Club run reports - 6th November

Category 6 ride led by Tony Dos Santos

The weather forecast advised it was going to be biblical (I had to get that word in lol)! By 8 the Slack channels were buzzing with cancellations. The word was out - it was going to be biblical and brutal (windy lol). 
The categories dropping like flies, but the mighty 6’s still advised they were going ahead. Category 4 riders confirmed they would come on a shorter ride with cat 6. 
Enzo stupidly said he’d meet me in Broxbourne; confirmed, I met him at 8.45. The rain was lashing down - truly biblical. However there were no thunderbolts and lightning (Galileo, Galileo)! As we were riding, Enzo couldn’t clip in on his left cleat. However, he soldiered on. 
We arrived at 9.15 in Ware to find riders had actually turned up! Alex Powell, Peter Kelleway, Carolyn Kelleway, Enzo Misuraca, Ian Bembridge and Peter Bloomfield. I have to give a massive shout out to these lunatics who arrived in the most horrid, no biblical (lol) weather. Well done. 
We were all raring to go, when Mr Bloomfield (being official here, I mean he is the club chairman, or is it chairperson nowadays) advised he couldn’t find his car keys. We all asked him if he had left them in the car, but he didn’t respond as he obviously thought he’d locked the car. Then someone had the foresight to pull his front door open and Peter found the keys inside. What a silly sausage, eh! 
We left 5 minutes late, I know, I know, very tardy, but we can blame the chair for that! 
Off we went, going off at a cat 4 pace. I try to control them, but I can’t. Soaked within minutes, but still chipper and full of high spirits. 
There were more puddles than Puddlesville from Puddleland, but we rode on. 
Up through High Cross and into Pest House Lane, where I got a PB, yes a PB in the middle of winter, amazing eh! And on through more wet lanes yada yada yada, blah blah blah. 
We got to Mill End Plants at 11.00. Alex said his goodbyes as he was too cold. 
We rushed in to get the Bakewell. It was empty inside and I spied the cake - only a couple of slices left. I got to the till and YES, I got a piece, albeit the last piece and the people behind didn’t get any. Apologies! 
The food came out and then the rain absolutely hammered it down. I don’t mean came down a little, it came down so much, it was truly biblical! At 11.30 after we were fed and watered, I took the extreme decision to order another hot chocolate. Luckily it was a good move, as the rain kept on falling. After a quarter of an hour the rain eased and we decided it was now or never. 
We donned our wet gear and got absolutely soaked, but still in good spirits. Enzo was  still having issues with his left cleat. Poor sod. 
The wind was against us and it was truly brutal. 
We got back to Ware around half past one. Eight riders who braved the “great storm” of 2022 and came out the other side. 
Not a single mechanical or puncture. That’s amazing considering the lanes were a mess. 
Thank you all for coming. 
Obviously, written on the throne. Love and kisses. Over and out.