The Windmill Cycle Club

Yes, that’s what 19 Windmillers set out to see for themselves what the developers state is a bold and ambitious vision for social and sustainable living in the heart of the Fens, and designed to create neighbourhoods that place cyclists and pedestrians ahead of the car, namely Waterbeach New Town East (WNTE) And were we impressed? Yes, in terms of cycle paths and the café but it’s early days to judge the architecture as only a handful of houses have been completed out of 4,500 planned. Overall, 11,000 houses are planned to be built on the site, a former RAF airbase.

Brian. who proudly became a Grandpa for the first time earlier in the day, was the guy who organised the ride, setting off from Day’s Bakery and Food Hall in Newton and heading north through Trumpington meadows and along the busway into Cambridge before heading up to Landbeach and WNTE, largely off road most of the way. Besides Brian, the large turnout comprised birthday drinks boy Charles, Maurice, Andrew, Rod, Simon, Keith, Martin B, Howard, Tom, Ken, Robert, Ric, Geoff, Alan, Jeremy, Paul, Neil and Martin W.

This magnificent bridge is 95m long and weighs 150 tonnes. It has a ‘flared parapet’ to act as a landmark for the development and connects with paths for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders in both directions. Thinking he might be riding a horse Keith couldn’t resist showing his method of mounting his bike:

Having already been rugby tackled by his small dog from behind earlier in the day, sending him sprawling on the ground, Jeremy had another unfortunate fall just before the coffee stop when he hit some gravel, which others avoided by following the correct route…….. But he was none the worse for wear, fortunately.

At least WNTE has got its priorities right with the establishment of a fine café-cum-bar, Brew and Basket, which also sold basic groceries for the few people already occupying their new abodes. It was run efficiently and the coffee and cakes were both very acceptable. Not so sure about the beers on tap, though.

Coffee at Brew and Basket, WNTE

The return leg took us initially through the wilds of the former airbase before heading down to the River Cam and past the station, which is being relocated to WTNE in 2027, which makes sense. Following the towpath down to Baits Bike Lock and on down the Cambridge Bumps course watching rowers at work and being coached is always a delight, but heeding Brian’s warning of dodgy wooden rails that have dismounted past member Vernon and Martin W previously. Luckily there were no dismounts on this occasion.

Taking the Chisholm Trail back into Cambridge and through the side streets to the bridge over the railway line soon got us back on the busway to Trumpington and thence to Harston where Neil’s bike decided to give up the ghost and refused to propel him the short distance back to The Queen’s Head in Newton for lunch. But a Good Samaritan, i.e. Maurice, soon whizzed back in his car to pick him up. Apparently the inner gearing of the cassette had decided to break without warning.

Lunch was simple but excellent, as always, at The Queen’s Head. The brown soup was dark brown, the sandwiches were superb and the sausage roll was to die for, and all washed down by excellent beers from barrels behind the bar courtesy of birthday boy Charles, who received an unusually loud rendition of Happy Birthday (was that Rob’s influence by any chance?).

Thanks, Brian, for a great ride and for introducing us to social and sustainable living in the heart of the Fens, but I think I’ll stay in Ickleton for the time being. Thanks also to photographers Charles, Brian, Andrew and Rob who spotted ransoms (wild garlic to you and me) on the way home:

And this is where we went:

Martin W

Exactly who is a RiRi I ask myself? I signed up for this ride hoping to find out. Perhaps she’s an exotic bird or animal with interesting hair? Just a guess, but not so far from the mark, I was to discover.

We gathered at The Hoops at Bassingbourn where the landlord greeted us in night-time attire. Coffee was a distant dream and we expected it to arrive after 9.30. It was decided that starting a round of coffee orders would simply result in delay, so we ordered food and offered up a prayer concerning lunch.

The weather was good, the cold wind having dropped, so we split into two groups. Group 1; Rod, Maurice, MartinB, Victor, myself and Neil, headed off at a cracking pace towards RiRi’s in Potton.

Victor had come up with quite a flat route which turned out to be on exceptionally quiet roads. Whether it was the Easter half term or the price of petrol price, something had conspired to give us the roads almost to ourselves.

On the way group 2; Keith, Howard Andrew, Martin, Alan and Brian were a little more sedate and took the traditional Cockayne Hatley photo.

Friends of RiRi’s cafe would undoubtably describe it as ‘unobtrusive’. Which is just what it was, a white, single storey football pavilion, nowhere in particular, surrounded by fields. However Victor had found this all important coffee and cake rest-stop while scouting out the route. It was filled with kids on half term holiday, but they were no match for the big kids who had just arrived on their bikes. We soon had all the toys and the swing, while they looked sullenly on.

Finally I was able to ascertain who RiRi is. She’s a character from Marvel Comics. Very suitable for a children’s playground I thought.

They have come a long way from Spider Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel and the Avengers. The characters are now also incarnated in a form suitable for the adolescent, male readership.

RiRi’s only fault appears to be that she has magically acquired my hair as well as her own.

After refreshment we stopped to admire the packhorse bridge over the Potton Brook as did group 2.

Neil dared to attempt the ‘wet’ route, but we followed Maurice who didn’t want any repeat of falling off incidents.

We returned to The Hoops to find they had got into gear and provided us with some pretty good, basic food. And sometimes that’s all you need after a ride, so everyone was happy.

Overall a nice ride exploring a bit of Bedfordshire. Also a new coffee stop. Thanks go to Victor who sorted it all out. I’m hoping we have had the last of the icy winds and the year will get better and better from here on in.

Last Thursday’s ride was an old familiar route linking two favourite venues: The Red Lion at Great Sampford and Tarka’s cafe at Baythorne End.

That morning dawned chilly, bright and breezy, with not many exposed knees in evidence (except Simon’s, obviously). “Bright and Breezy” is not only a description of the weather, however. It’s also a reflection on the pace Maurice set the group of 8 off from the start, with the peloton split in two within a kilometre of Great Samford – so not many photos today !

Not confirmed, but it might also have contributed to one of the more unusual ‘mechanicals’ suffered by a Windmiller in recent times. Howard’s bikes are usually perfectly prepared and maintained so it came as a bit of a surprise when a pedal exploded on him ! OK, exaggerated for dramatic effect – the pedal body came off the spindle. With care, it was still usable back to the pub.

The circa 1700 Gibraltar Mill at Great Bardfield is a routine photo stop when riding this way, but not today ! We breezed past without a pause on our way to Waltham Cross. In lieu of a photo, I can only offer the following bald facts courtesy of Wiki:

The mill has four double Patent sails carried on a cast-iron windshaft (obviously better attached than Howard’s pedal) and is winded by an eight-bladed fantail. The mill is 13.41 m high overall. The windshaft carries a wooden Brake Wheel with 90 iron teeth, cast in six segments. The Wallower was an iron mortice gear, with 44 wooden cogs. It was carried on a cast-iron Upright Shaft. The Great Spur Wheel had 88 cogs, and drove two pairs of millstones via Stone Nuts with 18 cogs each.

Thankfully the notorious lane down through the ford at Waltham Cross was dry and cleanish channels through the dry mud had already been established so this stretch went without incident. The transit of Gainsford End mill went without photo, as did the transit of Great Oak, Great Yeldham.

Finally, we turned back into the breeze and arrived at Tarkas after 32km of riding. Where the coffee machine was out of action. That’s two weeks of coffee disappointment now ! So tea and cakes it was before the short final stretch back to Great Sampford.

Once the group had all finally arrived and trailed into the pub, it was the usual high quality Italian themed lunchtime fayre (good enough to tempt Ken off his sick bed to join us). Thanks to Maurice for organising.

Maurice, Howard, Graham, Tom, Keith, Simon, Rod, Paul and Ken for lunch.

New pub and new coffee shop, so full marks to Graham. This was quite a flat route, through some very quiet and pleasant country lanes.

Sheering does have The Cock.

But it is much more famous as being the home of Steve Harris, the bass guitarist from Iron Maiden.

Is was worth 6.7 million or was it 4 million? I don’t know, but it was on the market for 10 years and as you know everything is only worth what you can get for it. It almost became a fan hotel. I just hope the sound proofing for the bedrooms is up to scratch, since those guitar solos can feel a bit self indulgent when the drugs wear off and sleep become a necessity. As for the green arm chairs, if he doesn’t want those, my mother will take them off his hands. Oh and there’s one Donald T. that will take that coffee table.

Anyway we had great weather especially for mid-March. We split into two groups; myself, Howard, MartinB, Andrew, Tom and group 2. Graham, Geoff, Alan, Rachael, Keith

Initially we went south towards Magdalen Laver, who’s church rector, William Webb Ellis was the inventor of the sport of rugby.

Then onwards towards to coffee at Bretts in White Roding, where we received a right roding for propping our bikes up in front of a display of ‘marvelous’ plant pots. Ones that would have flown out of the place, borne aloft by adoring spring gardeners, if only they had been able to observe them in their full glory.

Having suppressed GDP and perhaps more importantly the money supply (defined as M1 I think) for the duration of a coffee break, we continued past White Roding mill.

This worked by wind until 1921, then was converted to being powered by an engine until the WW2. It was then bought by Michael Redgrave, the actor, as a home. It escaped demolition during the 70’s and 80’s and has now been partly restored.

The final leg was all along the side of Hatfield forest, a prime surviving example of medieval hunting forest. Myself I thought this was an exceptional route, surprisingly flat, apart from a little kicker near the end and along exceptionally quiet roads, especially considering how close it is to Harlow and the M11.

The Cock had claimed it could cope without pre-booking lunch. I got mine and was finished before any others arrived, so I have no complaints. Can’t speak for the rest of you.

Special thanks go to Graham on this ride.

Nice weather. Let’s hope for a few more like this during the coming year.

Planting flowers in potholes in Ickleton is becoming a popular pastime but there were none to be seen amongst the thousands of potholes experienced on this ride in South Cambridgeshire, not even a solitary daffodil. But what a joy it was to see thousands of daffodils as we cruised sedately through Thriplow, ahead of the Daffodil Weekend on 21st and 22nd March. Were there more potholes than daffodils? That is hard to say but it would be a close run thing.

Jeremy was the leader this week and he created a lovely route but a beady eye was needed to watch out for potholes of all shapes and sizes. Accompanied by Maurice, Andrew, Alan, Neil, Martin B, Robert, Ric, Geoff, Rach, Brian, Rod, Simon, Nigel, Howard, Ken (joining half way) and Martin W, the gang split up into three groups when setting off from Café 19 in Duxford after an initial shot of caffeine.

Heading anti-clockwise via Whittlesford, Newton and Harston, it was easy peasy as far as Haslingfield but Chapel Hill towards Barrington always sorts the men from the boys, resulting in some gasping for breath at the top before flying down at top speed into Barrington. From there it was out to Orwell and a stop for some at the Meridian Line Marker, unveiled on December 31, 2000, by Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees.

Not long afterwards there was not much left of this upturned LandRover which had been torched, according to Simon, who went to take a look:

Continuing through to Meldreth and Shepreth the welcome sight of Hot Numbers near Melbourn came into view where some excellent coffee and cakes were consumed on the outside tables.

Next stop was Fowlmere and a diversion into Thriplow to cycle along practically every street in the village to admire the thousands of daffodils on display, some already beginning to look a little tired and there’s still 2 weeks to go to the Daffodil Weekend…… Just as well that Jeremy got us in early.

Having crossed the busy A10 before coffee, when Maurice had a near miss, the next obstacle was the A505 at the Fowlmere / Chrishall Grange crossroads, the subject of much debate before the ride as to whether this was safer than the crossing to Barley. As it happens, Paul got blown off his bike by the wind created by a large lorry before crossing the A505 but he was unhurt. All this goes to show how much care is increasingly needed on our rides, which are made more precarious on account of the awful road surface conditions we have to endure.

Warnings were also given beforehand of the infamous ‘pothole alley’ between Chrishall Grange and Ickleton Old Grange, which was almost impassable by car on 2nd March. However, on the morning of our ride the road was closed and Ken witnessed two guys with a truck and tarmac shovelling small amounts into the worst of the potholes but leaving many others untouched. This made our ride slightly easier but it won’t be long before the road is back to its usual state.

The final obstacle was crossing the railway line in Ickleton using the pedestrian route into the grounds of the Wellcome Centre. This can be scary for those with prams or bikes since the red and green lights were installed as only 15 seconds pass after the red light comes on and before a train roars through at 80mph. Brian’s group experienced this happening but luckily the oncoming train was travelling at a slow speed.

Back at Café19 a good lunch was enjoyed by those attending and Jeremy was thanked for organising an excellent ride, even with the potholes. Thanks are also due to photographers including Paul, Rod, Brian and Simon.This is where we went:

Martin W

Where to stat with this week’s blog ? maybe I’ll start with the title. The story goes as follows:

A gentleman cycling along a wet road sees a massive flood across the road ahead. Ever cautious, he turns to the farmer, looking over his gate, watching the proceedings, and asks him “Is that puddle very deep ?”, to which the farmer replies “‘ba’int be more’n siz inches, sor”. Reassured, the gentleman cycled on, only to disappear into a neck deep flood. Suffering only minor bumps, he pulled himself out and turned to the farmer: “I thought you said it was no more than six inches deep ??” to which the farmer responded “I don’t understand, it sor. Water only comes half way up my ducks”.

We didn’t see a friendly farmer but something must have reassured Maurice that proceeding straight through a massive puddle would be fine. With the number of massive pot holes, it wasn’t, of course. Apparently this was Maurice’s first fall off a bike (hard to believe for some of us !). Happily both bike and rider were fine.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Our ride started with a warm welcome and coffee at an old favourite, the Golden Fleece at Braughing. Prompted by Martin W, the following Wiki entry sheds no light on why this pub is called the ‘Golden Fleece’ (for all readers not interested in a load of Greek, scroll forward now).

The fleece is a symbol of authority and kingship. The Golden Fleece of mythology is the fleece of the golden-woolled, winged ram, Chrysomallos, that rescued Phrixus and brought him to Colchis, where Phrixus then sacrificed it to Zeus. Phrixus gave the fleece to King Aeëtes who kept it in a sacred grove, whence Jason and the Argonauts stole it with the help of Medea, Aeëtes’ daughter. The story is of great antiquity and was current in the time of Homer (eighth century BC). Nowadays, the heraldic variations of the Golden Fleece are featured frequently in Georgia, especially for Coats of Arms and Flags associated with Western Georgia.

Eighteen riders, almost certainly a Windmill winter record, were lured to the start. Partly, I suspect, by the false promise offered by the balmy blue skies of Wednesday but also by the offer of free beer from birthday boy Martin B and to meet our new rider, Michael. Hi !

And so it was three groups set off in ‘Fair for February’ conditions (breezy, grey but not cold), towards Puckeridge on one of Maurice’s Hilly Hertfordshire rounds.

Heading south (contra flow traffic lights and the busy A120 safely negotiated) we were soon on quiet lanes, dodging hedge cutting tractors, to the old Ermine Street. A short stretch led to High Cross and hence the steep muddy little lane heading to Sacombe Green (“it only comes half way up my ducks..”). Bypassing Dane End, we carried on up and down through Whempstead and Benington and finally to a much deserved and overdue coffee stop at the impossibly quaint Old Brewery and Gift shop, replete with its active knitting group in residence.

Two incidents to report before coffee, though. Our trusty chronicler Charles’ rear facing camera fell off without him noticing, but luckily retrieved by following riders. Also retrieved from the road was a three year old toddler, much to the relief of their mother. Well done, our boys in green.

After a leisurely coffee and cake, it was back on the road for the shorter leg back to lunch, with a more helpful (sometimes) tail wind. Still up and down, though, through Ardery, Great Munden and finally a short stretch of the A10 – safely negotiated.

All safely back at the Golden Fleece where poor Martin B was surveying a seriously dented credit card – many thanks for the birthday beers and congratulations on your engagement. The usual off key rendition of “Happy Birthday” may have changed the ambience for a few of the fellow diners in the bar.

A great turn out, great ride, fair weather, fine lunch and birthday beers. What’s not to like !

Michael, Simon, Ric, Paul, Jeremy, Nigel, Graham, Rod, Charles, Tom, Geoff, Ken, Martin B, Martin W, Howard, Andrew, Maurice, Brian

After a succession of wet or cancelled Thursdays, not to mention riding through a 50m long 30cm deep flood last Monday, what a relief it was to have an enjoyable dry ride from The Bull at Burrough Green to Newmarket and back, courtesy of Victor’s organisation. Ok, it was a bit mizzly towards the end but nothing serious and furthermore Victor decided wisely on the tarmac option at the end of the ride instead of a muddy bridleway.

Setting off at 9.30 after a welcoming coffee and placing lunch orders with the landlady of The Bull, Victor led the first group with Charles, Jeremy, Andrew and Martin in tow whilst Brian brought up the rear with Rod, Graham and Alan. Graham was nursing a sore knee but he rode to the start from Ickleton and opted for a lift home at the end. Victor’s route was a fascinating new one to start with taking us firstly towards Swaffham Bulbeck and Swaffham Prior, then Reach, Burwell and Exning before negotiating a network of Newmarket bike paths to arrive at Victor Victoria for coffee.

Both groups decided to stop, independently, in Swaffham Prior to admire the two churches packed close together, St Mary’s and St Cyriac’s. Group A repented their many sins, led by Charles, whilst Group B looked holier than thou. Next time we must stop and admire the window in St Mary’s which is dedicated to the aftermath of World War One and features submarines, tanks, Zeppelines and an aircraft with German markings. The Swaffhams, and Swavesey, were originally founded by a tribe from western Germany after the Romans had left, the Swabians, and so perhaps this is the reason for commemorating the German war machine in the window of St. Mary’s church? A full account of both churches can be seen here: https://greatenglishchurches.co.uk/html/_swaffham_prior.html

Coffee in Victor Victoria in Newmarket was up to the usual standard but one cake aficionado was heard to make the comment that those in Victor Victoria in Sawston were superior. On the other hand the croissants were truly excellent. Being half term week it was somewhat difficult to find a seat but that’s to be expected.

It had been downhill almost the whole way to Newmarket and so it was time for some ups and downs on the return leg passing fancy training establishments such as Godolphin along the way with their long lines of manicured hedges.

Back at The Bull a roaring fire greeted the diners where it was great to have Maurice and Ken join us and a good lunch was enjoyed by all.

Thanks go to Victor for organising an excellent ride and arranging better weather, and to photographers including Charles, Brian and Graham.

This is where we went:

Martin

With thanks to Keith for stepping up to organise this ride at late notice. Its always pot luck what sort of turn out we’ll get on wet, windy pre-Christmas December days. In the end, this was a pretty good turn out. However, wet, Easterly windy conditions and the absence of Charles restricted photography to a bare minimum so as blogs go, this one is gearing up to be pretty brief !

The Black Bull at Balsham is always a good starting point, with a roaring fire and coffee to start the proceedings. Also, the rain was just about holding off when we set off as two groups toward Streetly End windmill. Unfortunately Maurice’s encyclopaedic knowledge of multiple routes hereabouts meant that, on auto pilot, he managed to miss the Streetly detour and was not seen again until coffee !

Now in steady light drizzle and headwind, we crossed the busy A1307 via the sneaky path cut through at Horseheath and headed up to the Camps. From there, it was past the trig point (126m altitude) and the radio mast at Olmstead and down to Helions Bumpstead.

At Helions Bumstead, the second group caught up with a puncture repair to Keith’s bike in progress. Ric stayed on to lend his proper old skool, full sized bike pump whilst the rest of us ploughed on towards the promise of coffee.

At Steeple Bumpstead, the newly promoted leading group took an executive decision to not head up another hill but head in the most direct line towards Tarkas café. Fully re-inflated the new second group were made of sterner stuff and completed the route up the hill as planned.

Coffees and yummy teacakes later and Maurice back in the fold, it was back into the damp (but now with a following breeze) it was off via Kedington and Great Wratting and Withersfield back to the pub for beer and lunch, where a glass was raised to Martin W.

As a footnote, anyone cycling home from Balsham will have received an absolute drenching as the drizzle gave way to a downpour !

Deborah, Andrew, Martin B, Alan, Keith, Maurice, Brian, Ric, Simon, Howard, Jeremy, Rod

‘Has anyone seen my hearing aid?’ shouted Rod? ‘No’, we hollered back, ‘But we’ll help you find it’. ‘Watch where you’re treading’, shouted Rod. And so started a frantic search under the tables, chairs, sofas, behind the cushions (ugh, that was a sight), under hats, gloves and clothing but no luck. Even Simon on all fours failed to find it. But tech sort of came to the rescue. ‘It’s near here’, shouted Rod looking at the app on his phone but wherever he went the app maintained it was still nearby. And it was! Relief all round when Rod and Alan discovered it was on his clothing the whole time.

So after a pleasant meet up for a coffee in The Cricketers Arms in Rickling Green, suitably chosen by our leader for the day, Barmy Army Keith, seen above desperately trying to locate fivers for change, we set off in two groups on a delightful circuit to Little Easton and back.

The ride was pretty uneventful but clearly something warranted an inspection of Keith’s bike at one stage by his Group 1 colleagues of Simon, Maurice, Howard, Martin B, Andrew and Charles. Meanwhile Group 2 comprising Brian, Alan, Deborah, Rod, Ric and Martin W spent some of their time dodging bin lorries on the quiet lanes but luckily not ending up inside one. Fancy organising a ride on black bin day!

Whizzing past P & A Wood in Great Easton where Windmillers normally stop to admire the Rollers or Bentleys, it wasn’t long before we entered Little Easton and had coffee and cakes at The Tea Room of Little Easton Manor, and very good they were too.

With Christmas looming Keith organised the first festive Windmiller photo:

…whilst Simon went looking for some mistletoe to assist the amorous Charles:

The return leg was also mild and mucky with some wind on the nose at times but thankfully dry and through more quiet lanes. There was just one massive lorry and trailer to squeeze by between Manuden and Rickling Green but otherwise it remained uneventful. Back at The Cricketers we received a warm welcome and enjoyed an excellent lunch in ‘our own’ room. Hats off to Ric who rode all the way from Harston and back again, fuelled no doubt by all the American cuisine he enjoyed recently there.

Hear hear to Keith for organising a splendid ride, and thanks to photographers Charles and Simon.

This is where we went:

Martin W

The number of times I’ve been through Burroughs Green and never noticed the Bull, a welcoming looking pub set slightly back from the main village road. Victor’s ride this week plugged this glaring gap in my ‘local’ knowledge.

This was the first winter ride of the season, recognisably winter because Simon and Alan had their knees covered up. Plus there was ice on the road and the thermometer was reading sub zero, of course. In the end, despite some gloomy posts on the group chat, a creditable 12 riders turned up for coffee, to pre-order lunch and, unusually, to pre order and pay for beer too. A welcoming pub fire meant that at least we would start the ride warm.

Two groups set off and were very quickly into new territory via a bridle way leading to the Brinkley Road. The bridle way was fine for riding but ice either side of the obvious riding line served as a reminder to be vigilant. As it turned out, there were very few icy sections on the rest of the route and the majority of those could be easily bypassed. There were no ‘involuntary dismounts’ to report.

From Westley Waterless our route turned east. At one point, there was an option to shorten the route in the event of excessive miserableness, but brief patches of sun and properly covered knees meant that we were all happy to head for café 33, the only café in the Stradishal area (at least that we have found) and therefore a regular Windmill stop.

“But virtually no wind 🤗” Charles had declared that morning, so whatever it was we were riding into on the return leg from the cafe (which caused flags to flutter and noses to run) was probably something else. With the promise of a decent beer, decent lunch and a pub fire beckoning there definitely wasn’t any incentive to be hanging around in the chill (well, apart from admiring the lovely widespread views offered by this part of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire that is).

A great route on some familiar roads but a few unfamiliar twists and turns to keep us on our toes.

Food and beer back at the Bull were as good as anticipated, where we were joined for lunch by Martin W and Andrew.

Simon, Alan, Deborah, Tom, Paul, Graham, Charles, Keith, Rod, Victor, Howard, Jeremy.

Ride organizers are listed against dates on a spreadsheet called “Ride Organizers”, hosted in a WhatsApp group and carefully administered by “Andrew the organized.” Andrew is also known as “Deputy Daug, for his full-time cat-herding responsibilities. He has many spreadsheets, not least important, the one that records what you have ordered for the Christmas meal. It has been observed that many club members have difficulty in recalling these details, especially the ones who have been driven to the pub. I’m not sure why, but I have some theories. It could be that being driven to the pub is bad for the memory of those who normally cycle there, however this may conflate cooccurrence with causality.

However, what happens when Andrew’s computer is in the computer-hospital ! Chaos that’s what. So it came to pass that no ride was organized for this Thursday. No pub booked, no coffee stop, no route. Oh dear. Rod stepped into the gap as quick as a flash and constructed a route while Alan booked The Pheasant at Great Chishill. They are used to us and could host at short notice. I think we pushed out another large and ever expanding group though.

Charles took the starting photo, while Nigel carried out last minute preparations.

This time of the year Windmillers have to take every chance to get out. And what a chance this was, with unseasonably warm weather and bright sunshine after days of continuously wet weather.

We sorted ourselves into two groups (roughly). Group 1; Jeremy, Rod, Keith, Nigel, MartinB, Charles and Group 2; Alan, Graham, Howard, Andrew, Brian, Rob, myself.

This turned out to be a very nice route. We are lucky to be located where we are, surrounded by beautiful countryside and quiet lanes within easy reach. Crossing the A10 twice proved to be no problem. In fact this route back through the new estate in Buntingford is worth noting.

The coffee break was at Church Farm, Ardeley. Which is well named because before cake I can cycle downhill but can ‘Ardeley get up ‘um, whereas afterwards, I’m more resilient.

November has All Saints’ Day (1st), and All Souls’ Day (2nd), and St. Martin’s Day (Martinmas, 11th), Remembrance Sunday, St. Clement’s Day (23rd), but that’s not enough is it. No, best to start celebrating Christmas, or at least paying for it, this month, as these Grinches will testify.

This being the season of magic we spent some time in the sunshine shrinking Jeremy to the size of an elf and then restoring him to normal stature. Just one of the endless ways we amuse ourselves.

Despite the shortening days, this season has its own beauty, captured this week by Graham, with his pictures of sloes, crab apples and Rowan berries pictured against the blue sky.

Having picked up Ken and Martin on route the groups reconvened for the usual meal and drinks. A good club ride, and thanks go to Rod and Alan for that. Andrew’s computer is now recuperating and normal service will be resumed I’m told.

What a head-ache things can be. Broken technology, wife needing running repairs, Christmas meals approaching. Lets hear it for “Deputy Daug”. I’m sure he will cope, he always does.

Remember the halcyon days of cycling in the UK just 14 years ago ? We had our first male grand tour winner in Chris Froome at the Vuelta 2011 (beating Bradley Wiggins’ Tour de France victory in 2012, but far less recognised because it was granted retrospectively after the ‘winner’, Cobo, was disqualified for doping offences. In the Women’s Grand Tours, Nicole Cooke had already won the Giro d’Italia Femminile in 2004). We were leading up to the golden year of 2012 with that afore mentioned win and a second place at the Tour de France and a dominant 8 gold medal haul at the London Olympics.

The future of cycling was rosy. Mere mortals could buy fantastic ‘standard’ bikes at a reasonable price and roadside maintenance had never been easier. Nearly everyone (except dyed in the wool racers) rode on 700c x 23mm or 700c x 25mm tyres with inner tubes and aluminium rims, so inner tubes could be shared between riders. The wheels could be easily removed because everyone had quick release skewers – no tools needed. Brake rubs were quickly fixed roadside, or even on the move, because we all had simple to fix rim brakes. Flaky battery and motor assisted gear changers were still a marketing executive’s wet dream. OK, we still had 9 or 10 speed chains to deal with and the myriad of bottom bracket ‘standards’ but still – relatively standard bikes.

Then progress happened: Road tyres proliferated into tubeless gunk filled and standard inner tube variants and up to 34mm wide variants. All of a sudden, tools were required to remove wheels. Wheel width options increased and carbon fibre wheels appeared alongside our old aluminium wheels, with the dreaded ‘hookless’ rims making an appearance. Disc brakes escaped from the mountain bike world to the peloton so roadside maintenance was replaced by work shop maintenance, higher bike costs and higher bike weights. Chain pitch options spiralled to the slightest-bit-of-muck disrupts-it 13 speed and chain dropping ‘one by’ options became available.

All of this means that there are far more possibilities to end up with incompatible parts on a modern bike, more things to go wrong and much lower chance that a cycling mate has the right tools, tyres or chain link in their saddle bag in order to help out during a roadside mechanical. This is significant, as will become apparent ……..

Storm Benjamin had passed and typical wet ‘n’ windy autumn weather had taken a brief hiatus for this Thursday’s ride, attracting 18 riders out for some, or all, of the route organised by Maurice from the Catherine Wheel, Arbury. Unlike one large cycling group we saw, we stuck with our usual tradition of splitting into more manageable sized groups. And so it was that three groups headed South, then East along familiar lanes enjoying the Autumn colours and clearing blue skies.

From Manuden, the course headed back North with brisk progress towards coffee at the Compass Courtyard. It was all going well. Too well.

In group 3, on the outskirts of Arkesden, Deborah had a puncture. Initially blamed on a skinny inner tube in a wide tyre, Deborah, Keith and Graham started investigation. First hurdle, an Allan key to remove the rear wheel. Tick. Then we found that the rear tyre was nearly impossible to remove from the rim. It transpired that a tyre “for hookless rims only” had been fitted by the bike shop to Deborah’s smart new hookless wheel. We managed to remove an offending thorn, but attempts to fit a new tube were thwarted by the tyres being too tight to avoid ‘pinching’ and puncturing the new inner.

Forty minutes later, Deborah had to call the long suffering rescue services (in the shape of husband, Simon) for a lift to lunch whilst Keith and Graham had to forego coffee (stopping only to make a welcome meeting with Martin W at the Compass Courtyard).

Brian led a brisk pace on the return leg in order for us to make a one o’clock lunch – unnecessary as it turned out as lunch was a little slow in arriving, although excellent when it did. A fantastic ride and an opportunity to reflect on the benefits of ‘progress’ in the cycle industry.

Keith, Graham, Geoff, Jenny, Brian, Deborah, Maurice, Martin B, Ric, Alan, Nigel, Chris, Rod, Charles, Simon, Tom, Victor (from Compass Courtyard), Ken and Martin W for coffee.

This was a fine October morning to assemble at The Three Horseshoes in Hinxworth and explore bits of three counties; Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Two groups; group1 led by Graham with Brian, Ken, Keith, Rick, Victor, me and group 2, Maurice, Andrew, Alan, Howard, Jenni and Charles

It’s strange how different counties have such different characters. Bedfordshire with it’s open vistas, with few but very fast cars. Cambridgeshire with it’s terrible road surfaces and the little inclines and pretty villages of Hertfordshire. Some of this ride was on dirt track with few dangers to find.

If there is no hazard to find then Andrew can put his mind to making some. Here one handed cycling through leaves and twigs provides just the opportunity. Thank goodness no harm was done and it simply provided a golden opportunity for Charles’s front camera. (Well done Charles).

Coffee was at Bean Theory in Waresley, so as to avoid Christmas tat at the nearby garden center, where grandparents make an early start at spoiling the grandchildren. Providing coffee in return for money isn’t enough for Bean Theory. I only want the Bean Practical bit myself, preferably in a cup. I Love the large print black&white photos here, mostly of jazz musicians.

However I think they confuse ‘Values’ with aspirations. This from their website.

But I was too busy to quiz them on it. For instance is it too fastidious to point out that to be welcoming is a behaviour not a value? Still let’s move on and forgive them for aping Americans.

Overall this was a good ride with mixed scenery, dirt tracks and minor roads and only the occasional car or agricultural truck. Not as scenic as some rides but great to see new areas and explore three counties in one day. Thanks to Graham for route planning and organization.

A good club ride planned and carried out expertly.

Well we could hear them, but low cloud to start with meant that the flights coming into Stansted from more exotic climes remained invisible to us.

This was the situation as 12 riders gathered in the morning at an old favourite; the Red Lion at Great Sampford. Maurice (sadly absent due to a virus, along with Alan) – had organised an old favourite outing on the mostly quiet lanes East of here.

Our coffee stop arrived fairly early on into the ride. Tarkas café seems to be going from strength to strength ! Always busy and always worth the sprint along the busy A1017 Braintree road in order to get there. Whilst Charles opted for his usual calorie bomb of hot chocolate (all the trimmings) and a slab of cake (coffee and wallnut), a few riders took Deb’s lead in ordering the new home made teacakes, which definitely gained an approving smile.

We had the usual dose of “Road Closed” points, thankfully all passable by bike or on foot. Maybe the notoriously poor road and drainage by Walthams Cross will be repaired at some point ? – we live in hope ! On this ride, it was probably in as good a state as it ever is – just loose dirt and gravel at the bottom of the hill and a few wet streaks on the steep ascent away.

Obligatory Yeldham Great Oak and Windmill photos and then the, now usual, traffic chaos by the one way bridge in Great Bardfield – and we were on the home leg ! (footnote: Great Yeldham elected a communist coucillor in 1967).

The weather had cleared steadily throughout the morning and by lunchtime, it was pleasent enough to drink our beer outside. After that it was the usual excellent Italian themed food: Good quality, good value and very tasty ! An excellent end to a great ride.

Its a while since we had a puncture on a ride and it looked like this ride would go puncture free until 2km from the pub. Luckily some squirty foamy stuff Charles was carrying lasted just long enough to get Graham to the pub and a tyre change in relative comfort, pint in hand.

Andrew, Howard, Victor, Brian, Ric, Simon, Keith, Deborah, Geoff, Simon, Charles, Graham.