Cloudy, possibility of rain, ten riders ready to face the rigours of South Suffolk. Sharon had flogged her Bianchi, finally having faced up to the fact that, though beautiful, it was just too big. Riding a steel frame of a certain age proved no handicap. Jonathan Howe was back for more after an eventful Espresso ride on Sunday, Mike Cross provided the otherwise missing ray of sunshine and Richard 'Tom-Tom' Seggar was our routemaster for the Mystery Tour. The others on the bus were Justin, Peter H, Jeff Agricole, Ron and our ever-perky 12-hour hero Tiger Tony. Checking bus-passes was your correspondent SJH.

No surprises in the early part of the ride, just the usual 'tom-tom' convolutions, twists, turns and steep, narrow climbs followed by equally steep and uncomfortably narrow descents. We've been through Barking before, and sometimes Somersham – but seldom Offton.

Hadleigh raised the spirits (I'd not heard where our tea-destination would be), and Peter shouted “The Orangery's open!” to retreating backs and deaf ears. More of that shortly. I had now prised the secret of our Tea from Justin. East Bergholt sounds like a long way from Bury;
well, whilst not being a huge way away it is very far from near. Then we met the horse. We saw it in good time for a cautious approach. We were encouraged when the rider, on seeing ten brightly coloured riders weaving about in the road, and knowing – as we could not – that his mount was unimpressed with our presence, wheeled round in the road and briskly retreated, and sought protection in a driveway. We all (so we at the front thought) passed safely.

I have today discovered that this wasn't the case. Poor Peter was stuck the far side of the entrance, as the horse proceeded to do all in its not inconsiderable power to unseat the unfortunate (and, Mark Harris would probably maintain, incompetent) rider. We cyclists stick together, look out for each other, and the Wednesday ride is veritable Band of Bikies. So I'll quote from Peter's version “Ron looked back and [saw] my predicament, so decided to use the opportunity for a pee.”

I'll let Peter continue

“I then chased after the group, caught up at a T junction, then called them to a halt so Ron wasn't left guessing [wasn't that p*ssing?] The three of you obviously didn't hear the many shouts to stop and just kept going. By the time Ron arrived you were out of sight and way ahead. Shortly afterwards the route took a left and across many fields we could see the three of you out of the saddle on a decent climb and obviously oblivious to the fact that you had left the group way behind. We decided this was your own bloody fault, you were too far ahead to do anything about
it anyway and kept going. Ride leaders really should look over the shoulder every now and again, especially after junctions to ensure the group is together".

Quite so Peter.

Justin, Jonathan and I were (see above) oblivious to all of this. We found this quite challenging little hill. Long enough to be interesting, and for my weight penalty of 2 ½ stone to become a bit of a problem. We stopped and waited, presuming a puncture. Ho ho! we cried, they're certainly a long way behind. Finally we decided to go back and look. No sign at all, of course, but we reached the left turn they must have taken, and followed the signs for East Bergholt.

Tea was excellent, and taken in two separate groups, eying each other across the (now) sunlit terrace. Having got into a jam of our own making, Justin and I tucked into scones with jam of the Café's making (we asked). Jonathan had something slight that came in little packets.

Home via Flowton and The Channel (see previous ride accounts), Ringshall, Combs, Gt Finborough and home. 69 miles, and the weather sunnier but still not hot. The pace was sufficiently comfortable to allow me to mow the lawns when I got back.

Just two punctures; one for Justin and one for Tom-Tom. This last was in Jack's Lane, and the victim gallantly told us to carry on without him. It is generally considered wise to keep a safe distance from a puncture sufferer, as the photo shows