The Sunday morning weather Gods have not been overly kind to us cyclists this year, windsurfers, sailors, kite flyers and wind farm owners have done ok, but not cyclists. Therefore it was with a large amount of finger crossing that we set our club 100 miler for the same day as the RL100, which if you remember from last year was shortened due to the biblical rain. The forecast however predicted good weather with tan line enhancing sunshine and a tail wind home.

Clocks were set half an hour earlier for an 8:00AM depart from the square and for our alternative awards evening Tom Dunkley has now overtaken Joe for the “Never being on time” award rolling in at 8:05. With numbers at circa 20 there was a natural split into two evenly sized groups with the faster group heading off first.

100 miler 1

The route profile was a flat start that got lumpier as we moved into South Cambs / North Essex before reaching our mid-point at Finchingfield, after which the journey home would be a relatively flat affair and hopefully quick(er).

Going out past the golf course at Abbotsley it’s not unsurprising how much more enjoyable that section is when ridden within a group compared to solo on a Thursday night. The first hill of the day was Chapel Hill, the shorter side into Barrington, and here it became apparent that Team Hennessey (TH) use the same Bottom Bracket in their bikes. These are the bottom brackets that emit a sound similar to a Flymo cutting a gravel drive. I believe it was also at this point that Simon Richardson was also questioning the merits of bringing a steel behemoth with standard gearing. Regrouping on the descent and it was time for the first photo of the day, the trademark Hennessey action shot.

A number of questions could be posed that would warrant the response from SR

100 miler 2      100 miler 3

100 miler 4

Your round at the Café, would you like to do the hill again, how about a turn on the front

Mechanical issues were certainly not limited to TH pro cycling with the two Campag bikes experiencing shifting “complications” and whilst aesthetically pleasing I’ve found Campag to be like a highly strung thoroughbred horse, with a right cob on.

Crossing the A505 took us to the undulating part of the route where the lanes narrowed and traffic became almost non-existent as we headed through the North Essex countryside with not a spray tan or white stiletto in sight. Once into Clavering there followed a swift downhill blast into Newport, where the less well travelled commented on how quickly we had arrived in South Wales. What goes down must go up saw us undertake a stiff climb out of Newport to around the back of Saffron Walden where the route take us erroneously onto a Byway. There was little appetite for off road excursions so we retraced our steps and rode through Debden and soon were back on course.

Debden leads on to Thaxted and with the temperature steadily increasing we arrived at Finchingfield at 11:00. It was already very busy with cyclists, motorcyclists and general day-trippers. We parked on the green outside the busier of the cafés, ordered food and refreshments and posed for a few photos. There was a degree of consternation that the pub wouldn’t serve alcohol until 12:00, although there was a glimmer of hope when someone appeared with a pint in their hand only to discover it was non-alcoholic. Some did manage to procure a can of cider from the café, all it needed was a brown paper bag to complete the vagrant look. The food was good value, the Mars bar crispy cake was so calorie laden it made the Scottish alternative, the deep fried Mars bar, appear as the healthy option.

After about 20 minutes the 2nd group arrived having braved the Byway, but from accounts and with a nod to the long groups normal navigational prowess took a number of wrong turns on their way out.

After an hours rest we set off with the promise of one more stop for ale at the last pub in Duxford. Progress was brisk as we took in last years TDF Stage 3 route albeit in reverse until our first puncture of the day halted our progress just before the descent into Saffron Walden. Once through Saffron Walden we hit the tail wind full on and quickly progressed from Audley End to Duxford at about 28 MPH, in fact we were so quick we flew straight past the pub we were due to stop at although this was quickly addressed by stopping in the next village.

100 miler 5

Whilst stopped the 2nd group came past without stopping and we got going after a short break and quickly recovered our lead. The remainder of the ride was largely uneventful although the pace was reasonably swift until Jacob punctured. Whilst he may be the quickest rider his puncture repair speed is definitely 4th Cat. I’d say it was about a 15 minute wait, which allowed the 2nd group to once again claim the lead.

From here on in we started to go our separate ways as it had been a long day and the time was getting close to 3:00PM

To summarise we were exceptionally lucky with the weather, the turnout from club members was good and I hope everyone enjoyed riding on slightly different roads than we might do on a normal Sunday.

Until next time.