The day after the clocks go back might be considered the onset of winter but, instead, knobbly knees were still in evidence on this ride from The Tally Ho! in Barkway, but some more knobbly than others. Will those above stand a chance of winning the 2021 Knobbly Knee Kup? Only those attending the forthcoming Christmas lunch will find out.
The fine weather produced a good turnout of nine Windmillers at the earlier time of 2.30pm, with a promise of the pub being open on our return – Maurice, Andrew, Sandra, Rod, Alan, Charles, Nick, Nigel and Martin. It was great to have Nigel with us again telling tales of his recent motorbike ride around the Picos de Europa in Northern Spain.
As usual, Maurice shot off on his e-bike and it wasn’t until the end of Barkway High Street that the tail enders caught up, after which Storm Sandra was in her element tackling the head-on wind on the road towards Reed, where Alan once lived (next door to The Cabinet, lucky chap).
Not long after the above photo was taken, one of the flooded dips encountered on 18 October was traversed again, but this time it was not so deep, thankfully. Deborah would hardly have got her feet wet.
Sandon is a lovely sunny village, perched as it is on top of a hill with magnificent views all around – a good location for John and Lyn Bagrie and their love of horse riding, walking, running and cycling. Could do with a pub, though.
Down to Buntingford we sped, with Rod spotting two huge buzzards on the way, stopping briefly with Sandra to put Charles’s chain back on, and through to Wyddial and past ‘visions of loveliness lane’ until we crossed the road towards Anstey. Nick and Alan both peeled off to head for home whilst the remaining Windmillers returned to The Tally Ho! via Nuthampstead to enjoy a pint and watch England beat Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup on the pub’s telly. All in all a great end to a great ride.
This is where we went:
Thanks go to Maurice for leading the way, to Andrew for organising us and Charles for his photos.
Martin
The Windmill Cycle Club 