It was a well-kept secret. Very few of us realised that Justin had achieved 63 years of age just the day before he turned up at the bus stop - so, not many cards for him, but free teas all round for us. And perfect weather, with brilliant sunshine in a pure blue sky. The only problem was the very strong wind, which would be in our faces all the way to our tea stop at Clare. The low angle of the November sun provided those deep shadows that make the landscape so dramatically beautiful in autumn, and the anti-cyclonic conditions gave us sparkling sharpness right to the horizon. Many trees have shed their leaves, but oaks, which have been late to change colour are still well-clothed in a modest shade of tan.
It was Justin's birthday privilege to choose a route, and he selected a favourite (of his) that began by heading north over the Bunbury cross roads to Livermere and working our way round via West Stowe to Lackford where we picked up the Icknield Way down to Kentford to pick up the road to Dalham and join the B1063 to Wickambrooke. There is a great deal of climbing involved between Kentford and Wickambrooke, most of it steady and not too steep, but a lot of it nonetheless. The memorable moment came when Tom-Tom, Peter Heath, Ron, Justin and I instituted by wordless agreement a 'through and off' chain whilst climbing. This is not easy, the possibility of a split if a rider goes through too hard, is far greater than on the flat. Skill is required; self control; discipline. We achieved it - until the point where road finally kicks up more steeply just before Wickambrooke, and we continued at the same pace (i.e. increased effort) thus losing the tail of the group. But it was a special moment. Next comes the climb up from Stradishall, to the summit above Hundon (hi, Kevin). After this, the long descent to Clare which the headwind made slow and effortful (I have a fixie's preference for a descent that doesn't require 150 rpm, so I didn't care).
Arrival at No1 Café and Deli about half an hour later than would have been expected, to the usual warm greeting.
In addition to the chain gang listed above, we had
Sharon, Tony and Peter Gay (who will have 
had a headwind all the way from Rickinghall!).
As we shuffled around trying to find enough space for all eight of us (and eight riders in clackety shoes do tend to make a place look untidy and sound less than tranquil) a very pleasant lady, who had, until we arrived, been enjoying a quiet hot chocolate in the sunshine streaming through the window (sun always 'streams' doesn't it?) insisted in getting up and removing herself to a smaller table to allow us room to sit down - which restored the calm
that had prevailed before we burst upon the scene with our voices tuned to conversation into a head wind. As we were about to leave, the PL asked "do you ever go north?". After a slight hesitation (Tom-Tom later confided "I though she meant Diss or Thetford to start with") we realised that she was talking Scottish sort of north, and Peter H was able to say that "yes" he had. PL's sister ran a restaurant on Harris. Peter had been there - not just Harris, but the very restaurant - and further added that it was "a very fine restaurant indeed" (you could almost hear us sigh with relief ), and we parted on a high note.
Return via Poslingford brought some tail wind, but not as much as we'd have liked - the road winds and weaves its way too wildly for that. The south westerly approaches to Bury are never kind to tired legs, and even though the pace had been steady all morning, there was suffering involved in getting home. 60 miles for me. Another lovely ride through Suffolk. SJH
and here is our pleasant lady's reply:-
Thank you.
Sarah Golding
sarahgolding@msn.com
It was Justin's birthday privilege to choose a route, and he selected a favourite (of his) that began by heading north over the Bunbury cross roads to Livermere and working our way round via West Stowe to Lackford where we picked up the Icknield Way down to Kentford to pick up the road to Dalham and join the B1063 to Wickambrooke. There is a great deal of climbing involved between Kentford and Wickambrooke, most of it steady and not too steep, but a lot of it nonetheless. The memorable moment came when Tom-Tom, Peter Heath, Ron, Justin and I instituted by wordless agreement a 'through and off' chain whilst climbing. This is not easy, the possibility of a split if a rider goes through too hard, is far greater than on the flat. Skill is required; self control; discipline. We achieved it - until the point where road finally kicks up more steeply just before Wickambrooke, and we continued at the same pace (i.e. increased effort) thus losing the tail of the group. But it was a special moment. Next comes the climb up from Stradishall, to the summit above Hundon (hi, Kevin). After this, the long descent to Clare which the headwind made slow and effortful (I have a fixie's preference for a descent that doesn't require 150 rpm, so I didn't care).
Arrival at No1 Café and Deli about half an hour later than would have been expected, to the usual warm greeting.In addition to the chain gang listed above, we had
Sharon, Tony and Peter Gay (who will have 
had a headwind all the way from Rickinghall!).As we shuffled around trying to find enough space for all eight of us (and eight riders in clackety shoes do tend to make a place look untidy and sound less than tranquil) a very pleasant lady, who had, until we arrived, been enjoying a quiet hot chocolate in the sunshine streaming through the window (sun always 'streams' doesn't it?) insisted in getting up and removing herself to a smaller table to allow us room to sit down - which restored the calm
that had prevailed before we burst upon the scene with our voices tuned to conversation into a head wind. As we were about to leave, the PL asked "do you ever go north?". After a slight hesitation (Tom-Tom later confided "I though she meant Diss or Thetford to start with") we realised that she was talking Scottish sort of north, and Peter H was able to say that "yes" he had. PL's sister ran a restaurant on Harris. Peter had been there - not just Harris, but the very restaurant - and further added that it was "a very fine restaurant indeed" (you could almost hear us sigh with relief ), and we parted on a high note.Return via Poslingford brought some tail wind, but not as much as we'd have liked - the road winds and weaves its way too wildly for that. The south westerly approaches to Bury are never kind to tired legs, and even though the pace had been steady all morning, there was suffering involved in getting home. 60 miles for me. Another lovely ride through Suffolk. SJH
and here is our pleasant lady's reply:-
I'm the lady who was in the Number One Deli in Clare, Suffolk on Wednesday, 25 November, who you were kind enough to buy a cappuccino for as I had moved tables so that you could all sit together... One of you, whose name I didn't catch, has cycled around the Isles of Harris and Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and knows of my sister's restaurant, The Anchorage, in Leverburgh on the Isle of Harris. My sister, Sally Lessi, asked me to say hello and to ask you your name as she does remember you coming in with a group of other cyclists, but can't remember what you look like specifically. Hope you don't mind my emailing you, got the email address from your website.
Thank you.
Sarah Golding
sarahgolding@msn.com
Google Translation of the previous post: The behaviour of a simple pleasure of others souls, prayer is better than thousands of people to bow their heads. ..................................................
ReplyDeleteI think, more work needed