Sunday, 11 February 2018
Peter writes: Eight of us left Brookside on a beautiful sunny morning. Cold and windy but everyone was dresssed for it so we had a very pleasant run down to Saffron Walden in bright sunshine and got the usual friendly welcome at La Bicicletta, which was unsurprising packed!
We then headed off via Debden Green, Henham, Ugley and Rickling to lunch at Clavering, having lost some riders and gained some (now up to ten). We were now riding mostly into a strong and cold westerly wind, so it was a good thing I had planned a shorter route, having seen this in the weather forecast. Along the way we saw a small herd of five deer cross the road - not sure exactly what type but quite large.
We arrived just after 1pm and the Fox and Hounds was pretty empty so we were served fairly quickly, apart from Edmund whose lunch only arrived after he had started to wonder if they had forgotten him! Food was generally good - the vegetarian choice was quite limited but I was happy with my baked potato. Note that on Sunday lunchtimes they don't serve pizza (or at least they were not today). I would recommend using this place more - the welcome and food is good and it's well placed for lunch for us.
After lunch, since the weather was forecast to deteriorate, everyone agreed we should take a direct route home, so we headed back via Duddenhoe End, Elmdon and Ickleton. The weather did indeed change and as we climbed into Elmdon we had the first hail shower, just to keep us awake. We got another on the way down to Ickleton and as we passed the Hinxton Ford (in full flood, nobody was tempted to ride through it) the hail came back, this time hard and longer lasting, and both temperature and visibility dropped noticeably, so we all stopped to put on lights and and extra layer. It didn't dampen our spirits and stopped before we got back to Cambridge.
A good day out, and the sunlight was a welcome treat after the weather we have been having recently. My GPS recorded 95km (
59 miles) for the day - felt further and definitely harder than on a warm summer's day - but fun!
Peter Hutchison
Download
GPS track (GPX).