In the words of the late great George Harrison - "It's been a long cold lonely winter" and it was great to ride out in bright sunshine for the start of our first road ride of the year.
It doesn't seem five minutes since we were staggering home from the Old Sun after our Xmas ride. Perhaps that's because I've staggered home form the Old Sun on several other occasions since then or simply that time really does go quicker as we get older. Whatever the reason, the start of the new season seems to have leaped upon us and this may explain why we were a bit low on numbers; Brian, Chris H, Loren and, for the first half, Everton making up the crew.
Like a premier league football club, we have new kit and shirt sponsors for the season (thanks to the guys at the Old Sun). This may be the only similarity we have with elite sportsmen but I have to say we looked very smart as we set out down Oliver Street; Loren looking extra smart on his new bike.
Tradionally, the first ride of the year has been a very short slog up Limbersley Lane, round Haynes and back via Clophill, but the sunshine spurred us on to be more adventurous and we headed out to Dead Man's Cross and Haynes Silver End. Thanks to Everton and a brisk tailwind we kept a decent pace on the way out, even up Great Lane.
In truth, the ride was pretty un-eventful but it was just nice to be out. Coming back towards Haynes we spotted some "real" cyclists in the distance and set off in pursuit. It felt great to reel them in and pass them on the climb up towards Church End, but the shine was taken off our achievement when we realised they were riding foldable bikes! They weren't quite Mini-Moultons, having 24" wheels and the riders were wearing lycra.
Everton left us at the top of Great Lane to go and do some real training with Bedford CC. More in keeping with the ethos of the club, the rest of us headed for the Stone Jug.
It was very tempting to stay for a second pint of Old Cobbler but we decided discretion was the better part of valour and returned to the Old Sun. As expected, the temperature dropped dramatically as soon as the sun went down and it was a chilly ride back to Ampthill; some may have regreted wearing shorts.
The Old Sun was busy and the Bombardier, Adnams and Tribute were all in tip top condition.
I was given a freshly caught trout by one of the regulars which prompted a pub-wide discussion on the best way to gut, clean and cook it. Not surprisingly, there were nearly as many receipes as customers. Against the odds, I did remember to take the fish out of my bag and put it in the fridge when I got home ( I baked it with lemon and tarragon for Friday's tea if anybody's interested).
All in all, a very satisfying start to the season, just about clocking up 20 miles.
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