all took this fantastic opportunity to suffer from bulging eyes, muscles and whatever else with some finding excuses not to go for it.  Best excuse came from Steve who punctured about three miles short.  Of course Peter had to stay to help (?!?) him and thanks to Verulam Phil for the use of his proper pump.  Stev

About 40 out.  A few newcomers.  Good weather, tho a bit windy.  A fair amount of standing water but no rain.  Plenty of punctures.  Fairly slow service at both stops (no criticism intended - our groups just get bigger and bigger).  A fast outward bound followed by a much slower return.

All today's rides started off in either a north or north-easterly direction, with a following gale.  So it's not difficult to imagine the conversations.  "It's a fast ride today."  "Look, I'm travelling at 25mph without putting in any effort".  "This is a great ride."  "Yea, the best we've had all year."  "We've done all these miles, and no sweat".  "So now it's time to go back."  "Bloody Nora". 

The first bit of decent weather for aeons, and we all took advantage.  A dozen good eggs took to the easy road.  No problems or punctures, just a good journey to and from Bps Stortford.  Eighteen took the high road to Thaxted.  One puncture expertly fixed by PhilT at the cafe.  We also had "Dr Who" Martin showing us his ability to time travel.  He managed to perfect the technique of falling way behind only for us to find him ahead of us.  Spooky, or what?  The med\fasts seemed to have a catalogue of misfortunes as they bounced their way from pothole to pothole with many requiring new wheels

The half a dozen easies had a fairly uneventful trip apart from one puncture and one large puddle.  The Royston bound eleven or twelve meds just found some puddles and some difficult stretches of road\lane to navigate and kept to the maxim of never leaving anybody behind, unless it's Peter.  Four others shot off on Route C.  All had a wind assisted outward bound journey, and all suffered on the return.

Back to the goodish weather with lots out.  Thirteen easies, eighteen meds and about eight med\fasts (split into two groups) and a little creative accounting makes for about forty riders.  And only two punctures!  It was a bright and breezy morning with the southerly wind making the return difficult for most.

We were promised lousy weather.  We got lousy weather.  Despite this, over twenty Wheelers took to the roads.  The rains weren't attendant at the start and we'd high hopes that everything would be ok (although we all knew that we'd be wrong).  And so it came to pass.  Only one had the misfortune to puncture.  We were lucky that it wasn't more.

Not cold, not raining, lots of sunshine and about 35 took advantage of these conditions.  Fifteen started from Hertford with fourteen travelling to Ardeley and one lonesome soul making his way north to Ashwell, Bassingbourn and then down to Royston where he turned up at the cafe at the exact same time as the led meds.  This group was also fairly vast and despite the fact that a couple had turned off en route we still managed to pack out the cafe.  Seven enjoyed the delights of Route C.

Pretty scary to start with and a lot of care and attention was needed to circumvent the slippy bits.  Most succeeded in this respect.  But there's always one or two!  The easy group (of 18) had a fairly uneventful, careful journey to Bishop's Stortford, with many taking this option as opposed to any of the faster options.  Alex led a group of nine to Hitchin, mainly along A & B roads that had already been slightly warmed by traffic use.  Five took on the option of Route B with only one tumble.  After about an hour, most of the roads were free from ice and although it was cold it actuall

There wasn't far short of forty riders out on the wet and sometimes slippery routes on offer.  Early on the main aim was not to slip on the ice but this peril soon cleared and the emphasis changed so that the target was to return home before being drowned by the promised rain.  At the time of writing this (15:30) that rain still hadn't materialised.  The largest group was the easies, with nine off to Baldock and a dozen sampling Route A.  Two even took part in the fastie!

Brian may have seen the G in Wales, and that may or may not be better than Richard's sighting of the Millerman in Spain but nothing can compare to Amanda getting close up and personal with the big Liggett at the exciting venue of Codicote Garden Centre.  Will we ever see her again after her launch into the stratosphere?  Not a good day for riding though.  The first ice of the winter took many by surprise and caused several mishaps.  Five took a tumble, three within 100yards of each other.  Fortunately most damage was caused to egos, with most taking the grin and bear it attitude.  Whilst th

The awful weather at 08:00 gave way to glorious (by comparison) weather by 09:00.  So to those who chose not to come out - "yah, boo, sucks!"  Twenty-five turned out over the four rides with four fasties, six med\fasties, six meds and nine easies.  There was no need for rainwear as there was no rain.  Although the wind was still strong, it did not seem quite as violent as it has been and the only problems seemed to be puncture related.

The unpleasant weather didn't seem to deter many as there were over thirty out today.  A bright start gave way to a wet, dismal afternoon.  The journeys out were fairly quick but the return headwind and rain soon put paid to an early finish.  Peter also put paid to an early finish for the led meds by not keeping up, either on the way to Gt Bardfield or on the return.  The group of nine got smaller and smaller as the others got fed up with waiting.  However a highlight of sorts was seeing cars driving around RichardF's helmet after it parted company from his head as he was riding.  Not seen

As expected a large group arrived at Ware to make their choice from the three rides originating there.  What was unexpected was that so many chose the medium led ride to Clavering Lakes.  Must be Steve's charm, sex appeal (maybe not) or expertise in guiding a large group at a good medium pace.  Fifteen followed him and made good time with just the one puncture and seemingly no other problems.  A smaller group took the easy option and cleared off to Stortford and an even smaller slice followed Route C.  The weather was good - ie it wasn't overly cold provided that you were well wrapped up, a

Ten riders set out on the pre-lunch appetiser.  The route went out north of Ware and then returned to make it a round trip of about twenty miles.

Well over thirty riders congregated at Ware for the easy and two medium rides.  The masses managed to split into three roughly equal groups and each set off for its own grand tour.  The led meds took an elongated route to Hatfield Heath passing en route the fast meds who had stopped for a breather just outside Much Hadham.  On arrival at the cafe there was just enough time to say goodbye to the easies and thanking them for leaving the seats warm.  It was a fairly wet but not too cold day - a bit slippery in places.

The initial trial of four rides was very successful.  It managed to split those medium riders into two smaller, more manageable groups.  Now we've got to work on the easies, but it can be hoped that some of them now try to ride the led medium.  Over thirty were out today, the largest group being the puncture-beset easies.  However they did make their destination eventually.  The led meds went to Saffron Walden with Peter continually dropping off the pace.  After stopping to take some painkillers and being found (saved!) at the roadside by a fair maiden (thanks Sarah), he eventually got to t

Sunny morning.  Not too chilly.  Good time to ride.  Over 30 out.  What's not to like.

In amongst the recent downpours, a small oasis of sunshine.  And this was reflected in the turnout.  About forty riders set out, either on the easy or medium.  Twenty-one started the easy and rode out to Mayfield Farm.  Fortunately the pleasant weather enabled everyone to sit outside as the place was a tad packed due to a car show.  Seventeen set off on the medium but the venue was changed as Tapps Tea Room had intimated that they couldn't deal with more than eight at a time.  So the group made its way to the Silver Ball instead.  However two (who claimed a 09:30 attendance - but missed see

Despite eight riding the Emit Audax there was still a sizeable turnout for the clubruns with twenty-two taking to the roads.  A very strong wind made heading east fun, as long as you remembered the effort required for the return. Fourteen took on the easy option to Bps Stortford and eight made the journey to Blackmore.  A few punctures but no major issues involved.