Sunday dawned extraordinarily mild and very windy. In spite of the proximity to Christmas and the constant downpour that we had all experienced through the end of the previous week, 18 riders turned up to take part in the weekly club run. In fact it was so mild that two riders turned out in shorts.
Yet again we had a new rider with us, so welcome to Roger from Potton. Roger took part in the L’Etape du Tour last year.
Owing to the flooding to the west of St Neots, we decided we should head out to the south east and the route was almost a reverse of last week’s.
So, Group 2 headed off towards Tempsford and for many it was their first experience of Everton Hill, which proved a rude awakening for some. Just outside Potton, Richard Ostler punctured and extracted a spanner from his pocket to slacken the nuts on his front wheel - very retro.
From Hinxworth we progressed to Ashwell, battling against a strong wind and then on to Guilden Morden. But we got our pay back once we hit the B1042 and with the wind on our backs we hit speeds of 28 mph. Unfortunately we knew this would come to an abrupt end once we turned off for the Croydon Hill climb. From Hatley St George we skirted around Gamlingay, then went on to the Gransden’s and then through Abbotsley before returning back to St Neots for coffee.
This week Group 2 covered 40 miles with ascents of both Everton and Croydon Hills - almost Alpine.
Group 1 covered about 50 miles this week without, for once, any mishaps either navigational or mechanical.