“Where are we going again?” said one, “Burton Constable” said another. “How are we getting there then” enquired yet another. “By Bewholme” said one while someone else claimed “By Sproatley”. Are we confused yet, bring back a proper route master I say! Meanwhile Heather was trying desperately to text the route instructions to Neil (in case he could join us along the route) while getting more and more confused as each rider chucked in their own pennyworth. Eventually it was established that the intention was to follow a clockwise route. Phew, how difficult was that, and we hadn’t even set off yet.
Having decided on Bewholme as the first port of call, we were all now on the same “hymn sheet”. Following our usual route to Leven and Brandesburton, the pace remained brisk pushed along with light winds generally in our favour. On reaching Bewholme, we turned south to face head winds on the way to Seaton and Sigglesthorne. “Right here!” shouted Mark as we followed him through the village on a road we’d never seen before. “You’ll know where you are when you get to the junction” he said confidently. “Ah yes, I know where we are now” claimed Michael as we turned towards Rise.
Shortly after leaving Sigglesthorne, Heather decided to take to the front. On approaching the Catwick junction she called out for confirmation that we were continuing. “Straight On!” came the shout from behind, however with the wind whistling through her ears she interpreted the call as “Hold On” so yanked on the brakes almost causing a concertina effect with those following close to her wheel.
At the Rise junction, Mark and Pugwash were about to turn left towards Rise when Matty piped up “Shouldn’t we be going the other way?” he queried adding for good measure “You’ll just meet yourself coming back going that way”. “Well this is the way we normally go to Burton Constable” assured Pugwash, “The other way would take you back to Skirlaugh”. “Aaah💡 yes, you’re right”. On reaching New Ellerby it seems everyone was now familiar with their surroundings as a chorus of “LEFT HERE” rang out.
While enjoying our Al-fresco lunch at Burton Constable, a couple with a dog 🐕 sat at a table nearby. As with most dogs they can be somewhat inquisitive and this one was on a very long extendable lead. Just as Pugwash noticed it sniffing at Matty’s bike, it then cocked its leg to relieve itself over his front wheel. I have to say Matty took the information stoically and with good grace, however when it started sniffing around my bike enough was enough forcing Pugwash to “bark” in the dog’s direction, at which point the couple reined their dog in.
The ambience of our surroundings, good food and great company led to a longer break than usual, however it was time to hit the road back home. Now we really were all singing from the same sheet as we all knew which way we were going. Despite turning back into head winds, the pace remained relatively high for a Friday ride, with Chad taking the lions share on the front, as we sailed through Sproatley and even directly across the main “Hull Road” at Coniston and onwards to Swine.
The final leg of our journey took us along well travelled roads to Meaux and Routh before returning to Beverley. This was a flattish ride but with a decent pace enjoyed by all but I’m sure we will all appreciate the return of our superb Friday ride routemaster.