Well the forecasters were at it again, filling us with gloom and doom and trying to rain on our parade. What to wear with such a mixed forecast would have been on everyone’s mind before setting out. Some Knights arrived dressed for summer…. it is over half way through June after all, others dressed for autumnal weather while Neil must have been feeling the chill with winter gloves and jacket.

Our planned route today was to stay local in case the threatened rain put in an appearance. Initially we set off along the Molescroft road towards Cherry Burton before turning back to Bishop Burton. It was a welcome change coming to “Granny’s Hump” at the beginning of the ride instead of near the end. By the time we reached the main road though, Neil realised he’d overdressed and decided to return home to change and then join us later. From Bishop Burton the rest of the group headed past the pond and along Dale Gate to reach Walkington heads leading us into North Newbald.

Our route then took us to South Newbald and Hotham before ending up in North Cave. Finally the wind was now behind us, we continued to South Cave. At this point, two knights James and Graham decided to add extra miles and left the group to head off towards Gilberdyke while Puggy, Matty and Heather set off to tackle this year’s KOM challenge up Beverley Road.

Waiting at the top cheering encouragement was Neil along with Mrs Puggy. “Can’t stop” cried Puggy “My garmin says I’m not at the end yet” before continuing past the junction. After regrouping Neil asked “I thought the segment ended at the junction”. “Well yes so did I, but my garmin had other ideas” replied Puggy. “It better have ended at the junction” said Heather as she scowled threateningly in Puggy’s direction making him feel somewhat protective of the “wedding tackle area”. Her demeanour was not improved when Matty suggested with an impish grin “You can always go back down and do it again”. Luckily all was well as it turned out Puggy’s garmin was showing the wrong segment.

After zooming down to Raywell then along Eppleworth road we arrived at the Sails cafe at Skidby. With the sun still shining we opted to sit outside. Eventually the cakes began to arrive but with no sign of our drinks. Neil must have begun to feel restless and trooped inside to “gee things along”. The drinks did then arrive but minus Neil’s. 😂 A little later some darker clouds appeared in the sky making us wonder if we should move to a table inside. However Puggy looked around at the sky and predicted that the sun would return shortly. Sure enough, we were soon bathed once again in sunshine, however any bubble of smuggishness he may have felt was soon burst as Neil pointed out “Hey Puggy, you’ve got your socks on inside out”. On that note it was time to head home to end another enjoyable ride with great company.