Club run reports - 4th November

Category 5 ride led by John Farnham

The exciting prospect of the longer route to Buntingford saw seven Wheelers assembled at the start in Ware. Despite our best efforts not to get tangled up with the Cat 6 mob, we still managed to do this on the outskirts of town and finally managed to shake them off on the road down to Barwick Ford. Coming out of the metropolis of Greater Barwick we encountered 'road closed' signs and ignored them as usual, only to find that the road was actually completely closed with none of the usual provision for non-motorised persons. Fortunately an agricultural excursion and scrambling through a dry ditch put us back on the road once more. With our tyres back on the tarmac, we continued our outward leg through Standon Green End, Dane End, Gt Munden, Ardeley, Cromer, Rushden, Sandon to Buntingford. The Coffee Shop was busy as usual, but with just enough room for us all to get sat down inside. Return was via our usual outward route but in reverse order - Wyddial, Cave Gate, Anstey, Meesden, Pelhams (3 of),  Hadhams (2 of), Babbs Green and back to Ware. 52 miles, no punctures, mechanicals or tumbles.

Category 6 ride led by Mike East

Reading the above report, I cannot understand the need to disentangle and shake off  any category six rider or riders, such is the high athletic standard they achieve. They also set a high moral standard and would never, I repeat never, wilfully ignore a Road Closed sign. Indeed, the group would turn itself in at the local police station, if just one member of the group challenged the authority of the law in this way. Let us hope the Barwick Ford bobby reads the category 5 report and decides to pay the ride leader a visit. Hoist by his own petard, I say.
You might think the Good Lord would look favourbly on the saintliness of the category 6 group, but you would be mistaken, for soon after leaving the fives to commit their heinous crime, a flint lodged itself in one rider’s tyre. It took two inner tubes to repair the damage.
Cammas Hall was at its efficient best, taking orders and delivering them in minutes. It was their last day of the season, so no more visits there until next spring.
The return journey was speedy. First rides for Stuart and Yiannis. 16 riders, 38 miles and no offences committed (that we know of).

Category 3 ride led Graham Knight

This was a reprise of a September ride and again we enjoyed decent weather - though this time it was breezier and considerably cooler. The routes to Megarrys are hilly at the Ware end and flat at the Blackmore end. So it was up and down through Hadham, Sawbridgeworth and Matching Green then easy but windswept through Abbess Roding and Willingale. At some point John H became detached and was penalised by his Garmin which re-routed him at the cost of 7 extra miles.
Megarrys was quaint and cheerful as usual. The lady in charge had damaged her wrist in a fall but had recruited two young helpers who, under her expert tutelage, managed to produce beans on toast in addition to the usual cakes.The return was fast with a tail-wind and Tony pulling us along and there were some tired legs by the time we tackled the hills around Epping. The hills provoked a two rider break-away but the rest stuck together all the way back to Ware.The generally enjoyable ride was marred by two close encounters with overtaking cars; one merely impatient and reckless, the other deliberately designed to intimidate. Hey ho!