CTC Cambridge

Thursday 2 May 2024 

Greg writes: As Greg sat at the bus-stop (don't worry: no public transport users were inconvenienced since there's no public transport hereabouts) he espied the approaching riders. Was it T.E. Lawrence emerging from the Saharan sands? Was it the four horsemen of the apocalypse heralding the rapture? No, just Andy and Sarah pursued by others (to wit: Yasmin, Simon, Ed and Richard). So the ride began for me as I intercepted the others in Harston.

This was a first for the club (well, maybe not, but the records don't show otherwise). A jointly led ride, with the honours (and duties) being shared between Andy and Greg. You may think this is some novel, innovative idea driven forward by our new and impassioned committee. You would be wrong. It was a state caused by that well known ailment: Diary Incompetence. Scarily close to Diahorrhea Incontinence when spoken out loud, but there the similarity ends, thankfully.

DI, as it shall henceforth be known, arises when two people have told differing audiences that they will lead a ride on any given day, only for each to discover the other's offer a week before said ride. So, Andy did the heavy lifting: route planning, starting the ride and leading on the difficult bits. Yours truly did the Gary Lineker role, hanging around and going for glory from the 6-yard box: i.e. writing the blog!

Anyway, we bowled along the A10 cycleway, meeting David W at the other bus stop in the village, and on to the level crossing at Foxton. It was there we expected to meet Ian and Sheila. It was not to be. Further logistical confusion had arisen since Andy expected them to be there. However a quick call established that they were waiting at the Shepreth crossroads, and that's where we met them some five minutes later.

We took an incident-free ride on the usual route to Ashwell via Bassingbourn. Well, incident-free except for the near unanimous complaints, moans, grons, mumbles and general belly aching. No, not about the ride leadership, about the cold. Greg had donned shorts for the first time this year and had also put on suncream. It was clearly his fault that the weather was now grey, overcast and bloomin' freezin'! Garmin showed the temperature at 13C and falling.

At Ashwell we stopped at the most inconvenient corner as we reassembled the group and bid farewell to David W.

So we headed up hill and down to the tricky task of crossing the A505. Having successfully negotiated it we now headed uphill towards quieter lanes as we approached the ridgeway. All except Ian who had a pause to consider his instruments. He was getting a signal through that his rear tyre was leaking softly. After a hasty appraisal he determined that a puff could carry him to coffee.

The delay meant he arrived some ten minutes after the rest of us. There we had been met by Craig, who was sat at an outside table awaiting us (welcome back, long time no see). Sarah would have none of it: the temperature was falling further and sitting outside wasn't an option so we duly decamped inside to enjoy coffee and cake. And what cake! The bakewell slice pieces were ENORMOUS. However, both Ed and Andy stood up to the challenge and the honour of the club was defended as they polished off their respective portions.

Fed and watered we saddled up and set off on the 26 km 16 miles to lunch after bidding a farewell to Yasmin. The temperature now was at the low point for the day – some 12.4C. We hurried along.

The lanes here are quite lovely. Quiet, flowers bursting forth, the wealthy watching their gardeners cutting the grass – ah England in May. Indeed Sarah asked one of these yeoman types where the sun was. His lisped response took a little deciphering but 'Thpain' was either a reference to a Mediterranean European country or what he was in due to the cold. Any yet, shortly after this brief exchange the sun finally broke through. Spirits brightened and a balmy 19C was enjoyed as we plied the lanes up hill and down dale – crossing streams, splashing through puddles, inhaling rape and generally having a blast.

Lunch was at Ash Valley Golf Club. A small and intimate venue – the lady serving did her best but one person cannot multiple things make rapidly. That said, we were all happy to sit chatting in the sunshine overlooking the peaceful Ash Valley. Craig was quite taken with the place – checking up on membership fees etc.

Ed had to get back and so left early whilst Ian also had a somewhat fractured lunch since he was fettling his rear (no image supplied).

We left the club after a restful hour's break and headed north.

The weather was still balmy and pleasant and Andy led us onwards – taking the London to Cambridge route up to the Pelhams. Craig left us here and we carried on to Langley and then to the vally bottom. The route was kind to our aching legs as we went back over the ridgeway at Chrishall – the easier pass. Andy and Sarah departed at Chrishall Grange and the remainder of the group carried on, splitting as we all headed home.

A glorious ride (esp once the sun came out) of circa 122 km 62 miles with over 760m (2500 feet) of climbing and some genuine sunshine. What's more – two leaders – our cup truly ranneth over. Greg