Saturday, 25 September 2021
Simon writes: In the absence of any other club rides publicised for today, and by popular request, Ray suggested Poppy's Barn in Clavering as being a good destination to pick out of a hat.He made the announcement on our website, accepted an offer of a place on the ride, and volunteered to be our co-leader. Assembled at Brookside for my sub-group were; Nigel D (our valiant webmaster), Jeff B (who now commutes from the Docklands because he still favours riding with our club), Mike S (doing well despite a lingering minor leg injury with his other sporting cycle club), and Phil N, who prefers to miss the town's tedium and wait for us in Fowlmere.
The complement in Ray's group comprised Nick G (last week's Centenary 100-mile co-rider), Phil B (recent member but now very regular club rider), and John F (who succumbed prematurely to the lure of Greystones café in Duxford, and left our group), but we did meet Mike S senior for tea at Poppy' s. The repeatedly head wind out rose to 15mph. making 12.6mph a challenging pace, but otherwise the weather was perfect; warm, sunny, and not the slightest hint of rain.
Unbeknownst to our riders, I had engineered, and shared with Ray, an optional extra 3-4 mile loop through Brent Pelham just before the Clavering tea stop, in case either group experienced delays for any reason and needed to opt for a 3-4 mile short-cut. My group rode it but after a few stop-starts Ray elected to by-pass the loop. So despite setting off 10 minutes after us, his group got to Poppy's 10 minutes before we did. But the resultant 10-minute delay cafe arrival timing was still perfect.
Phil N and Jeff initially competed for ownership over any of the remaining Cherry Brownies that Poppy's had on off. Human psychology being what it is, I very nearly asked for the same. So humorous it was, when the nice young lady had to announce that someone had beaten all of us to it, but I really don't regret the choice of Hazelnut Brownie and was convinced it was equally as scrumptious.
Their tea is also organic whole leaf, which many a tea connoisseur will hold as the mark of a good tea shop!
While waiting to pay for my treats, a couple of cyclists wearing Brazilian jerseys were happy to exchange a few words with me. When asked where they were from it amused Renato to say with a chuckle, that they were from Brazil... but no – they hadn't just cycled that far.
There is a series of childrens' comic books that has become nothing less than an icon of Brazilian cultural heritage, called Monica's Gang (Turma Da Monica). Just as my career has me playing with engines, axle grease, cycle mechanics and all things mucky, one of the characters, called Smudge (in English), is met by most Brazilians with recognition if I introduce myself as 'Cascão'
It's obvious that Poppy's are gaining popularity with cyclists. Reassuringly then, the staff were also willing to tell me that when they are busy they do have to turn away large groups who didn't bother to advise them of their plans to visit, and that our practice of emailing a few days in advance helps them greatly to plan and prepare, and that it makes them happy to prioritise our club's visits. https://poppysbarn.co.uk/
After a delightful half hour, our two groups formed a conjoined convoy for the tail-wind promoted ride home, while the adorably docile resident café dog shniffed our places to see who we were and what we'd had for tea. Simon