Four seasons in one day!

Meeting in blustery conditions, 11 members of the club assembled on the Market Square for Sunday's club run.

We had two new riders turn up today - Ben and another of Jason Dixon's friends whose name I have completely forgotten...very sorry about that.

Steve and I had a bit of a conflab about today's route as the wind was forecast to change later on in the morning, so we decided to do his route up to Old Warden and mine from that point on. Because of the fewer than usual numbers, the group decided to stick together and so we set out towards Abbotsley and part of the TT course. By the time we reached Waresley, those in lighter coloured tops looked like they had been indulging in a bit of cyclocross, such was the state of the road.

The weather was very changeable with strong winds and warm sunshine, and one member was heard to say "Well I think it's not going to rain".

Our route took us via Gamlingay, Biggleswade then onto Broom, and then group started to split. The faster riders were given the option of increasing their pace but (bless 'em) they soft-tapped so we could all stick together.

The climb through Old Warden was dispatched which left all to enjoy the downhill and, at last, a tailwind into Cardington and Cople. It was here that Tim very kindly had a puncture which gave us all a rest. That sorted, we had a quick trip to Willington and Great Barford, but the last few climbs out of Barford split us again and the Michael Fish of the group got it horribly wrong, as we were treated to horizontal rain for a few miles.

I was too far back to see who won the Bushmead Sprint but by all accounts it was a very quick time. All riders then met up at Nero's for a well deserved coffee and chat.

We covered 41 miles at steady pace although the Bushmead sprinters were a bit faster!

Chris Preston