Sunday 19th September 2021
It may have been Sunday but there was no sign of the big orange ball in the sky. Indeed the weather forecast was full of gloom and doom with yellow warnings of heavy rain showers. With that in mind we had decided to abandon our originally planned route out to Saltburn and do a shorter one closer to “home”. We opted for a variation on Friday’s route, extending it further west and having the cafe stop back at the house.
The ride started with a little confusion. We were all waiting for Colin and James to “appear” but we eventually realised they were both waiting at the end of the drive, wondering what was taking us so long. We all set off together heading west with Chris leading the way.
While making our way up Sexhow Bank a loud “Phsst” sounded followed by a shout of “PUNCTURE”. We all stopped to check what had happened. It turned out it was a “phantom” puncture (must have been the poltergeist). After confirming all was OK, accusations started flying regarding what caused the noise. “Sounded like flatulence to me” suggested one person. Like a Knight in shining armour another offered up “It was probably a leaf caught in the brakes. It can make that kind of noise” this saving the blushes of the ‘accused’.
At Hutton Rudby we had a split as Alison and Sarah formed a splinter group and headed to Rudby to follow their own route. The rest of the peloton continued to Crathorne.
From Crathorne, the peloton continued West through Picton eventually joining the B1264. So far it has remained dry but as we headed towards Hornby the first spots of rain appeared so we stopped to put on rain jackets. The shower 🌧️ only lasted a matter of minutes and we soon stopped to remove them again. Sounds like that scene from The Karate Kid, jackets on, jackets off.
By the time we came to East Rounton we were back onto Friday’s return route. The only problem now was to miss out the short leg to Swainby.
By the time we returned to the house there was still no sign of the awful weather. Perhaps we could have stuck with the original plan after all, however I’m sure after Saturday’s “mountains” our legs were happier for the shorter route.
After bit of a rain shower, the sun came out allowing us sit out in the garden once more. Unfortunately we were being “buzzed” by wasps. “Let’s play a game” suggested one. “See who can get the wasp🐝 to land inside their bottle or can”. After a few false starts, the wasp eventually found its way into Colin’s can. “Mhm” he thought “How can I keep it there?”, “Oh I know, I’ll put my finger over the hole”. That turned out really well as his reaction to being stung on said finger was met with great hilarity and him being dubbed with sobriquet “Sting”. 😂
Somewhat later as the temperature started to fall, some people went to fetch jumpers or shawls for themselves or the “other half”. When Mike sat down wrapped in a lovely warm gilet the look on Jackie’s face was a picture. “What have I done?” he asked as she continued to shiver. Soon we all moved inside to warm up.
It was now time for the “awards ceremony”. With a pocket full of “gongs” (cycling keyrings), Sharrin began to announce the “winners”. ‘First off the Bike’ award went to Pugwash for a silly clippy pedal moment on Friday. The ‘Francis of Assisi’ (friend to animals 🐝) award went to “Sting”. The ‘Extra Miles OCD Finisher’ award went to Mark for his penchant for finishing a ride with a distance having a zero or a five at the end. The ‘Routemaster’ award went to Chris for all his efforts producing the Strava routes. Then we had a brand new category, the ‘Sir Lancelot Award for Chivalry’ which was given to Mike for his earlier efforts in charming his “senorita”.
The main awards then followed. We all sat with baited breath to see how we had all voted. First up was the ‘Mr Happy’ award. It was a close run competition but Chris took the accolade with Matt and Stephen runners up. The ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ award went to Sarah with Alison and Mike in the runners up spot. The ‘Best Dressed’ award provided a clear winner in Jenny with David and Colin taking the silver and bronze. There was a “steward’s inquiry” on which David had been voted for but on balance we reckon it should go to David Wilson. The final award was the one we all wanted to avoid and that was ‘Mr Grumpy’. To be honest I don’t think anyone here truly deserved such an moniker so the “honour” went to Jim Saunders who retained his title despite not being present. It seems that people are not able to “read” Mathew’s sense on humour as he was runner up in both Happy and Grumpy categories.
As we went round the room, each person highlighted their best and worst parts of the weekend. The overwhelming feeling from all of us was one of camaraderie, good fun and games. A huge thank you must go to Sharrin for finding the house and all the organisation that she’s put in.