The first day of clear blue sky and ever-present sun, since the recent bad spell of snow and ice, brought riders out in their hundreds. Well not literally hundreds, more metaphorically really, more than just a few to be precise, well alright then, 18.

Just being out on the bike brought a smile to almost every face, save perhaps for Mike Bowen who’d been suckered by a puddle concealing a pothole, which brought him crashing down 4 weeks ago, resulting in bruised ribs sufficient to keep him off the bike ever since, until today.  Let that be a lesson to us all, - never ride through a puddle, ‘cos you never know what lurks beneath!

Those hoping to make up for lost miles were John Steed, Mark Eastwood, Richard Lines, Richard Balaam, new member Di Bellingham, Barry Denny, Peter Heath, Nathan Colman, Paul Barry, Richard Seggar, Jeff Agricole, Tony Panting, Mark Taylor, Boyd Nicholas, Mike Bowen, Dave Tilly and guests Glenn and Roger.

It soon became evident to all within 50 yards of it, that Jeff’s front wheel bearing was in terminal decline. If you’ve ever heard the bride and groom’s car driving away from the reception with a string of tin cans tied to the rear bumper, then you have captured absolutely the resonance and timbre of the said bearing. Quite how it held together for the duration of the ride is a mystery to us all. This noise was accompanied at every junction by the unearthly caterwauling which emanated from our Chairman’s cantilever brakes. To this we can add his gears, (I use the term lightly), which missed and jumped at every opportunity but especially when he’d just lost yet another Prime. Might Nathan’s expertise be called upon to give the machine a thorough overhaul, even if just for the sake of those riders with tinnitus who experience execrable pain every time said brakes are applied ?

Ride leaders John and Mark soon decided that the mixed ability group should be split up, so that both smaller groups could proceed without undue delays. This split was made shortly after puncture number one, quickly fixed by Nathan; we went our separate ways in Whepstead, agreeing to head into the westerly wind for Newmarket at around 11am. The best laid plans…………

The faster of the two groups, about a dozen of us, headed for Hartest where puncture number 2 was again sorted by Nathan. Now heading along the lane for Hawkedon, punctures 3 and 4 accompanied each other, with Nathan called to arms once more and him dashing from one bike to another in case we mere mortals should either a) cock things up or b) slow things right down. Having depleted one CO2 cartridge, even Nathan had to admit defeat and use that outdated technology, the bicycle pump.

It looked like we might never make the tea stop, when puncture number 5 convinced many that the ride was destined to admit defeat. Leading the scores to this point was Tony Panting with 2 punctures; it soon became obvious that the recent spell of inclement weather, causing the Council to grit the roads was the cause of all our woes, as one flint after another was dug out of rubber. The flints were no respecters of reputation, as firstly Continental, then Schwalbe fell victim to their attack!

The group breathed a sigh of relief as we approached Ashley, whereupon the Chairman, who shall be nameless, took off down the hill like a startled rabbit, chased by Paul and Peter, with Nathan enjoying the ride at the back, after all he’d earned it!

We finally made Coffee and Co at 12 noon, an hour late. Little did we know that Mark and John’s group had only arrived at the Clock Tower café some 10 minutes earlier, after yet more punctures.

With no room inside Coffee and Co, the group braved the cold weather to sit outside before setting off the usual way home via Snailwell, Chippenham, Red Lodge, Tuddenham and Cavenham and thus back to town. But not before punctures 6 and 7 provided yet more opportunities for social discourse, and for Nathan to demonstrate his expertise yet again. Paul Barry now joined Tony on two punctures each. We decided that Nathan should be mentioned in Dispatches for loyal service above and beyond the call of any skilled mechanic, well done and thank you Nathan from us all.

I reckoned a total of at least 8 punctures, is this a Club-run record?

The writer clocked 59 sunlit miles but ‘Tom-Tom’ would have made it closer to 70.

Thanks again to Nathan for the photos.