What to wear when the mornings are autumnal but summer lingers at lunchtime? The turning season poses a dilemma for the fashion conscious Windmiller.
It was a chilly Thursday morning and our wardrobe choices were many and varied. Bare knees were still in the majority, Ric alone opting for winter leggings, and Lawrence, sporting ski gloves, clearly wasn’t taking any chances. Then there was John B toughing it out in skimpy retro shorts and T-shirt; those of you familiar with the 118 118 ads on the telly will know the look.
So it was that twelve randomly attired Windmillers headed out from The Fox & Duck for a 30-odd mile circuit of the lanes south of Therfield. Maurice – followed by Ric, Lawrence, Roger, Brian, Andrew, Ken, Keith, Victor, Chris and both Johns – led the way towards Buntingford and thence on to Puckeridge, where we pulled in at the Something Lovely tea room for refreshment. No coffee for Victor though, as he set about mending a slow puncture.
Back on the bikes, we dodged the speeding traffic on the A10 roundabout and headed west towards Dane End before turning north for the return leg via Cromer and Sandon.
Arriving in Therfield, and with the pub garden now bathed in glorious sunshine, we enjoyed an excellent lunch while Roger – pint in hand – entertained us with his falling backwards off a bench without spilling a drop trick. He promises to do it again at the Christmas lunch.
It was a well chosen, scenic and mostly traffic-free route, thanks again to Maurice. Thanks also to Andrew for getting us organised.
And let’s hope we can keep the bare knees going – at least until the clocks go back.
Brian
The Windmill Cycle Club 