A red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important question. It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences toward a false conclusion. Wikipedia. It’s also a very good pint of bitter brewed by the award winning Mighty Oak brewery in Maldon, and weren’t we lucky to sample it at The Chestnut Tree in West Wratting after this rapid ride around Cambs and Suffolk lanes?
And a rapid ride it was, having first placed our orders for lunch at The Chestnut Tree and had a cup of coffee. But the coffee stop in Barrow at The Three Horseshoes was not so rapid as the coffee machine packed up after the first few had been dispensed, resulting in a long wait for a cup of instant for those at the back of the queue of 16 Windmillers. Blame the Chinese, said Charles, who spoke ecstacically of Danish machines but eventually, after pressing various buttons the machine starting behaving itself just as we were leaving.
The A team of Maurice, Simon, Jenni, Roger, Chris, Jeremy, Victor and Ric were first in the queue whilst the B team of Martin, Deborah, Charles, Alan, Graham, Hazel, Howard and Brian arrived 10 minutes later having stopped occasionally to admire the lovely freshly combined Suffolk countryside, and got the instant coffee as a result.
All changed in the team line up after coffee as Deborah was on a very tight schedule in order to get to Chelmsford by 1.30pm to view a wedding venue for her daughter and future son-in-law, who got engaged recently. Congratulations to them! There was much debate about how best to get to Chelmsford and the combined wisdom of Windmillers, which might well have resulted in Deborah getting hopelessly lost, actually enabled her to reach her destination bang on time. Much of this must have been due to Maurice switching to sport mode on his e-bike with his slightly depleted group (Victor and Ric joining team B, which was not considered a very good swap for losing Deborah!) keeping close behind.
Meanwhile, the now 9 members of team B set off also at a fast pace until it came to a sudden halt on hearing the word ‘Ouch’ screamed by Hazel who had been stung in a sensitive part of her nether region by something with a sting long enough to penetrate a layer of lycra. Luckily a gallant Windmiller (Alan?) came forward with some sting relief cream which seemed to ease her discomfort. Well done Hazel for managing this whilst surrounded by earnest and willing would-be helpers!
Back at The Chestnut Tree after a delightful ride through very quiet lanes but with a strong head wind on the last leg, we sat down at reserved tables in the garden to enjoy pints of Red Herring and other beers / drinks whilst eating fabulous sandwiches and other dishes, all delivered in such an efficient manner. The ham can be highly recommended, sourced from a Suffolk farm and cooked at the pub. It was great to be joined by Geoff who had done a ride starting from Balsham.
And this is where we went, anti-clockwise:
Many thanks to Maurice for planning the route, to Andrew who couldn’t make the ride but who organised us and to Graham and Charles for some of the photos.
Martin
The Windmill Cycle Club 