rshall
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Offshore, walking the dog
I finally took the plunge and contacted the local cycle club, well local branch of CTC, and turned up on one of their rides. With a mixture of fear and excitement I turned up at the car park 10 mins before starting and was one of the first there. All made me feel welcome and there was no snobbery.
We set off at a comfortable pace, 13mph, and wound our way through the Suffolk countryside. People rode alongside and chatted, and I found I could hold a conversation with them quite happily. The guy leading the ride got a puncture, everyone stopped and offered 'encouragement' in various forms. We continued on, and a couple on a tandem got a puncture, more 'encouragement' and talk of liquid latex, weekend activities and pumping ensued
After this the pace picked up a little to try to get to the cakestop in a reasonable time, and after an interesting shortcut down a bridleway we stopped at the tea shop. Restraint had to be shown as the cakes available were very tempting
. 30 minutes later we were on our way on the return leg.
With the wind behind us and the sun beating down it was very a pleasant ride back passing through many small village that I had heard of but had never visited. Soon we were close to the finish and people starting going their own ways home, all with a cherry 'goodbye' and 'see you next time'. Finally made it back to the start, 3 and 1/2 hours of riding, 43 miles and a big smile on my face. I really enjoyed it and will return another day, if a get another 'pass'!
We set off at a comfortable pace, 13mph, and wound our way through the Suffolk countryside. People rode alongside and chatted, and I found I could hold a conversation with them quite happily. The guy leading the ride got a puncture, everyone stopped and offered 'encouragement' in various forms. We continued on, and a couple on a tandem got a puncture, more 'encouragement' and talk of liquid latex, weekend activities and pumping ensued
After this the pace picked up a little to try to get to the cakestop in a reasonable time, and after an interesting shortcut down a bridleway we stopped at the tea shop. Restraint had to be shown as the cakes available were very tempting
. 30 minutes later we were on our way on the return leg.With the wind behind us and the sun beating down it was very a pleasant ride back passing through many small village that I had heard of but had never visited. Soon we were close to the finish and people starting going their own ways home, all with a cherry 'goodbye' and 'see you next time'. Finally made it back to the start, 3 and 1/2 hours of riding, 43 miles and a big smile on my face. I really enjoyed it and will return another day, if a get another 'pass'!
