Julia, Andrea, Averill, Rita, Pippa, Sue I, Debbie, Di, Tessa
Route - Melton to Orford and Back Via Tunstall
Distance Anything between 26 and 60 miles!
Today started well with all 9 ladies (think that might be the most we have had) turning up at the right time at the right pub. We were honoured today to have 2 members with us who can't often make it - 'Metafit Sue' who lives miles away and had CYCLED to the start point (a mere 18 miles) and at the time of writing, was still out there, so her mileage today will be colossal! We also welcomed Tessa back, who despite having a bike which weighs around a ton, seemed to float up the hills with barely an effort. We will not be encouraging Tessa to get a road bike as she would be frighteningly quick and show most of us up! As Debbie now does!
What to wear today was a bit of an issue as the weather was coolish, but warming up. I had come up with the idea of stuffing my jacket into a sandwich bag then into my second drink holder, an idea which met with some amusement from certain members of the group for some reason... Wait till I tell them where I stuff the group 'She Wee'....
En route to Orford we collected Andrea our 'pacer' who was definitely feeling energetic today. In fact over the whole ride, we managed our top average speed ever, which was good considering it was windy and some of the route was on slightly dodgy back roads. We managed an average of 13mph over 26 miles, which is a massive improvement on a few months ago - where we were averaging just 10.5mph. No wonder a HORSE overtook us back then - when it was not even trotting......oh the embarrasment.
We experienced our first serious bit of road rage today, with a very unpleasant driver brushing his car against Sue's bike and shouting at us. Charming! We were in single file too, but luckily Sue stayed upright and we carried on.
On arrival at Orford we stopped at our usual cafe for coffee and cake. As there were quite a few of us, Debbie and I proceeded to completely rearrange the whole of the coffee shop's tables and chairs, pretty much taking over the place, as 'normal' customers beat a hasty retreat to the corner. Are we scary in lycra? Clearly yes! Talking of which, Elfie, our resident 'Lycra fashion Queen' was sporting yet another very nice piece of kit (see photo - by the way anyone interested in taking her on for fashion shoots needs to go through her agent which is me).
There was, as usual, much fiddling around with money in ridiculously large denominations, so Debbie suggested we all bring £3 in coins each week to be pooled, for a drink and cake. Good idea and voted in. I wish I had taken a photo of Debbie's rhubarb swiss roll thing today, because it was absolutely massive. A bit too massive really considering she had not biked that far, but perhaps she had missed breakfast. Sue on the other hand had clocked up nearly 30 miles by the stopping point (and was not even half way into her ride) so was fully entitled to her giant sausage roll.
On the subject of food, we vaguely discussed celebrating birthdays, and all agreed that anyone with a birthday around the time of a ride should provide a cake (!) so we can er celebrate with them.
Always on the look out for an unsuspecting passer by to take a photo, we found a man loitering nearby, who for some reason thought we had biked from Nuneaton. (Or maybe that was just Andrea telling him she had had nothing to eat). He seemed particularly keen to take a photo of us, especially Andrea, and I half wondered if he was using his own phone, but was relieved to find out it was Andrea's. The result is in the gallery.
On the way back 'Zippy Pippa' charged off with Debbie, leaving the rest of us in their wake. This meant they ended up going the wrong way, and I only realized when Pippa sent me a text asking me where we were as she had stopped at the golf club to wait for us. As we went back via Campsea Ashe, she must have waited quite a while!
By then I was in my car driving home, so, as sometimes happens on any ride involving me, I managed to lose two riders. Still, I am sure we all got home in the end. (If Breeze from British Cycling ever read this, please don't blackball me for poor ride management).
All in all yet another very enjoyable ride with a great group. Next on the agenda is our Bike Maintenance evening next Thursday at 7.30pm, at mine. Bring your bike!
Julia