Club Runs 20th December 2015

Cat 3 run led by Peter B
After reading about the Cat 6 troublefest the Cat 3 ride report may seem a bit bland!  Fourteen good ol’ boys set out on a fine morning that just seemed to get better  -  most unexpected weather for late December and very pleasant.  Two of the riders deserve special mention; John Highet back with his repaired Quest and Paul Stewart back with his repaired hand  -  good to see them both.  We set out South to traverse some less-visited (on club runs) areas of Hertfordshire; Hoddesdon, Brickendon, Bayford and Essendon before turning North again and travelling via Cole Green, Digswell and Welwyn to our café stop at the Codicote Garden Centre.  Then North via Knebworth, Walkern and Buntingford before a standard run back through Aspenden, Nasty and Levens Green and the “Thundridge Thrash” down the old A10 to Ware.  With the good weather there were only a few areas where mucky roads lurked and we managed to avoid punctures and mechanicals  -  good times!
Cat 6 run led by Danny H
What can go wrong, will go wrong.

17 wheelers made the grand depart from HQ heading to Belgium! for coffee and cakes. After 100 yards we were down to 16 as Kevin decided the blistering pace was more than he could handle and he jumped ship on to the cat 3's. Out through Amwell and Stanstead Abbotts before the first of many hills then down into Roydon where the first of the disasters struck none other than Martin Buckle. PUNCTURE!!!
After what seemed like a couple of hours but was really only about AGES, the offending wheel was fixed and we were once again on our way up another hill and then another hill before the next of the days mishaps struck. The front half of the peleton ( in the loosest sense of the word) somehow managed to loose the back half within about 500 yards after they missed the correct turning and headed down a dead end lane. When the front group realised that they were missing roughly half of the gang, the ride leader not worrying about his own safety for one minute set of to locate and rescue the waifs and strays. Cube to the rescue is how I like to remember it. Once I had rounded up the lost ( they were so grateful and never had the hump at all, NOT ) and rejoined the others we set off again. Alan the machine Clark had by now had enough of this rabble of a ride and split. They were no more problems for at least 5 miles and seeing as we were now a long way behind our scheduled arrival time at the cafe we took a short cut into Theydon.
Once again somehow ( dont ask me!) I noticed that we were again short of numbers and waited looking out for the missing crew to turn up. With that feeling of 'boy am I gonna get some stick for this ride' growing inside me they finally showed up. It turns out they had been waiting for captain Bob who was already in the cafe a mile further down the road. As was to be expected the general consensus of everyone in the cafe was that I was to blame for this shambolic ride and that a points deduction was in order. My take on it was totally different surprisingly.
When everyone had been fed and watered and now minus another 3 the call went out to head back as directly as possible. This we did, although that meant that we hit the biggest hill of the day almost immediately and 'cue' more moaning and cursing. Most people had by now decided enough was enough and made their own way back at their own pace. What had started with 17 was by the time we rolled back into base camp 3 or 4 at a push. Captain B and Lee M headed straight for the Bar and a much needed pint or two and I hung my head in shame.