Sunday, 29 March 2009
Mike Stapleton writes: Sunday was a good day with light winds and reasonable temperatures. It was a vast improvement on the week before, which had been very windy.
The ride was led by Ian Wright and I think about five riders came with him from Brookside. I met them at Barkway golf club as did four others. It was quite a crowd - and there were a lot of golfers in the clubhouse too.
From the golf club Ian took us through Anstey and Little Hormead to Furneux Pelham. This was a lovely quiet ride except for a single motorist who hooted as he passed. We then went via Little Hadham (with its traffic lights that take forever to change) to Much Hadham and Tye Green, where we had lunch at the Prince of Wales. We met Tony and Sue and a number of Herts riders in the Pub.
I was surprised when five of our group went home at lunch time. It was perfect cycling weather though cloudy and cool. Ian and I did the first circuit this year around the east side of Hatfield Forest and Stansted Airport. It was really quiet on the road to Elsenham. It makes me think that the number of people using Stansted Airport has gone down a lot. Perhaps they won't build the second runway after all. It's is a shame that they are proposing to build it on beautiful open countryside which I love.
Then we went over the railway at Elsenham and checked that the small shop and snack bar were still open - which they were, though it is closed on Sunday afternoons. We had time to view the extraordinary bridge built in haste over the railway when the two young girls were killed crossing it a couple of years ago.
It was about this time that the sun came out and it warmed up a lot. We arrived at the Bull at Langley Lower Green about twenty to five where we met the afternoon riders and two others.
After tea the riders split up and I think most returned to Cambridge via Duxford.
Today was a very enjoyable spring ride with daffodils everywhere you looked. England may have its share of problems but the beauty of our countryside on a nice spring day takes some beating.
Mike Stapleton.