The Market Square this morning was awash with existing members , new members and prospective members all ready to set out and conquer the roads of Cambridgeshire on a fine and sunny morning.

For those who think 8.30 is an early start spare a thought for our John Brysden ( TT timekeeper ) who was at the roundabout at Buckden on the A1 at 5.30am marshalling a 100 mile TT (Biggleswade to Buckden roundabout) for 3 circuits. The Buckden Old Boys reported that on their way down the A1 to the Club run they were not passed by anyone riding the 100 mile TT!

This morning we had an Intro Ride , Group 1 and Group 2 ride and almost 50 riders .

Good luck to all the Club members heading down to Wales this weekend for the Dragon Ride.

Intro Ride

Bright sunshine and perhaps a bit of word of mouth drew out a good sized group for the Introductory Ride with 10 attendees and five volunteers to assist with managing the group. It was good to see the return of Joanna F (SNCC member 100) to the Market Square after a few busy weekends as well as return attendees Judy D (local Breeze ride champion) and Sam G.

Due to some confusion the ride was advertised as 30 miles rather than the planned 21 and everyone seemed happy to have a crack at that at the same intro ride pace. Gareth was leader for the ride and  called the group together for the usual pre-ride briefing for those unfamiliar with group riding and the associated signals and calls. The route was  towards Great Paxton and the Offords with Paxton Hill not seeming to pose a problem for everyone though the descent was a touch cautious until everyone had got comfortable with riding a group.

From the Offords we headed further north to Godmanchester and into Huntingdon with the group staying together well even with a slight separation due to traffic in Godmanchester. Fortunately the lights on the Huntingdon one way system  didn't separate the group and allowed us to carry on towards Brampton .

From Grafham we turned towards Perry with the group being split by traffic at the junction but the climb into Perry allowed regrouping to occur. The run from Perry to Great Staughton was uneventful apart from Dave W having a slight mechanical coming into Great Staughton.

The group again maintained good formation through to Little Staughton but Spring Hill caused the pack to fragment slightly and this was the first (and only) time we needed to stop to regroup though a truck trying to pull out of the top of Moor Road caused some confusion.

The pace back in via Bushmead Road was a bit quicker than expected by some with a few comments about people being in a hurry to get back for coffee. Average pace was 14.5 mph and even though that was slightly over the "advertised" it seems everyone enjoyed their time out in the sunshine.

Thanks to Colin, Alec, Dave W, Andy H and Chris P that came along to assist and kept the group together well. Hopefully we'll see some people try the group 2 rides with some assistance and encouragement from existing members.


Breeze Rides

Also as a reminder Judy is planning to run longer Breeze rides on a fortnightly basis alongside the club runs (same time and at the Market Square). These are ladies only rides and limited on numbers due to how the BC/Breeze insurance works and are intended as a stepping stone from the existing Breeze rides up to riding longer distances. Ladies who are interested need to book via the Sky/BC/Breeze website and the first event can be found here (http://www.goskyride.com/Search/Details?eventid=23509), the search will allow people to find shorter rides if they find the Sunday distance a bit daunting at first."

Group 2

Group 2 had a longer than usual route of 55 miles with the option of turning back to St Neots at Old Weston for a 37 miler. 12 of the Group set of led by Mark Greenhow and the other 7 set off 5 minutes later. A steady pace was set by both groups and 4 of the 7 turned for home at Old Weston leaving Steve, Simon and Alistair to catch the other 12 or at least get to Oundle in time to join them for a cup of tea. More by luck than good judgement we saw them cycling towards us about a mile outside Oundle and we then had to make the call of going into Oundle for a coffee stop or turning round and catching them . Decision made, the turn was executed and we soon caught them at the busy junction with the A605. They denied that they had stopped in Oundle.

The group was now 15 and the pace lifted as the wind moved to our backs and we enjoyed the rolling track back to St Neots and coffee in the sunshine at the Market Square

Group 1

Group 1 we are told enjoyed a “magical mystery tour” of over 60 miles.