3 January 2010. Bright, Cold, Crisp and Scarey

A modestly attended ride of three, possibly certifiable, participants. Paul Callow, Paul Rooke and me. On our way out of town we met Deane, wrapped in the safety of his 2.7 litre Audi and heading for B&Q. When a cyclist prefers DIY to a ride, something is amiss. That something was possibly just what we three had overlooked; the danger of falling or being knocked off our bikes through a lack of skill/lapse of concentration by ourselves or a motorist.

Westley roundabout, head for Fornham, tempted to turn left to Risby - go a few hundred yards and change our minds. Lots of black, and some white ice. We end up going through Fornhams and left towards Culford, just keeping to the treated roads - though they still had a fair amount of hard-frozen slush down the middle of each carriageway. As we travelled northwards there was more snow on the fields, making for absolutely stunning views in brilliant sunshine (you had to be there). King's Forest was enchanting - but sheltered from the sunshine, and thus requiring quite a bit of concentration. Just as well Paul C was concentrating, and was thus able to warn us that about eight Does were hurtling at the road from the right. As we watched, slack jawed in amazement, they crossed at about 18mph, each one doing a leap and a shake of the hind legs at the same spot as they passed. Breathtaking sight. And the bloke with the camera did nothing.

A quick dash along A11 (less than a mile) at Elveden and first right down to Barnham, hoping to get through to Euston. Well, we tried Barnham village, but as you can see below, it was going to be a very, very difficult couple of miles. The white stuff you see was rock hard and polished. We gave up. A whizz down a nearly deserted A134 brought us back to near Fornham, where I turned off to Gt Barton and home. 38 miles pretty slowly - but well worth it. No really. SJH