Graham stepped in at short notice to organise a repeat ride from The Black Horse in Brent Pelham, having had a good experience last week. The route was similar too but, in contrast, this one was laden with events. There was a distinct absence of hangovers from the Christmas lunch held the day before, unless they were being disguised.
Deborah arrived demonstrating a bike that had been repaired earlier by husband Simon (a puncture) but the chain and front chain ring was somewhat rusty (to say the least). Rod came to the rescue with his oil can and so we eventually set off westwards in two groups, the first being led by Alan. This was our route, anti-clockwise:
All went well for the second group until just before Buntingford when Deborah came to a grinding halt whilst changing gear. The chain had got well and truly jammed into the slider thingie that moves it across the front chain rings but the repair gang led by Graham soon got to work with the help once again of Rod’s copious tool kit. Twenty minutes or so later the job was done and Deborah was able to recommence the ride but with only one ring upfront.
Maurice had warned us of heavy traffic west of Buntingford towards Stevenage but this short stretch was necessary in order to pay a visit to one of our favourite coffee stops in Walkern. All was going well again until Roger pulled into a driveway on the main road, clipped a small kerb and was seen dismounting involuntarily and rapidly sideways into the muddy driveway. Take note those with clip on pedals! Luckily he was not hurt badly but his smart hi viz jacket took a bashing.
Thereafter it was plain sailing to Walkern except that by this time group B was nearly 30 minutes behind group A who were just finishing their coffee.
The return leg was fortunately devoid of breakdowns or accidents, other than some near misses from some maniac car and lorry drivers, all in a Christmas rush it seemed. Group B witnessed a mad Audi driver near Walkern scraping handlebars whilst doing around 60 in a 30 limit and Group A had their fair share of daft drivers too:
Crossing Standon ford was recommended by Nigel after last week’s ride, instead of using the main road, and so Graham incorporated this into the return leg. ‘It’s easy’, said Nigel, ‘there’s a bridge over it with a good lane either side’. Well, there was no ford, just a river up to the top of its banks, but the bridge was indeed there. On the Standon side, however, the recent rain had resulted in a deep stream crossing the lane with sandbags as stepping stones. Groups A and B both devised different ways of crossing the stream with some possibly getting their feet wet.
Due to the aforesaid events, Group B was still 30 minutes behind by the time they got back to The Black Horse, but not too late to celebrate Paul’s birthday in the usual Windmill manner and to thank him for buying a round of drinks. Thanks Paul!
Maurice joined us for lunch, having ridden from home, and once again The Black Horse staff looked after us well.
Thanks go to Graham for organising and planning the ride and to Charles, Brian and Graham for most of the photographs.
Martin
The Windmill Cycle Club 