Starting at the earlier hour of noon on this ride produced several benefits, not least of which was being able to ride in daylight. Other benefits were that most of the ice had melted and not re-frozen on this cold day, there was good light for Sandra’s constant spotting of wildlife, plus the bonus of a good lunch at 2.00pm in front of a roaring fire at The Red Lion in Hinxton.
Despite the cold, seven Windmillers comprising Graham, Rod, Sandra, Simon, Charles, Alan and Martin decided to brave the icy patches and set off on an anticlockwise route in the hope of picking up Andrew, who was attending a Zoom funeral. But it was a sunny day and so it proved to be not so bad after all, certainly not as icy as the photo above showing Dutch children heading off to school, and probably warmer than the previous Thursday once the first hill up to Chrishall had been climbed. There was more than the usual traffic on the road to Duxford Grange due to a snarl up on the A505, requiring several stops to allow vehicles to pass.
Thanks to having eagle-eyed Sandra with us, there were constant sightings of buzzards and red kites and no less than four sightings of deer, one of which was a stag with his three wives in tow. It seems that female deer are some way off gaining the full legal, economic, vocational, educational, and social rights enjoyed by stags.
Graham suggested a wise modification of the route to avoid cycling up to Duddenhoe End under the trees, where the surface could be distinctly icy, and so we took a slightly longer, more open route via Pond Street. Heading down to Arkesden was sheer bliss, soaking up the warm sun as we cruised along thinking of Deborah the flower girl on the way. Deborah was due to join us but, sadly, her horse had been hurt following Storm Arwen and she was expecting a visit from the vet. Even more sad was the subsequent news that the horse had to be put down and so our sympathies go to Deborah on her loss.
The long hill down to Clanver End looked dodgy in places and so care was taken not to go too fast and all descended safely. Then it was time to call up Andrew to see if he could join us but the eulogies were running late and so we climbed Hill Bastardo up to Littlebury Green without him.
Alan and Charles both peeled off at Catmere End to head through the woods back to Chrishall and Great Chishill respectively, from whence they came, leaving the remaining five to take in the views towards Strethall Church and Ickleton before descending past Martin’s allotment and wending their way through to Hinxton for a well earned pint and some excellent sandwiches. Here they are warming their extremities in front of the fire:
And this is where we went:
Thanks to everyone who came along.
Martin
The Windmill Cycle Club 