After the sumptuous Christmas lunch the day before at The Pheasant, a fairly short ride of 26 miles to Saffron Walden and back was organised by Maurice to work off some of the calories gained. A good turn out of 8 Windmillers comprising Maurice, Andrew, Vernon, Keith, Brian, Tom, Sandra and Martin set off shortly after 9.30am in mild, misty weather and so hi-viz jackets and good lights were the order of the day. Here is the route taken:
The elevation chart above shows that this was not exactly a gentle ride but a coffee / cake stop in Saffron Walden soon piled back on any calories lost in getting there.
Keith’s front wheel has had a dose of the wobbles in recent rides and so Andrew took it down to Newdale’s in Saffron Walden to try and get it fixed, with mixed results. Chief mechanic Maurice offered to take a proper look at it in his workshop. (Keith was not persuaded to replace his bike with a fancy make on sale in the café.)
The ride back was shorter at 10 miles, steadily uphill almost the whole way, which resulted in another large calorie intake back at The Pheasant. Result: Net gain since the previous day’s lunch for most of us, which was not the intention, the exceptions being Numb Bum Brian and Knackered Tom who rode all the way from Shelford before the ride and back again afterwards, clocking up a total of approx. 45 miles. Well done both on achieving on what was surely a net loss!
Whilst de-biking and re-loading before lunch, we were privileged in being allowed a look inside the back of Sandra’s capacious van. Many had often wondered what Alpaca shearing equipment looked like, and were none the wiser but Sandra claimed she knew where every piece of equipment needed could be found. Amongst other things there was Santa’s hat and no doubt a few rabbit traps too…….
Thanks, Maurice, for not treating us too hard after yesterday’s lunch!
The Windmill Cycle Club 