The 8 club members who met at St. Ives at 8am on Sunday 24 dampen their spirits as the light-ish northerly wind gave us assistance rolling over to St. Neots to meet up with SNCC & other SICC members in the Market Square for the start of the charity ride in aid of the victims of the Philippine typhoon. There was time for a quick pit-stop to take on supplies & jettison unwanted fuel by-products (not into the same cup!) at Café Nero, before being organised into groups, mixing SICC & SNCC riders. I was planning on hiding in a ‘medium’ paced group, however my plans were thwarted immediately when the first (‘fast’) group assembled & being light on numbers I was summoned over. As I was
keen to point out to anybody who would listen, I felt like cannon fodder, or a disposable tissue, there to receive a good pasting until I fell by the wayside! However this did not really turn out to be the case, as we were led out by a couple of SNCC boys for the first few miles at a brisk but not unmanageable (for me) pace. I was glad they were at the front, I had no idea of the route – yes it was in my Garmin but as anybody who knows me will agree, that’s all very well but you do need to look at the display and or follow the directions from time to time!
Nothing remarkable happened on the ride out, so I’ll save time by cutting to the main event – the cake stop. One word – FANTASTIC! We were greeted at Hargrave village hall like a pro peloton, helpers at the ready to cater for our energy needs. Entering the hall we were met by a table groaning under the weight of savouries, cakes, biscuits, energy gels, more cakes, flapjacks etc. etc…… I felt it was my duty to stand by the table & politely sample a few items – it would have been rude not too! And there was more, tea & coffee poured for us and energy drink on tap. All this in exchange for a donation! I think SNCC were joking when they said it was like this for them every week, a 25 mile ride out, massive pit stop then a 22 mile ride/stagger home! Eventually we decided that we would have to leave something for other riders, now piling into the hall and we staggered outside to heave a leg over the bike & try to hit the road.
Again nothing remarkable to report on the return, aside from one puncture (SNCC rider on Michelin Pro 4’s). This was unsurprising given the amount of gravel/muck & general detritus on the roads. During the change, we were passed by a following group, which was fine until Andy, Sean & a couple of the SNCC guys sniffed their blood shortly before entering Eaton Socon & decided to put the hammer down & overhaul them. I was left for dust, but we managed to regroup before St. Neots proper. Arriving together, there was talk of how much we had enjoyed the ride (and the stop!) and discussed the possibility of a repeat combined ride organised by SICC – although hopefully it would not require a disaster of the proportions inflicted by the typhoon to spur us into action.
It was great to chat & exchange ideas, info & generally pass the time on the road with friends from SICC & make new friends from SNCC.
If you managed to get out (inc the ‘standard’ club run), I hope you had an enjoyable ride.
Please let me know how it went for you…
I look forward to seeing you soon.
Richard Neil
