Green and Gold Credentials

There is a reason why Ireland is lush and green and called the Emerald Isle. It rains a lot. Maybe similar reasoning can be applied to the 9 Windmill riders that turned out despite flooded roads and a forecast of torrential rain later ? Everyone, for the first time I can remember, was garbed in bright green.

And the Gold ? there was a belated presentation of the prestigious Windmill Pédale d’Or to our statistician in residence, Victor, for outstanding spread sheeting in 2023.

Brian’s route started from the 14th century Royal Oak overlooking Barrington green, claiming to be the longest village green in Europe. The Royal Oak had been taken over by Cambscuisine in 2022 so great things were expected of the food and beer (not to mention the traditional Black Adder sound track playing in the toilets).

The morning had started off very pleasantly, with a number of riders opting for the ‘green’ option by cycling to the start of the ride. The first ‘obstacle’ on the ride was the climb up chapel hill (AKA Barrington hill), past the old cement works site. It wasn’t clear whether the little mechanical ‘niggles’ befalling some of the riders up the hill weren’t actually strategic rest stops.

Barrington cement works, operating until 2018, has several claims to fame: it has high grade Grey Chalk as well as Chalk Marl on site and its unique geology allowed it to operate as a free-draining quarry. It also held the distinction of operating the last standard gauge quarry railway in the UK.

Because it is now the only remaining complete section of the Lower Chalk in the area, parts of the quarry is a designated SSSI, whilst other parts form an extensive landfill as well as a substantial housing development.

All was going well with the ride through Haslingfield, Harlton, Eversden, Kingston up to Hardwick. Then the weather took a massive turn for the worse and the heavens opened. From there it was a race for the sanctuary of the cafe at Coton Orchard, with sections of the route through Madingly being bypassed in the interests of getting to shelter.

After coffee and cakes and the ritual of trying to refit wet gloves, the rain had temporarily eased as we headed for the outskirts of Cambridge but had resumed its full volume by the time we passed Grantchester, Byrons Pool and Trumpington Meadows. By the A10 the group had fragmented with some opting for the sensible option of the direct route back along the A10 cycle path whilst others (stupidly) opted to take the full route down past the Thriplow daffodils and the flooded Foxton road.

Back at the Royal Oak, we were ushered into the bar with a woodburner. Even that didn’t alleviate the chill (possibly not helped by the fact that it was now loaded with soaking wet cycling gloves). We were joined at lunch and beer by Geoff and Ken who had done the sensible thing and driven straight there.

For the record, thanks Brian for organising complete with new pub venue and to the fellow lads in green: Brian, Victor, Jeremy, Alan, Roger, Andrew, Graham, Rod, Howard. Relatively few photos this week due to lack of an underwater camera.