Whilst we definately claim to be the original, we are certainly not the only group of cyclists to make the Old Sun our base. One other such group ride cross-country, alternating between Tuesdays & Wednesdays. These guys are serious; they ride full-on all year round with a "devil take the hindmost" philosophy that's not for the faint hearted.
We'd heard that they'd split into an "A- Team", for the Unforgiving, and a "B-Team" for the slightly less hard, so Brian, Mick & Chris H decided to go and see what it's all about.
After some debate, it was decided that both groups would head for Chicksands Woods. We set off in a pelaton of 16 bikes, heading out via Maulden & Clophill and skirting the the perimeter of Chicksands military base before arriving, reasonably en masse in the woods.
The early pace was frantic but we managed to keep in the main group, thanks in part to the need to slow as we funnelled though numerous gates.
Once in the woods, we split into two- the A Team going off I know not where ( I heard mention of Hamburger Hill- which I thought was in Vietnam!)
The B Team elected to follow a route well known to us, around the perimeter of the woods, picking up one of the best pieces of single track in the area, before heading back to Ampthill via Maulden Woods, Limbersley Lane and Kings Wood.
Just to underline the full-on nature of the ride, we got a call after about 20 minutes from one of our colleagues. We thought he'd joined the A-Team but he'd stopped to fix two punctures and was riding round the woods looking for us- Fine in bright sunshine but not much fun in the middle of winter- but he didn't seem too bothered.
Synchronicity
As we stopped for a (rare) drink break before crossing the A6, the A-Team emerged from the hedgerow - looking every bit as knackered as the rest of us. It's incredible that after some 18 miles of riding we should end up at the same spot at the same time. There had been a further subdivision in the ranks and an A+ Team of three had headed out to Cardington- (because they could, I assume)
I'm not sure how much of the final few miles was legitimate bridleway but it made for interesting riding. We eventually emerged on the ridge above Houghton House to what would have been breath-taking views, had we had any breath left to take.
A final sprint down Ampthill Hill and through the town saw us arrive back a the Old Sun for much needed sustainance just beofre the heavens opened.
It was a fantastic ride, in great company. Given that we reconned we gave our hosts between 8 and 28 years per man, we thought we did pretty well and awarded ourselves a B+. We'll certainly be back for more in the near future. Thanks to Nick, Steve and the rest of the crew.
Ampthill- Maulden-Clophill-Chicksands-Ampthill- Approx 23 miles off-road in about 2 hrs 20 mins
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