5 May, The Blue Egg ride

On a gloriously hot spring day, whilst our leader Maurice was scrubbing the decks of a monster yacht in Majorca and John B was walking in the Lake District, Andrew Deputy Dawg led our party on a 36 mile circular tour of quiet Essex lanes from and back to the Fleur de Lys in Widdington via Henham, Great Easton, Great Bardfield, the famous Blue Egg café, Finchingfield, Radwinter, Wimbish and Debden. Others on the ride included Wee Jimny Ken, Two Scones Keith, Rick, Hot Rod and the Right Revd Moley Martin. Kell also joined us at the start but, sadly, we lost him after the first couple of miles. Kell has been testing out some rapid electric bikes recently and we are looking forward to him giving us a tow up the hills in the near future.

The Blue Egg was the main destination, and one not visited previously. As the Dawg said in his briefing notes:

The Blue Egg in Great Bardfield, Essex, is the long-standing destination for riders from around the county, as well as South Cambridgeshire and even parts of Hertfordshire. The coffee is good, the cakes are better, and the scones are enormous. It’s surrounded by quiet roads, so wherever you’re coming from there’s a selection of routes to get you there. Even on a midweek morning, there are always bike riders in, often including stars Alex Dowsett or Mark Cavendish, who live locally. And if you want to fill your jersey pockets with bedding plants, there’s even a nursery next door.

The scones were indeed so enormous that Keith could only share one with Moley! Here we are enjoying the sunshine:

On the return leg we cycled through yet more quiet lanes, passing by Spains Hall on the way for a bit of culture:

Spains Hall is a lovely Elizabethan country house near Finchingfield, now used as a wedding venue. The hall is named after Hervey de Ispania, who held the manor at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. The pic above was taken from the web and this one shows Moley blocking the view:

Thoughts of the first beer started at Wimbish and it wasn’t long before the knights of the round garden table were tucking into an excellent 2 course lunch at the Fleur de Lys,

but it might be cider next time if the weather is as hot – was 25 C a record for early May?

Thanks, Dawg, for organising an excellent ride to The Blue Egg.