Club run report 18th August 2013

Good weather drew the riders out in droves and about 45 turned up in the Market Square for the club run.  As a consequence we had five groups out today - two long route groups, two medium route groups and the short route.

The long route groups consisted of a fast group and steadier group. The medium groups consisted of a fast group that did the route as planned but had a couple of visits from the p***** fairy; and a large group that split halfway round. This large group also took a short cut, thereby missing out on some of the best climbs of the route west of Podington and had a cafe stop at Harrold Country Park! Great commitment shown there, lads. Read all about the shirking below:

We set out from St Neots in a fairly large group and it quickly became apparent that it was going to be difficult to find a pace that suited everyone. The group had already become strung out a few times before we reached Great Staughton and had finally separated into two main groups near Swineshead. The two groups came back together again at the St Johns Arms on the Knotting Road, where we quickly agreed to keep the two-group split. A faster-moving group went off the front and our group continued on to Yelden, where we stopped again briefly outside The Chequers to discuss the length and route of the ride. Group 1 passed us at this point, with cries of "They're not open yet".

Joking they may have been, but the seed had been planted and when we agreed to take a slightly shorter route than planned, continuing south at Podington rather than continuing west to Wollaston, your correspondent was quick to suggest a stop at the excellent cafe at Harrold. The motion was eagerly seconded by George and Chris and that was that. We crossed the A6 toward Wymington, delighted to find Wymington Lane had been recently resurfaced -- properly -- and no longer resembled some kind of lunar landscape.

The section between Wymington and Podington appeared to be the location for a new straight to DVD "Fast 'n' Furious" film, with one particularly noisy Subaru cutting into the group on the slight rise up to Podington Church. So close was he to me that I could have trimmed his nasal hair, if only I'd packed my chainsaw. I waved him on his way with some gentle words of encouragement and he left us with the smell of burning clutch as we made our way south to Hinwick, deviating from the original route.

We continued down into Harrold and the majority of the group turned into the park to hunt coffee and cake. JP and Cannondale Andy left us at this point and struck for home. We sat by the lake, drank coffee and a few ate cake, while others nibbled on an energy bar. George brought us news of yet another cracked Cervelo frame, Chris and Ian discussed audaxing, Tony drooled over Trevor's Mont Ventoux exploits and I found a bag of dog poo under my seat. At least I think it was dog poo, I didn't open the bag to double-check.

Our SNCC jerseys were spotted by a couple of other cyclists who asked about the Autumn Breeze sportive, and fresh from our recce the previous weekend, I was able to regale them with tales of a fantastic route through beautiful rolling countryside, picturesque villages and the promise of well-stocked feed stations.

We disposed of our coffee cups, food wrappers and bags of poo and set out again, crossing the bridge and heading south to Carlton, before bearing west to Felmersham and Radwell. Dave was already muttering darkly about "his favourite climb", Le Col de Milton Ernest. The group separated on the drag upwards, but quickly reformed and we lifted the pace again on the Mill Hill section and enjoyed a fast drop into Thurleigh, with its smooth tarmac and sweeping bends. The pace had been creeping upwards for a while, Bushmead clearly looming large in people's minds and, after crossing Little Staughton Road the gauntlet was thrown down and the group leapt forward.

Chris, George, Tony, Trevor, Ian (unashamedly wearing his Scotland jersey), Dave and I were pushing hard now with turns being taken on the front for a while, until we started to get close enough to the town sign for people to worry about being caught on the front. Which is where I found myself, with Ian and Tony right behind me. A hard, well-fought chase to the water tower and the town sign ensued before a more sedate roll to the Market Square where we enjoyed our second coffee of the day and waited for the other groups to roll in.

Everyone agreed it had been a great ride and a very pleasant change to stop for coffee in the middle. A huge well done to Florence on completely her first of many longer rides with the club.

Andy Mac